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, 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 a paranoid panic which sets friend against friend, neighbour against neighbour. Where does the world go from here?In the north London school where it is first discovered, head of English, Kit Chaplin is struggling to understand what he is witnessing. Even eminent bacteriologist and his partner Lilly Slater can't help him. But as the virus rips through the school and into the outside world, the world starts to take notice. Kit is more concerned about his students - and his young daughter, Rose - but little by little he gets sucked into where this mystery illness might have come from. And how it's going to threaten his world.Tick Tock is the compelling new novel from master storyteller and legendary DJ, Simon Mayo. It tells the story of a different kind of pandemic through the eyes of three people at the heart of the storm. Utterly exciting, urgently contemporary, piercingly insightful, it more than confirms the promise of his bestselling and acclaimed first thriller, Knife Edge.
Simon Mayo Book order
Simon is the author of the 'Itch' series, a collection of works that echo the style of best-selling young adult espionage novels. His extensive career in radio broadcasting, including prominent roles at BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2, has been recognized with numerous accolades. Through his writing, Simon crafts thrilling narratives filled with compelling characters, designed to engage and excite young readers. His approach emphasizes fast-paced action and intricate plots, making for an immersive and adventurous reading experience.






- 2022
- 2020
"6.45am. A sweltering London rush hour. And in the last 27 minutes, seven people have been murdered. In a series of coordinated attacks, seven men and women across London have been targeted. For journalist Famie Madden, the horror unfolds as she arrives for the morning shift. The victims have one thing in common- they make up the investigations team at the news agency where Famie works. The question everyone's asking- what were they working on that could prompt such brutal devastation? As Famie starts to receive mysterious messages, she must find out whether she is being warned of the next attack, or being told that she will be the next victim..."--Publisher
- 2019
The Power of Cute
- 256 pages
- 9 hours of reading
Cuteness has taken the planet by storm. Global sensations Hello Kitty and Pokémon, the works of artists Takashi Murakami and Jeff Koons, Heidi the cross-eyed opossum and E.T. - all reflect its gathering power. But what does "cute" mean, as a sensibility and style? Why is it so pervasive? Is it all infantile fluff, or is there something more uncanny and even menacing going on - in a lighthearted way? In The Power of Cute, Simon May provides nuanced and surprising answers. We usually see the cute as merely diminutive, harmless, and helpless. May challenges this prevailing perspective, investigating everything from Mickey Mouse to Kim Jong-il to argue that cuteness is not restricted to such sweet qualities but also beguiles us by transforming or distorting them into something of playfully indeterminate power, gender, age, morality, and even species. May grapples with cuteness's dark and unpindownable side - unnerving, artful, knowing, apprehensive - elements that have fascinated since ancient times through mythical figures, especially hybrids like the hermaphrodite and the sphinx. He argues that cuteness is an addictive antidote to today's pressured expectations of knowing our purpose, being in charge, and appearing predictable, transparent, and sincere. Instead, it frivolously expresses the uncertainty that these norms deny: the ineliminable uncertainty of who we are; of how much we can control and know; of who, in our relations with others, really has power; indeed, of the very value and purpose of power. The Power of Cute delves into a phenomenon that speaks with strange force to our age
- 2018
1815: The war is over but for the inmates at Dartmoor Prison, peace - like home - is still a long way away.Inspired by a true story, Mad Blood Stirring tells of a few frantic months in the suffocating atmosphere of a prison awaiting liberation.* 'Wonderful - a story I never heard before, told with style, pace, character, texture, and tension ...
- 2016
Blame
- 480 pages
- 17 hours of reading
"What happens when society wants you banged up in prison for a crime your parents committed? That's the situation in which Ant finds herself - together with her little brother Mattie and their foster-parents, she's locked up in a new kind of family prison. None of the inmates are themselves criminals, but wider society wants them to do time for the unpunished 'heritage' crimes of their parents. Tensions are bubbling inside the London prison network Ant and Mattie call home - and when things finally erupt, they realize they've got one chance to break out. Everyone wants to see them punished for the sins of their mum and dad, but it's time for Ant to show the world that they're not to blame. A new nail-bitingly taught YA suspense thriller, from author of the bestselling ITCH series, Simon Mayo."
- 2015
The Movie Doctors
- 320 pages
- 12 hours of reading
The first book by the nation's favourite film experts whose BBC Radio 5 Live film review show is downloaded by 2 million people every month
- 2014
Itchcraft
- 448 pages
- 16 hours of reading
Renowned for his engaging presence, Simon Mayo has been a prominent figure in British radio since 1981, currently hosting 'Drivetime' on BBC Radio 2 and co-presenting a film review show on BBC Radio 5 Live. His accolades include the title of radio broadcaster of the year and speech broadcaster of the year, highlighting his impact on the medium. For fans of his work and his ITCH book series, further information can be found on his dedicated website.
- 2014
After almost poisoning his whole class with arsenic gas, going on the run from a psychotic science teacher and nearly dying of radiation poisoning, life is getting back to normal for Itchingham Lofte - at least, as normal as it can be when you have a round-the-clock detail of government security guards watching your every move. But sinister forces are still hunting for Element 126 and will stop at nothing to find out where Itch has hidden the precious radioactive rocks. With the help of his sister Chloe and his tomboy cousin Jack, Itch has to put 126 beyond the reach of unscrupulous scientists and international terrorists forever. It's time to save the world. Again. The second book in the explosively exciting ITCH series. 'A great debut. You'll be itching to read more.' Anthony Horowitz
- 2012
Love
- 304 pages
- 11 hours of reading
Simon May develops a radically new understanding of love as the emotion we feel towards those we experience as grounding our life-as offering us a promise of home-in a world that we supremely value. He also proposes that the child is supplanting the romantic partner as the supreme object of love.
- 2012
Itch
- 432 pages
- 16 hours of reading
Itchingham Lofte, known as Itch, is 14, and loves science and especially chemistry. He's also an element hunter: he's decided to collect all the elements in the periodic table. Which has some interesting and rather destructive results in his bedroom. Then, Itch makes a discovery. A new element, never seen before. (Publisher).


