He takes a lead from his longtime broadcasting partner. “As Mark Kermode says,” he adds, “film critics don’t make any difference to the success or otherwise of a movie, and it’s the same with books. If a book critic in one of the big papers doesn’t like my book, it doesn’t make any difference. Word-of-mouth, book festivals – those are the kinds of things that matter.”

The station’s controllers decided he needed a co-host for his show, and paired him with Jo Whiley. Things did not gel, and they failed to connect with listeners. The fallout was as swift as it was brutal: after six months, Whiley stayed and Mayo walked. Turning collective terror into handy plotlines is something else that thriller writers tend to excel at. Also in 2012, Simon Mayo was the announcer for the concert celebrating Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee. Which books has Simon Mayo written? He says: “It’s cringey of course – where did that jumper come from? Look at that suit. Eighties’ suits were so baggy and loose with big shoulder pads – clearly not a sensible option.

I received a gifted advance reader copy of this book to read as part of the book tour hosted by Transworld Publishing in exchange for an honest review. Ah yes, but I didn’t want to write about a book about the pandemic we’ve all just lived through because I didn’t think people would want to read that,” he says. “I just wanted to write something effective.” Kit had no idea what this was about and no understanding of the anatomy of the ear either. But he did know he didn't like any of it." Wright, 68, admitted the station wanted to “do something different in the afternoons”, adding, amiably: “Let’s give somebody else a go.” Wow. What may seem like an improbable premise via the use of actual evidence the author makes the whole thing feel all too plausible and just to reassure those who don’t want to read about Covid - this is not a Covid story. It’s a well developed thriller where tension builds incredibly well so you actually feel the rising fear factor. It’s very intriguing and although I do figure out part of the story early on, there is no way I figure most of it out, not by any stretch of the imagination! This is an excellent conspiracy theory thriller, it’s exciting, full of danger especially from feral behaviour provoked by fear and knowing what we do now is sadly all too believable! It���s riveting and hard to put down.

It took an awfully long time to get to the nitty-gritty or the meat of the story. But the book did not suffer in the least bit for that as it started to set the scene for the real eye-opening reveal. The truth about Porton Down, Lilly's father and friends and it's experiments. And that is only the start of a minefield that the three main protagonist have just walked into. Traits and personalities shone through as the stress and tensions multiplied. Even Rose became less despicable as the book wore on, although her naivety was a constant bugbear.

Is Simon Mayo an MBE?

Itch is currently being turned into an opera, commissioned by Opera Holland Park and written by composer Jonathan Dove and librettist Alasdair Middleton. It will premiere this year. It's not a typical route for a children’s novel, but the drama, adventure and subject matter has a great appeal and Itch has also been made into a TV series. So does Simon picture his books for the screen, or stage, as he writes? So Simon will keep writing, managing to find time between radio commitments and at weekends and holidays, particularly when he enjoys time in Suffolk where he finds a quiet corner. Coffee and a comfortable chair are his requirements, he says, so the radio is turned off. In an increasingly affected north London school, teacher Kit Chaplin is struggling to understand what he is witnessing. Even Lilly Slater, his partner and an eminent vaccinologist, can't work out what's happening. As it spreads, little by little, they are inexorably drawn into the mystery behind the illness. And what they discover will change the world as they know it... Elsewhere across the globe, it emerges, small outbreaks at first, contained groups of people. young and old, and suddenly it's a plague - and ten days later it's killing people. The hospitals are overflowing and there is no cure. There is paranoid panic which sets friend against friend, neighbour against neighbour. Where does the world go from here? I read ‘Knife Edge’ by Simon Mayo last year and thoroughly enjoyed it so I was very much looking forward to reading his latest novel. The radio presenter come author writes well and along with intruging storylines and interesting characters the novels make entertaining reading.

Inspiration does, indeed, come from the most surprising places. Simon is a regular visitor to Suffolk and the names on a noticeboard at Blythburgh Church famously gave him the characters for his Itch trilogy of books about a teenage scientist who collects elements from the periodic table.There was obviously a lot of research that has gone into the book on these topics and I thank Simon Mayo for the way he discusses them. These days, his tinnitus – the inspiration for his new novel and probably caused by loud music in his early career – makes social events harder.

Then we rewind to four days earlier where a girl is described as an ‘irate fourteen year old girl” and two paragraphs later it’s her father who’s an ‘irate thirty nine year old man’. Give me a break! Moving onto the dialogue, which was awful and stilted, making it impossible for me to give a hoot about characters who talk nonsense. Books last, they endure,” he says. “I love going into a bookshop, or the supermarket while doing the weekly shop, and seeing copies of my novel. There’s something very gratifying about that. It feels solid, like an accomplishment. And I do like that.” Joining Greatest Hits Radio was an exciting prospect,” he says. “I knew there was potential there because it was at the beginning of its story. When they approached me and said they wanted me to take over the drivetime show, I thought about it for all of 10 minutes. I knew it was exactly the right thing to do. The character development wasn't as strong and could have done with more dept, but then again this story is mostly focused on the plot and action with the strange new disease. I personally didn't mind too much, because the characters had enough going for them to be able to connect to them anyway. Is everything they do completely credible? Maybe not. But it sure made for a very exhilarating ride, and it's definitely made me want to try more of this author. Plotline aside, I thought the characters were great and their own storyline of loss and grief were well handled. The interplay between father and daughter was lovely and I was really invested in the major players of the book. This was my first try at a conspiracy thriller and I very much enjoyed the tension and suspense.I think you only had to listen to the endings of the various programmes I was doing to know it’s a very personal affair and when things are changed and ended in the style that happened to me, that certainly has an effect on you. Well, BBC Radio presenter Simon Mayo sure can write a darned good thriller! I really enjoyed his last book Knife Edge and eagerly anticipate this one and I’m most definitely not disappointed! Radio remains my priority,” he insists. “You can always tell, I think, if a presenter is not putting their show first, and it’s important for me to keep mine as sharp as possible. But I do love writing, and so most mornings you’ll find me at my desk.” Big organisations often get this kind of thing wrong, my guess is what happened in 2018 was handled badly and hopefully we have all moved on and worked out how to adjust, and just hope it doesn’t happen to anyone else. This is the first book that I have read by the author, Simon Mayo, and it will definitely not be the last. I have to admit that I hadn't realised the guy had turned his hand to writing, so I will have to play catch-up on his previous work after this brilliant novel.