Catherine Raynes: Summer Island and Red Star Down

Summer Island by Kristin Hannah   Years ago, Nora Bridge walked out on her marriage and left her daughters behind. She has since become a famous radio talkshow host and newspaper columnist beloved for her moral advice. Her youngest daughter, Ruby, is a struggling comedienne who uses her famous mother as fuel for her bitter, cynical humour.   When the tabloids unearth a scandalous secret from Nora's past, their estrangement suddenly becomes dramatic. Nora is injured in an accident and a glossy magazine offers Ruby a fortune to write a tell-all about her mother. Under false pretences, Ruby returns home to take care of the woman she hasn't spoken to for almost a decade. Nora insists they retreat to Summer Island, to the lovely old house on the water where Ruby grew up, a place filled with childhood memories of love and joy and belonging. There Ruby is also reunited with her first love and his brother. Once, the three of them had been best friends, inseparable. Until the summer that Nora had left and everyone's hearts had been broken...     Red Star Down by DB John   A family man is poisoned at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. A Russian intelligence officer is assassinated in a Washington hotel. And a real-estate mogul and reality-TV star has just become the 45th President of the United States.   A terrible conspiracy is about to unravel and three people find themselves caught in the crosshairs... A CIA agent whose past missions refuse to stay buried. A student in Moscow who dares to challenge the Russian president on live TV. And a North Korea spy embedded in the White House who secretly admires the man he is working to undermine.    LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.