The nothing man was an excellent read. Full of amazing characters that were well thought out, and an excellent plot

I loved this! Catherine Ryan Howard tells a story about a serial killer in a very different way to the way we are used to! A breath of fresh air to the norm!

Catherine Ryan Howard has composed a book that lifts to unique levels the experience of reading thrillers with a wily plot of perilous tension and a writing craft that amplifies the fascination with the cold remorseless mind of a serial killer.

The remarkable sense of this thriller is that it feels like a true crime story because it is so vividly portrayed with an observational quality and depth of rational thinking that imbue a notion of reality. Yet in Catherine Howard’s own words “this is a work of fiction even the facts are fiction”. Truly an outstanding thriller that skilfully holds the question of hunter versus hunted on a tantalising edge.

Eve Black was twelve years old when her family was slaughtered by the Nothing Man. A killer so named because the police could find 'nothing' in their investigations as to his identity. The only survivor of that fateful night, Eve, has suffered from unresolved issues and a pang of guilt that has been circling her for a long time, a loss that she feels to her core, and a need for retribution that has lasted for nearly twenty years. Determined to discover who the Nothing Man is, Eve writes a memoir novel called The Nothing Man to try and flush him out.

“I was the girl who survived the Nothing Man. Now I am the woman who is going to catch him ... You’ve just read the opening pages of The Nothing Man, the true-crime memoir Eve Black has written about her obsessive search for the man who killed her family nearly two decades ago. Supermarket security guard Jim Doyle is reading it too, and with each turn of the page his rage grows. Because Jim was – is – the Nothing Man.”

Knowing who the Nothing Man is, is not a spoiler but rather gives us knowledge that Eve doesn’t have and creates a tense element of drama. The story is narrated from the perspectives of Eve and Jim Doyle. The clever structure of this novel adds unique perspectives which provide a book within a book to tell parts of the story and build The Nothing Man’s rage to finish the job.

Images of the cruelty breakthrough every now and again to remind the reader of how cold-hearted the killer was. A psychopathic killer without limits treating murder as a chilling satisfaction of dominance. A Garda officer at the time Ed has always kept the case alive and now works with Eve to flush the killer out.

“I imagined him feeling safe, maybe even smug, sure that since he had avoided detection all these years, no one was ever going to come for him now. But I was coming for him, with Ed by my side. It was only a matter of time.”

The enthralling suspense that plays out is wonderfully maintained throughout the novel and leads to a cleverly crafted climax.

One of the best thrillers in 2020 and I would highly recommend it. I would like to thank Atlantic Books, Corvus and NetGalley for providing me with a free ARC in return for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book, but found it a little predictable in regards to the ending. On the whole it kept me interested and I would read more from this author in future

This is one of the scariest books I've read in ages and I couldn't put it down. Made me afraid to switch off the light!! I highly recommend this book. I always like to discover a new author and thus one definitely goes to the top of my faves list.

A clever premise well executed. I enjoyed the format of book chapters within book chapters, providing two 'narratives' to the story without having two active narrators. The 'book chapters' were an emotional read, getting inside the head of someone who lived through a shocking murder, making the book read like true crime as well as fiction. I always love books that feature the thoughts of a serial killer too. This was great fun, with writing that flowed well and a great twist.

I'll confess I've become a fan of Catherine Howard's books since stumbling across one of her books on my wife's Kindle.
Have now read them all and thoroughly enjoy them.
Well researched and perfectly written.
Many more please

I loved that this book had a book within a book element to it which is one of my favourite tropes in fiction. I also really enjoyed that the nothing man had a true crime feel to it so would recommend for readers wanting to bridge to gap venturing from fiction thrillers to true crime

Thanks netgalley and the publisher for allowing to review this book.
A brilliant writer with an amazing style of putting this story into print.

This is an I intriguing book as it’s perspectives are different to normal thrillers which I thoroughly enjoyed. It is a page turner so don’t start it unless you’re prepared to give up normal life for a while. Great characters with the story unfolding like an onion skin - a very well deserved five stars.

