3 Books You Should Never Take on a Plane + C.J. Merritt on Octagon (SUMMER SPECIAL)

Recorded live at Capital Crime Book Festival, Philippa talks to C.J. Merritt about his whiplash international spy thriller Octagon — but first, a public service announcement: three brilliant books you should absolutely not read on an actual flight.3 Books You Should NOT Take on Holiday (If You're Flying)Hostage – Clare MackintoshA flight attendant receives a note threatening her daughter's life mid-flight from London to Sydney. Gripping, claustrophobic, and definitely not in-flight reading.Drowning – T.J. NewmanA plane crashes into the Pacific, trapping passengers underwater on a sinking fuselage. Written by a former flight attendant who knows exactly how to make this terrifyingly real.Airframe – Michael CrichtonA catastrophic mid-air disaster sparks a tense investigation into what really went wrong. Brilliant, realistic, and best read firmly on the ground.Philippa talks to C.J. Merritt about OctagonA former MI6 officer and an ex-SAS soldier, both out in the cold, are pulled back in when a coded warning leads to a trail of danger across Europe. Described as a page-turning action thriller in the vein of I Am Pilgrim.Chris and Philippa discuss:His dream holiday: New Zealand, or a few days alone on a writing retreat (a luxury when you have a small child)Travelling solo through Central Asia, Africa, and the Middle East in his twenties — and the cardigan with zip pockets built for smuggling books through customsHis nightmare holiday: a 25-mile jungle trek through 35°C heat in Central Africa, hired porters who got drunk on the money he paid them, and arriving to find the gorillas they'd come to see had all died of Ebola a year earlierWhy he wanted to write a spy thriller with a huge geographic canvas after several more localised booksWriting 500–1,000 words a day in a café, fuelled by multiple coffees, and losing track of time during action sequencesThe two-book deal already underway, plus a slower, more psychological spy thriller drawing on his past life as a psychologistWhy the title Octagon came early and never changedIce cream order: Salted caramel, pistachio, and chocolate cookie dough — in a dish, with a cone on the side just in case.Get in touchQuick Book Reviews Facebook Group | Instagram | Email: [email protected] Book Reviews: author interviews and book reviews with no spoilers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.