Catherine Raynes: The Last Encore and Some Bright Nowhere

The Last Encore by Rebecca Heath  

A remote island.  

It's been eighteen years since the accidental explosion that killed The Cedrics Band lead singer Jonny Rake, and a special documentary is bringing the rest of the band back to play together for the first time.  

With Jonny's daughter, Monet, stepping into her father's role, and a private island secured as the perfect reunion backdrop, it's set to be a special occasion. A reunion concert. But everyone remembers what happened on that fatal night differently, and as questions are asked about the band's rise and sudden tragic fall, not everyone likes the answers.  

Old wounds reopen and tempers flare... Then a body is found. A killer on stage. They're trapped on the island together until help arrives, but that might be too late. Because Jonny's death wasn't an accident, and someone wants revenge. 

  

Some Bright Nowhere by Ann Packer  

Eliot and his wife Claire have been happily married for nearly four decades. They’ve raised two children in their sleepy Connecticut town and have weathered the inevitable ups and downs of a long life spent together. But eight years after Claire was diagnosed with cancer, the end is near, and it is time to gather loved ones and prepare for the inevitable. 

Over the years of Claire’s illness, Eliot has willingly—lovingly—shifted into the role of caregiver, appreciating the intimacy and tenderness that comes with a role even more layered and complex than the one he performed as a devoted husband. But as he focuses on settling into what will be their last days and weeks together, Claire makes an unexpected request that leaves him reeling. In a moment, his carefully constructed world is shattered. 

What if your partner’s dying wish broke your heart? How well do we know the deepest desires of those we love dearly? As Eliot is confronted with this profound turning point in his marriage and his life, he grapples with the man and husband he’s been, and with the great unknowns of Claire’s last days. 

 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Teams podcast
from News Talks a'b.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Catherine Rain's our book reviewers here were this this morning.
Good morning, Catherine, morning Jack. Have you had a good summer.

Speaker 3 (00:19):
It's been a lovely summer yourself.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Yeah, yeah, very good. Thank you. Yeah. I feel like
I'm just sort of starting to ease into the holiday now,
which is of course not there, not the way it's
supposed to be, but there, that's such as life. You've
got two great little recommendations for us this weekend, for
anyone who's to a bit of reading time left this summer.
So let's begin with The Last Encore by Rebecca Heath.

Speaker 3 (00:42):
So this is where a group of surviving members of
a once popular band called the Centrics band they decided
to play. They pulled together really to play one last
concert with one a, the daughter of the lead singer
who had died eighteen years ago when an explosion killed him.
And they were really at their height of their fame
when that happened. And after that happened, the band fell
apart and they all going the separate ways, and this

(01:04):
documentary maker has decide to bring them all to this
remote island, hoping to film their own reunion. Not everybody's
really that happy to be there. The remaining three band
members don't really seem to get on it all. Their
manager irritates everyone has. Johnny's former partner, a woman called Ivy,
and the mother of his daughter, mon A. She just

(01:26):
very odd relationships going on there, and there's fame hungry people,
and there's the owners of the resort, and then all
of a sudden, the body is found and someone else
is missing, and everybody starts to realize that there's a
lot more going on here than their first thought. And
the story unfolds with multiple points of view, and interesting enough,
this guy called Ricky who runs the Cedric's band fan

(01:47):
Brog and he's their number one fan, and these different
characters and they're behind the scenes gossip and this interesting
mix of characters, some who really likable and some who
really aren't. And it's suspense fallen atmospheric and these unreliable
characters and hidden motives, and it's undercurrent of unease, mainly
because you're said on this remote island and it has
isolation and paranoias are associated with it. That just keeps

(02:09):
you guessing to the end, and that tension really ramps
up and that undercurrent of things going on, and Rebecca
Heath writes this really well executed, page turning novel with
twists and terms that are really unexpected.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
Cool. Great. So that's the last Encore by Rebecca Heath.
Next up, Anne Packer has just published a new novel,
Some Bright Nowhere.

Speaker 3 (02:32):
So Elliott and Claire have been married four decades and
they raised two children together and they're now retired. But
Claire is dying of cancer and Elliott's been her caretaker
for the past seven years. And right at the start
of the book, Elliott and Clear say goodbye to the
oncologist who's treated her breast cancer for nine years because
the ends near him, there's nothing more that he can do.

(02:53):
And so the book kind of takes us from that
point in their lives until the end and where we start.
It's the dynamic that's difficult for both of them. The
relationship hasn't got a lot of joy left. They feel
like they're just managing the days and comfort and this
looming future for Elliott, and the story is told from
Elliott's perspective, and you see his isolation and his struggle
to communicate and understand, and he thinks a lot about

(03:16):
what's gone on in the past, and he's a very
kind man, but he's forced to examine what he really
means to Clear and what she means to him, and
come to terms with what his life looks like when
Clear is not there, and Clear's friends Holly and Michelle
start to become the center of her world and Elliott
feels his isolation even more. It becomes really well for him,
and it's very powerful book. It's complex, and this book

(03:37):
about this strong marriage and how it heads on when
life's really disrailed it. And it's almost a simple story,
but it's complexity is forcing you to ask questions and
confront life and the ethics and morality and nothing has
easy answers. But it's beautifully written, and it's a very quiet,
introspective family story where those questions and thoughts stay with

(03:59):
you long after you've finished. And there was a really
interesting read from quite a different perspective.

Speaker 2 (04:04):
Right Okay, that's some right nowhere by Anne Packer, and
Catherine's first pick was The Last Encore by Rebecca Heath.
Both of those will be up on The News Talk's
EDB website.

Speaker 1 (04:14):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live
to News Talks EDB from nine am Saturday, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio