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Body Horror
Body Horror
Oct 26, 2024 3:29 PM

Author:Lucy Catherine,Jill Halfpenny,Full Cast,Shelley Conn,Samantha Dakin,Chetna Pandya

Body Horror

London, 2049.

Full body transplants on sale here: the more you pay, the better the body. But can an expensive upgrade really fulfil the life-changing expectations of demoralised mortician Caroline McAleese?

Caroline is desperate to be promoted to the sales team - but she's overweight and over 40, and in a world where attractiveness is prioritised ahead of intelligence, her prospects are slim. Then she hits the jackpot in the Citizens' Lottery, and gets the chance to trade up to the perfect new body: one that's young, lithe and beautiful.

It's a dream come true for Caroline - until she starts to experience teething problems. Her behaviours begin to change, and she is haunted by violent dreams. She's not alone in her new body, and no longer in control. What shadows have been left by her body's former inhabitant? And whose voice is it she hears in her head?

Developed through the Wellcome Trust Experimental Stories scheme, this dark, futuristic series was written by award-winning dramatist Lucy Catherine, whose credits include Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology, Gudrun and The Master and Margarita. It stars Jill Halfpenny as Caroline, with Shelley Conn, Samantha Dakin and Chetna Pandya.

Cast

Caroline - Jill Halfpenny

Gloria - Shelley Conn

Rowan/Benefits Office Computer - Adam Courting

Anastasia - Samantha Dakin

Tom/Car Salesman - Ian Conningham

Waiter/Security Guard - Greg Jones

Bar Guy/Che - Ikky Elyas

Virtual James - Will Kirk

Government Computer/Stan - Neil McCaul

Work Computer/Library Computer - Sinead MacInnes

Lift Voice/Young Mum - Lucy Reynolds

Paulina - Chetna Pandya

Mel - Liza Sadovy

Trevor - Clive Hayward

Karina - Heather Craney

BodyEx Computer - Scarlett Courtney

Hotel Computer - Laura Christy

Directed by Toby Swift

Developed through the Wellcome Trust Experimental Stories scheme

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 11-13 March 2020

Reviews

Brilliant. A great new voice in the police procedural world. Hooks you in from the first chapter and doesn't let up. Characters are real people you want to spend time with. Out For Blood has everything you need in a crime thriller and more.

—— Rebecca Bradley

Really enjoyed DI Eve Hunter's second outing. Out For Blood is every bit as good a page-turner as the first in the series.

—— Emma Curtis

A slickly plotted, fast paced read with a strong emotive core - I loved it.

—— Steph Broadribb

A brilliant follow-up novel. DI Eve Hunter is truly a force to be reckoned with.

—— David Jackson, author of THE RESIDENT

Skilful plotting, a complex detective and utterly believable characters - this is first-class crime fiction.

—— Marion Todd, author of SEE THEM RUN

Another addictive DI Hunter read from Deborah Masson! She is the master of drip feeding clues and notching up tension. I raced through it! Masson is now officially my go to author for gripping police procedural reads.

—— Lauren North, author of THE PERFECT BETRAYAL

DI Eve Hunter is a truly believable cop. This authenticity draws the reader into a plot that not only compels, but is a stinging social comment on those who have and have not in our society. You can smell, taste and feel the dramatic backdrop of Aberdeen. Not to be missed, edge-of-the-seat stuff from a genuine rising star.

—— Denzil Meyrick, author of A BREATH ON DYING EMBERS

Patterson boils a scene down to the single, telling detail, the element that defines a character or moves a plot along. It's what fires off the movie projector in the reader's mind.

—— MICHAEL CONNELLY

Patterson knows where our deepest fears are buried... there's no stopping his imagination.

—— NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

Patterson is in a class by himself.

—— VANITY FAIR

Patterson knows where our deepest fears are Patterson knows where our deepest fears are buried... there's no stopping his imagination.buried... there's no stopping his imagination.

—— NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

Patterson is in a class by himself.

—— VANITY FAIR

Sharp, sassy and guaranteed to send shivers down your spine, this is a tense thriller

—— WOMAN

Cross is one of the best and most likeable characters in the modern thriller.

—— SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER

I read it in two nights . . . it's giving us The Girl On The Train, it's giving us We Need to Talk About Kevin, it's going to be one of the books of the year . . . it has absolutely blown me away . . . it will spark conversation and divide people . . . I can't stop thinking and talking about it

—— Candice Brathwaite , BBC Radio 2

With its riveting prose and deep convictions, Ashley Audrain's The Push had me in its clutches from the first page. Audrain's astute portrayal of motherhood was unsettling in its insights, yet highly entertaining on the page. Complex, nuanced, and unflinching, I inhaled this debut in one sitting

—— Karma Brown , bestselling author of Recipe for a Perfect Wife

Audrain nimbly stokes the mystery as to whether nature or nurture is at play in Violet's increasingly hostile disposition. Executed with gripping precision

—— New York Times

Starkly original and compulsively readable, Ashley Audrain's The Push is a deep dive into the darkest nooks and crannies of motherhood. Raw, visceral, and often disturbing, this is an intense psychological drama that will be embraced by serious book clubs and fans of Lionel Shriver's We Need to Talk About Kevin

—— Kristin Hannah

You're drawn into this world . . . it is a difficult read but no wonder it's a cause celebre in the publishing world, trust me everyone wants this book . . . a publishing sensation

—— Nihal Arthanayake , BBC Radio 5 Live

I was totally hooked. Compelling, addictive, chilling. Smashing read

—— Elizabeth Macneal

The most thought-provoking exploration of motherhood I've come across since We Need to Talk About Kevin

—— Clare Pooley

The Push is a freight train of a read - it barrels into you and propels you along, taking you places you're not sure you want to go. I found it disturbing, upsetting, and utterly compelling

—— Beth Morrey, author of Saving Missy

Intensely absorbing, gripping until the final page, The Push excavates the myths of motherhood, deftly exploring the shape-shifting landscape of parenting, the powerful impact of the past on the present, and the deep unease of our inability to ever fully know even those we hold the closest

—— Kim Edwards, bestselling author of The Memory Keeper's Daughter

Suspenseful with extreme We Need To Talk About Kevin vibes, this is the Book Club Book that'll have everyone talking next year

—— Grazia

Stayed up too late finishing [Audrain's] deeply unsettling The Push about the darkest reaches of motherhood . . . Visceral, provocative, compulsive, and with the most graphic and relatable description of childbirth I've read (or written)

—— Sarah Vaughan, bestselling author of Anatomy of a Scandal

I loved it - such a dark and compelling exploration of motherhood. Absolutely haunting: a brilliant, thought-provoking page-turner

—— Caroline Lea

The Push is written on the edge of a knife. It's a howl in the face of what we think we know - or want to believe - about motherhood. Relentlessly compelling, distressing and beautiful, Ashley Audrain's debut is the next Gone Girl, with shades of We Need to Talk About Kevin. I devoured it whole

—— Marissa Stapley, bestselling author of The Last Resort

The Push is not a book you'll be able to forget easily . . . an unputdownable story that will be the book everyone is talking about in 2021

—— Grazia

Compelling, beautifully written and wickedly entertaining... A tremendously thought-provoking read

—— Liz Nugent, author of Little Cruelties and Lying in Wait

Astonishingly good. Beautifully written, gripping, disturbing

—— Jane Fallon, author of Queen Bee

A tense and unsettling thriller that's immersive, chilling, and provocative. A book that's best read in one sitting

—— Iain Reid, author of I'm Thinking of Ending Things

Ashley Audrain's The Push is not only a propulsively entertaining, read-in-one-sitting novel, it is also a deeply provocative and fearless look at motherhood written in some of the prettiest prose you'll read all year

—— Aimee Molloy, New York Times bestselling author of The Perfect Mother

Written with a courage that borders on audacity, and with uncanny emotional and psychological precision, Ashley Audrain's The Push is a taut, tour-de-force literary thriller that draws you in from the very first pages and plunges you into the most harrowing of journeys: parenthood

—— Bill Clegg, New York Times bestselling author of Did You Ever Have A Family?

