"Tick Tock" is Simon Mayo's second thriller and is as much of a page-turner as "Knife Edge". The premise of the story is completely up-to-date, with Covid-19, the Salisbury poisonings and the war in Ukraine all having a bearing and lending authenticity. The structure of the book is reminiscent of Dan Brown, with shortish chapters/sections and a tight time-frame - both make the reader want to carry on turning pages.

There are some lovely characters and snappy dialogue, plus not an excess of social media references to put off us older readers. A great read.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to review this book.

This book is set mainly in London. Kit Chaplin is a school teacher, has one daughter, Rose and they are getting over the loss of his wife/mother. Kit has started a relationship with Lilly Slater who is a scientist. Hannah, Rose’s friend, starts with a clicking in her ear which she assumes, as does everyone else, is tinnitus. As she gets worse other children in the school start with the same problem which causes some concern and panic. Hannah is hospitalized and more and more people get the same issues which starts to fill the hospitals. The medical staff that no idea what is happening, they have no medication and people start to go deaf with any other symptoms. The story runs along the lines of the covid epidemic. Kit starts getting an issue with his hearing and this sparks off his need to know what is happening and to protect his daughter at all costs. Rose starts a whattsapp group and starts to get messages which proves that the epidemic is spreading far and wide. The story, like most these days, moves backwards and forwards date wise and this makes for interesting reading. Being a scientist Lilly reads and listens to Rose’s messages online and starts to discuss the issue of the clicking with scientists around the world. Eventually things develop and Lilly’s probing gets them closer to the truth, there is a bacteria out there which is causing deafness and even death. Eventually things start coming together and Porton Down and Russians come into play. Lilly starts serious investigations and this takes her to her home town and in turn finds a devastating truth which does lead to how and why this epidemic starts. A really enjoyed the book but thought the ending was odd

This book gripped me from the start. First the strange development of the ticking in people's ears, then the rapidly spreading panic gripping the population as the condition spreads. More and more people are hospitalised and there is no cure. Mayo writes in short, snappy chapters and I could feel my heart start to race as the tension heightened.

The chapters move back and forth along the timeline as more and more people are infected but it's never confusing and just adds to the atmosphere of panic. The relationships are well developed, particularly that between Kit and his daughter Rose.

Having just experienced the covid pandemic this was a far from comfortable read but totally engrossing!

Tick Tock by Simon Mayo is a very well written thriller. It wasn't too predictable and I understood the characters. I highly recommend this book

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!

A dramatic and very tense situation develops on board a No 27 bus which increases exponentially when Rose Chaplin tries to board. It then backtracks four days to teacher Kit Chaplin, Rose’s father, who struggles to understand the situation before him when students develop an audible ticking in their ear. His partner scientist Lilly Slater is equally baffled by the phenomenon which increases and spreads across the globe. The story is told in days and hours and from Rose, Kit and Lilly’s perspectives.

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.

I like the well chosen setting for much of the action which I won’t mention as it could be a spoiler and the characters are well rounded and clearly portrayed. I really like Rose who is full of gumption and bravery, Kit is kind, caring and a great dad and Lilly is dogged in support of them
both and in pursuit of the truth. It builds well to a good and enjoyable ending.

Overall, another cracking read from a man of many talents.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random House U.K./Cornerstone for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

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.

There are cases of suspected tinnitus that starts as a ticking sensation and gets steadily worse. But to make matters worse appears to be infectious. The outbreaks are occurring across the world, starting on a small scale but accelerating to plague level and ultimately killing people.

No one knows or can explain what is happening but the situation is getting worse all the time. What is the mystery behind the illness that is threatening to change the world.

The premise for this book is excellent and most of the time proved to be a fascinating read. However I personally felt it didn’t have to be quite so long and maybe a 50 page edit would have worked a lot better. Still a fascinating and thought provoking read.

I would like to thank both Netgalley and Random House UK for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

“Tick Tock” is a thoroughly contemporary thriller that feels a little too close to home when considering recent pandemic events. The story starts at pace and the first third of the book builds the tension and characterisation well, indeed the opening up to and including the day of the event is compelling. The pace slows through the middle of the book, to a finale which brings just enough twists and surprise to delight the reader. A very enjoyable read if not quite living up to the promise of the opening. Recommended.

It starts quietly enough. A tick-tick-ticking you can hear in your ear. Tinnitus, you think. It will pass. But it doesn't. It gets worse - and then you pass it on.

Before you know it, it spreads. Elsewhere across the globe, it emerges: small outbreaks at first, but then suddenly it's a plague - and only days later it is already killing people.

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...
I have not read any previous books by this author and went in blind without reading the blurb. The writing is superb and enthralling and overall, I just loved this book. Pure nerve-shredding suspense from the first page to the last. Once I'd started reading I could. Not stop. A perfect holiday read - suspenseful and inventive. Gripping! Recommend you grab yourselves a copy! You won’t regret it!

Tick Tock grabs you by your collar and hurls you into the story from page one. In this suspenseful and intense mystery, a new pandemic may be underway but it's only just showing itself. Videos are emerging of people's ears making a clicking sound. Before long, public places are eerily silent as people listen for the tell-tale click that signifies illness.

What an engrossing world Mayo has created. As we've all recently experienced a pandemic, the consequences of this outbreak are easy to believe; breakdown of societal norms, suspicion and judgement of others, social distancing, etc. Kit and his daughter Rose are empathetic characters and I felt the race-against-the-clock for the two of them. Lilly was an interesting character. Is she an unfeeling person or just a scientist desperate to find the solution? There is a serious mystery to be solved and people's lives are at stake. Mayo always delivers a fast-paced and thrilling ride.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House UK for the opportunity to read this book.

This post Covid thriller is based around a pathogen and how it affected a particular family. There were many holes in the plot but overall it was a good read.

Ah, that’s a shame but I wasn’t completely enamoured with this book. It is fast paced, it did keep me interested and turning the pages. In fact I read this book quicker than the usual time I take to read a book, but there was just something about it that didn’t gel with me. I wasn’t that keen on any of the characters. I couldn’t really take to any of them and I think that is why I couldn’t quite enjoy the book as much as I would have liked.

Perhaps it was a lack of character development that made me feel I never got to know any of them properly. It was also the way they spoke to each other. Short, abbreviated speech in short sentences, so that they came across as abrupt in their conversations. This did add to the constant tense atmosphere but made me feel that they didn’t seem real, as if they were just players in a story that was really about the ticking ears and what would appear to be some kind of illness that seemed to be spreading much like Covid did.

The plot is a good one, the mystery increases as the story unfolds, always tense, always encouraging you to keep on reading to see what happens next and culminates in a tense and climactic reveal. I just wish the characters had been a little more appealing.

3.5 stars.

Really well written engaging thriller which I found difficult to put down. A new virus (post Covid) is unleashed on the UK. It starts with a form of tinnitus, leads to deafness and eventually death. The investigation of the hows and whys involve Lilly, her partner Kit and his daughter Rose. It is easy to become invested in these characters and the tension that they encounter comes through the novel. I would heartily recommend this as a read. Thanks to netgalley and penguin for the chance to read in exchange for an honest review.

4*. Tick Tock will have you gripped and ironically you will lose all track of time!

Kit is a single father to Rose and an English teacher in Marleybone. Lilly is a virologist and Kit’s partner. Rose is on the bus when she notices an audible clicking sound coming from her friend’s ear. Initially dismissed as tinnitus, the clicking takes hold in the school and then in pockets across the UK and US. In a post Covid world, the panic of a new pandemic quickly swell as the race is on to find what is causing the virus, what the implications are and if it can be stopped.

If you came up short at a book about pandemics, don’t! Tick Tock is excellent. A little slow to get going, once you are in, you are in. As the story unfolds and the strands start to come together the intrigue heightens. The characters are thoroughly likeable, the plot is great and I raced to find out what would happen.

Having enjoyed Simon Mayo’s Knife Edge, I thought Tick Tock was worthy (and probably better) follow up. Would thoroughly recommend.

Thanks to Transworld, PRH and Netgalley for an ARC.

Never has there been a more timely thriller! I was gripped from the first page, I was so immersed, i red it in one night, this book should come with a warning, may take over your life!

*4.5 stars *

Tick Tock’ takes place post Covid, and I would probably have chosen not to read it whilst Covid was at its very worst, however, having read Simon Mayo’s previous novel Knife Edge ( which was particularly good) I decided to give it a chance, and I’m very glad I did.

Tick Tock begins in the present and then goes back to four days earlier, as it slowly builds the storyline over the coming days, to when the tick tock ‘clicking’ sound began in peoples ears. Everyone can actually hear the clicking in other people’s ears. Videos start to be shared online. Most people found it hilarious and thought it was probably tinnitus, it wasn’t tinnitus and it wasn’t hilarious - it was a nightmare!

We then go back even further, to eighteen months before this strange phenomenon began, back to when teacher Kit Chaplin met Lilly, the mother of one of his English students. Lilly’s daughter Jess and Kit’s daughter Rose find the relationship embarrassing to say the least. As the disease spreads, this embarrassing relationship will be the least of their worries!

The storyline becomes ever more tense and dangerous, as Kit and Lilly get closer to the truth of what is really going on here! A cracker of a read and another winner for Simon Mayo!

Well, this is a read and a half. Coming so close to the Covid pandemic, it strikes so many chords. Well written, realistic characters, I really did want to know what was going to happen next. Well researched too, and a very interesting take on 'what might conceivably' happen. I would recommend. And I would happily read another of Simon Mayo's novels.

I was utterly gripped and read this in one sitting! The whole premise was scarily real and I loved how the story unfolded. I could feel the tension and fear in every page - loved it!

This was a very scary realistic story about manufacturing and weaponising viruses and bacteria. Some great characters and non stop action to track down a cure. The fact that some recent examples are mentioned makes it seem very real. Great read!

Not his best work

Having read a previous novel by Simon Mayo, I was expecting a gripping storyline, impeccably researched background detail, and a finely crafted ending … what I got however, was a jumbled mishmash of a story, told mostly in flashbacks; with a huge amount of coincidences to jog the plot along; plus the character of Rose, who by her attitudes and comments to her father is a giant recommendation for effective birth control.!

Add in random insertions at the end of paragraphs detailing who is doing what & where “Kit was getting dressed. Rose was leaving the house”

Along with several pages referencing fires, and perhaps even sabotage of antibiotic manufacturing plants in China and Bangladesh, which I initially thought were part of a global plan to weaken any response to a pandemic - but are never referred to again.

All in all, could do better

Throughly enjoyed this book, Simon Mayo’s writing is excellent and I enjoyed the main characters and their development through the book. Great suspense and I didn’t know what was going to happen next. The author had definitely done his research and all the science in the book felt authentic and very believable. Highly recommend and I am very glad to have been given the opportunity to read and review this book.