The latest edition of The Thursday Book Club was broadcast on 20th August 2026 at 2pm on Phonic FM. Joining hosts Jonathan Posner and Cathy Dodd were Richard Handy and Jason Mann. Click the names to find out more about them, and use the audio bar below to listen to the full show.
Our book review was The Parkwood Murders by Chris Cibnall.
Our thoughts? Listen below to find out.
Available on Amazon.
The second hour featured an interview by Cathy Dodd with author Pippa Marriott of Word Kitchen. Cathy also played some great music:
1 Paperback Writer: the Beatles
2 Unwritten: Natasha Bedingfield
3 The Whole of the Moon: the Waterboys
4 Old Pine: Ben Howard
5 This must be the Place (Naive Melody): Talking Heads
6 Helplessness Blues: Fleet Foxes
Listen to the show in full here:
The next show is at 2pm on the 19th September 2026.
Our book review will be The Unknown by Riley Sagar.
Why not read along and send your comments in to The Thursday Book Club?
Leave a message on our Facebook page or email jo******@jo******************.com before 15th September 2026. We’d love to have your comments and have the opportunity to feed them into our discussion.
GUEST NEWS
Richard Handy’s book The London Codes came out in June this year.
Autumn 1939. Invasion is coming. Germany has a new weapon. Only secret codes and computing genius can save Britain.
Major Danny Nash of the British Secret Intelligence Service is under cover in Berlin and discovers the latest Nazi weapon – the world’s first guided bomb. Hitler plans to destroy London as the prelude to invasion.
Nash must sabotage Germany’s computing facility and steal the secret codes needed to programme the bombs. But in England, there’s a traitor at the code-breaking facility at Bletchley Park who threatens the mission.
Emily Sinclair uncovers a deadly plot – a German assassin is at work. As the body count rises across London, Emily is kidnapped and Britain’s intelligence network starts to unravel. Can Nash stop the invasion and save the woman he loves?
Jason Mann writes as J.H. Mann. His latest book is The Silver Tide.
WINNER OF THE 2026 HOLYER AN GOF CORNISH NOVEL OF THE YEAR AWARD (GENERAL FICTION CATEGORY)
SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL 2026 SELFIES ADULT FICTION AWARDS
Cornwall, 1863. On a windswept beach, Maggie Pascoe watches in horror as her family is lost to the sea. Her father and three brothers are among dozens of fishermen from the town of St Branok who perish in a summer storm.
Destitute and alone, she finds comfort in her friendship with widow Norah Bray, whose young son also drowned in the disaster.
But the tragedy was no accident. As Maggie battles to uncover the truth, she hides a devastating secret – one that could destroy her bond with Norah forever.
Inspired by a true story, The Silver Tide is a powerful tale of love, betrayal and one woman’s courageous fight for justice.
Available on Amazon.
BOOK NEWS THIS MONTH
BOOKS AVAILABLE IN ALL GOOD RETAILERS
Coming on the 27th August from Hutchinson Heinemann is Agrippa by Robert Harris, the bestselling author of Fatherland, Pompeii and Munich. It’s ancient Rome as seen through the eyes of Marcus Agrippa, the soldier and strategist who helped the young Octavian become Augustus. It’s a story about friendship, power and betrayal – and a terrific summer read. Robert Harris is one of Britain’s biggest historical novelists, so expect this one to be everywhere.
Riley Sager is one of America’s bestselling psychological thriller writers, and his new novel The Unknown has a brilliantly creepy premise. Five women disappeared from an island in 1926. Exactly a century later, an actress arrives to make a film about them – and discovers that the past may be repeating itself. It’s atmospheric, mysterious and perfect for thriller fans. The Unknown came out on 4th August from Hodder & Stoughton.
Lisa Gardner’s new standalone novel You’ll Be Sorry came out on the 13th August in eBook, published by Penguin. It begins with a family disappearing from a New Hampshire mansion, leaving only bloody footprints behind. Thirty years later, a new couple move in – and a discovery on the property suggests the nightmare isn’t over. Lisa Gardner is a Sunday Times bestselling thriller writer with a huge international readership, who specialises in seriously addictive thrillers. You’ll Be Sorry is perfect if you like your fiction seriously creepy.
We seem to be having a bit of a theme going on here – mysterious disappearances! The Women in White by Sarah Pekkanen came out from St. Martin’s Press on 4th August. Sarah Pekkanen is the number one bestselling author behind The Golden Couple and The Wife Between Us. Her latest thriller moves between 1964, when four women become involved in secret parapsychology experiments and subsequently disappear, and the present day, when a young woman begins investigating what happened. It’s atmospheric, twisty and very creepy.
The House of Boleyn by Tracy Borman. Tracy Borman is a distinguished Tudor historian and broadcaster, and she’s turned her expertise into a novel about the rise and fall of the Boleyn family. It follows Thomas, Mary and Anne Boleyn alongside the servants, spies and courtiers surrounding them. The book takes us from Thomas Boleyn’s ambitions to Anne’s relationship with Henry VIII, and promises Tudor politics, sex, betrayal and murder – with the historical detail to make it convincing. This book has already been attracting events and promotion around its publication.
The Amateur by Chris Bohjalian comes out today, from Hutchinson Heinemann. Chris Bohjalian is an American bestselling novelist whose books regularly combine domestic drama with suspense. The Amateur examines power, morality and blame against the apparently comfortable world of American middle-class life. It’s darker and more psychologically complex than a straightforward thriller, making it an interesting crossover title for book-club readers. If you like novels where the characters are as interesting as the plot – and where nobody is entirely innocent – this could be one to pick up.
This is one definitely worth a mention – Big Little Truths by Liane Moriarty. Published next week from Penguin, this is likely to be one of the biggest commercial fiction events of the month. Liane Moriarty returns to the world of Big Little Lies ten years later. Madeline, Celeste, Renata, Jane and Bonnie are back, but their children are now teenagers. The story begins with a severed finger being sent to the school principal. And, yes, the television connection makes this even more interesting: HBO is developing a third season of Big Little Lies. With the TV series returning, this is a major publishing event.
Our final book is one that one that also comes out today – The Blue Flame by George Pelecanos, from Orion Publishing. George Pelecanos is the acclaimed crime novelist and writer who worked on The Wire. This is gritty, stripped-back crime fiction rather than a conventional psychological thriller. If you want something harder-edged, atmospheric and intelligent, this book is definitely worth a go.