A meteoric debut. Ashley Audrain's The Push is a force of nature, an unforgettable arrival that will linger in your heart--shimmer, darken and then haunt you. Every sentence is just so achingly alive. Audrain descends with near pointillistic precision into the gore of motherhood and love. Perhaps if Stephen King had experienced motherhood--the singular exaltation and morbid terror of that state--he might have been able to dream up this book. Wise, monstrous, and tender, The Push operates at a different frequency. It seemed to pulse in my hands. I could not put it down. I could not look away

—— Claudia Dey, author of Heartbreaker and Stunt

One to watch ... The Push is told from the point of view of Blythe Connor, whose experience of motherhood is not what she hoped for

—— The Bookseller

Staggering - it is an intoxicating rush of a book that grips you tight from the first few pages and will not let you go

—— Cambridge Edition

Most anticipated books of 2021 'Pre-order now and thank yourself later'

—— Marie Claire

A thrilling debut

—— Harper's Bazaar, This Winter's Best New Releases from Rising Novelists

The Push is a vivid and complex spiral of questioning your grasp on reality, of uttering unspeakable thoughts, when the world tells you it's all in your head. Book blurbs often say they'll be devoured in one sitting - it's rare it proves so true

—— The Skinny

Suspenseful, dark and intriguing . . . It's going to be a big discussion point in 2021

—— Stylist, Book to Watch 2021

A haunting tale about the expectations and reality of motherhood. Stunning . . . You end up staying up all night to finish The Push

—— E! Online

Visceral, compulsive and astonishing. I could not put this down

—— Raynor Winn, bestselling author of The Salt Path

'Best books to look forward to in 2021'

—— Cosmopolitan

The chilling novel that caused a bidding frenzy more than lives up to the hype

—— Red Online

A terrifying, psychological suspense tale of motherhood and nature versus nurture

—— Sunday Mirror

This chilling tale barrels along towards a dark, thought-provoking ending

—— Good Housekeeping

The tense, gripping novel - which, after a nine-way bidding war, has already been optioned for film by the producer of ugly-cry-inducing Marriage Story - will stay with you long after you finish the last page

—— Refinery29

This psychological family drama will be your next one-sit read . . . you won't want to miss it

—— Silversurfers

A creepy, nuanced story that, with a growing sense of dread, subverts the ideals of motherhood so often presented as inviolable

—— Publishers Association

Buckle up for a riveting read . . . will have you alternately whizzing through the pages to see what happens next, and reading slowly with widened eyes

—— Prima, 'My Book of the Month'

[An] exploration of love, obsession and the dark truths of motherhood

—— Cosmopolitan, Best Books 2021

Reminiscent of We Need to Talk About Kevin, Ashley Audrain has delivered a provocative, compulsive novel about modern motherhood

—— Vogue UK

Compelling . . . A disturbing and complex tale about dysfunctional mother-daughter relationships. It's not always an easy read but it's absolutely one you won't be able to put down

—— Culturefly

Included in 'Books for 2021'

—— Sun

The mother of all thrillers! Like The Girl on the Train - but better!

—— Daily Mail

Utterly mesmerising. Ashley Audrain's powerful debut novel explores the challenges of motherhood and the terrifying isolation of being trapped within a sinister truth that no-one else believes.

—— Fiona Valpy, bestselling author of The Beekeeper's Promise

One of the most anticipated novels of this year . . . fast-paced, it has the ability to distract you from anything. Exactly what we need right now

—— Grazia

Written with an unflinching eye and a stylistically sharp, tight economy The Push is a single-sitting read, as suspenseful as any thriller, as thoughtful as any literary novel, with an almost physical force behind each of its turns and revelations. By the end, the reader will feel wrung out in the way only the best of books leaves you. Audrain's debut is a stunning, devastating novel and, frankly, one hell of a way to start a year of reading

—— Toronto Star

Included in 'Books to Watch 2021'

—— Evening Standard

Hooks you from the very first page and will have you racing to get to the end

—— Book Club Selection , Good Morning America

Included in 'Best New Books'

—— New York Post

This is a sterling addition to the burgeoning canon of bad seed suspense, from an arrestingly original new voice

—— Publishers Weekly

This taut and tense hurricane of a debut is best devoured in one sitting

—— Newsweek

This dazzling debut mixes page-turning suspense with a psychological drama

—— Working Motheer

Once you start in on this story, it becomes difficult to control yourself. A twisted, tight, and exhilarating drama

—— Goop

This psychological thriller about a mother's bond with her daughter will keep you turning pages

—— Woman's Day

This nuanced book challenges the notion of nature versus nurture, and whether a mother's love is enough. It's disturbing, painful and brilliant, holding a mirror up to society

—— Woman's Weekly

The Push is a thriller that is also a compelling examination of motherhood and of how trauma is passed down through generations

—— Herald

A tense, chilling dip into the dark side of motherhood . . . The Push is uncomfortable and provocative, like a train wreck that demands your gaze

—— Washington Post

The most tense, thrilling read that will chill and enthral in equal measure

—— Sun

Disturbingly brilliant . . . will render you speechless

—— Woman & Home 'Book of the Month'

A page-turning debut crafted with shrewd expertise - read it before the inevitable screen adaptation

—— Metro

Unflinching, moving and very, very powerful

—— Grazia

The clever and powerful psychological thriller everyone has been talking about . . . an unsettling, breathtaking and powerful read about obsession and our deepest fears that will stay with you long after you turn the final page

—— My Weekly

Audrain has the ability to mesmerise . . . heart-wrenching. A dark, pacy read

—— My Weekly

A compelling, visceral and bruising portrayal of motherhood that once read cannot ever be forgotten

—— Woman & Home

A chilling and beautifully written novel that will strike dread into the heart of any new parent. The ending gave me goosebumps

—— Mark Edwards, bestselling author of Here To Stay

A powerful debut about obsession and our deepest fears . . . will have you hooked

—— Living North

Exploring the dysfunctional lives of three generations of women, The Push deals with the way damage is handed down

—— Literary Review

A thought-provoking novel that delves deep into the emotional crevices of motherhood

—— Courier

Taut and gripping, this is a provocative look at motherhood

—— Psychologies

The Push is an unsettling and powerful read about obsession and our deepest fears that will stay with you long after you turn the final page

—— Eastern Daily Press

A gripping and vivid thriller . . . It's easy to understand why The Push has caught the attention of Hollywood film producers

—— Business Post

Compelling

—— The Herald

Remarkably told story which I couldn't put down. Deftly drawn characters...What a book! And the last line is creepy, haunting perfection

—— Christina Sweeney Baird, author of The End of Men

The danger that simmers throughout is so unbearably tense! A wonderful incisive look at maternal guilt ... the effect is staggering

—— Imran Mahmood

Fasten your seatbelt because this book is a face paced, page turning, psychological drama that will have you on the edge of your seat until the very last line

—— The Avondhu

Challenges the idyllic picture of motherhood, and will change what you know about being a mother. It is tenacious and really makes you think about what it's like when women aren't taken seriously

—— Female First

For fans of mum noir, The Push is an unsettling, breathtaking and powerful read about obsession and our deepest fears that will stay with you long after you turn the final page

—— Eastern Daily Press

This dark, psychological thriller offers such twists and turns that we start to doubt what we believe . . . And that sharp-intake-of-breath ending!

—— Manx Independent

I didn't sleep for a week after I finished it, but that's a small price to pay for a great book

—— Lauren Weisberger, author of The Devil Wears Prada

An unflinching examination of motherhood. Audrain lets no one in the Connor family off the hook, yet every character managed to elicit my sympathy. Brilliant, insightful, compassionate, and horrifying. I wish I could read it for the first time over and over. One of the best books I've read all year

—— Stephanie Wrobel

One of the most talked-about books of the year. This nuanced psychological book will make you question the notion of nature vs nurture. Disturbing, painful and brilliant

—— Woman & Home

This unsettling debut was so riveting it had me devouring pages and then reading slowly with widened eyes

—— Prima

Addictively readable . . . shines a disturbing light into the darkest recesses of motherhood

—— Daily Mail, Must Read Paperbacks

Compulsively readable

—— Daily Express

An unsettling, breathtaking and powerful read about obsession and our deepest fears that will stay with you long after you turn the final page.

—— Eastern Daily Press

A raw and visceral exploration of a mother-daughter relationship; a haunting and heartbreaking novel that will leave you thinking about it for days after you finish the last page

—— Female First
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