First off, I received this book in the mail one morning last week and flew through it in a few hours!
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This book was so unique! I have never read a book within a book before. The true-crime memoir written within felt SO real (and really reminded me of I’ll Be Gone In The Dark). I love true-crime so this really intrigued me and I left the book almost feeling as though Jim Doyle was a real person and these were real crimes. However, I actually found myself enjoying Jim’s chapters more. They were more fast-paced and his narration is so intense and creepy. Overall, I did predict the ending, but I read A LOT of thrillers so I think that lots of people could really enjoy the final twist!⁣⁣⁣
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The Nothing Man is the perfect mix of a fast-paced thriller with a twisted main character and a true-crime memoir which leaves you feeling for the victims and craving justice. As I said before it’s hard to not find yourself so wrapped up in the story that you start to believe it’s real! Moreover, I also appreciated the message - that although people do have fascinations with serial killers, the focus should be on the victims, rather than the over sensationalised killers.⁣⁣⁣
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I just loved it and can’t wait to read Catherine‘s next book

Imagine walking past the book section in a supermarket and seeing an entire section of shelving given over to a sensational new book all about you. For you are a cruel rapist and serial killer who has been hiding in obscurity for many years now reading the words written by the “girl who you” failed to kill; become “the woman who” is determined to catch you once and for all.

The Nothing Man is a gripping, expertly paced crime thriller that perfectly captures the zeitgeist of True Crime fandom over the last decade. With shades of the Golden State Killer case this book within a book is an imaginative and skillfully written tale that will hold your interest even though we know “who done it” right from the very start. Catherine Ryan Howard is a very clever writer and one that I will keep an eye out for in future.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publishers for a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Wow wow wow!

Speechless!

That is some book!

No idea how the author came up with idea of a serial killer reading a true crime book about himself, when he's never been caught.

We have a book within a book and the only live action we have is from The Nothing Man's point of view.

Its fascinating, its addictive and there were elements towards the end I would have never predicted.

Catherine Ryan Howard keeps managing to come up with unique ways of storytelling that are able to blow my mind.

Just wow!

Thank you to Netgalley and Corvus for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Expertly Plotted Crime.....
Expertly plotted crime with a compulsive, engaging plot. Who is the Nothing Man and what will he do next? The true crime memoir written by Eve Black has certainly enraged him. Whilst Eve obsessively searches for the man she calls the Nothing Man, Jim Doyle is getting cross, very cross indeed. Excellent, edge of seat reading.

In the City of Cork, a twelve-year-old girl, Eve Black, becomes the last victim of a serial rapist and murderer, “The Nowhere Man”, not because he physically harmed her but because she was left alive when both her parents and her younger sister were killed. Whipped away by her grannie to a secluded location, traumatised and suffering from selective memory loss, she is brought up initially with a false name and history to ensure he cannot find her and finish his work. As an adult, however, she writes a factual and nuanced book describing and discussing his crimes and hinting that she can now identify him.
The story evolves from two separate views, Eve’s, as described in her book, and his, as he reads and rereads the book in an attempt to discover if she does know who he is. The other mystery, why was she spared, is a strand that runs throughout both of these. This works well as a strategy and overall the two voices are well managed. There are some problems with the actual plot but these don’t interfere with reading and enjoying the book, and both mysteries are resolved. I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

I really enjoyed this book. It was different to anything I’ve read. Thrilling and I couldn’t put it down. I read it in one sitting. Great story and interesting characters. Highly recommended

“He wanted to see the terror in their eyes, feel it in their shaking limbs…”The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard.

The Nothing Man is a fast-paced psychological thriller written by Catherine Ryan Howard.
At the age of just twelve years old, Eve Black is the only member of her family to survive an horrific attack by the serial killer known as The Nothing Man.
As an adult Eve writes a memoir detailing her terrible ordeal and her devotion to findingThe Nothing Man and finally bringing him to justice. The killer himself comes across the book and becomes enraged by what he reads. He is determined to stop Eve before she discovers who he is. It is now time to get the one who got away.

“The crying and shaking had started immediately. He’d always been especially proud of that.” The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard.

This book is written differently from most other thrillers I have read in that we know who the killer is right from the very beginning. The plot is swiftly carried forward by Eve’s need to catch the killer of her family and The Nothing Man’s need to evade capture and to kill one last time.
I found this book to be compelling, almost impossible to put down with three-dimensional characters that are intriguing and engaging and prose that flowed effortlessly from the beginning to the twisty turny end that I just did not see coming.
Catherine Ryan Howard is fast becoming a favourite author of mine and I thoroughly recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Catherine Ryan Howard and the Publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Creepy, intense, realistic, gripping, enthralling and fascinating.

Just some of the adjectives that came to mind when I was reading The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard.

Eve Black is the only survivor of The Nothing Man, a serial killer so named by the Press as the Gardai (Irish police) literally had nothing on him with which to identify him. The Nothing Man murdered Eve's parents and her sister when she was 12 years old. She never spoke of that night and lived thereafter in virtual anonymity. Until now. At the age of 30, Eve has written a memoir of her life and that horrific night, also detailing all of the crimes of The Nothing Man, in the hope of flushing him out.

Jim Doyle, a security guard in a shopping centre reads the book. As the person responsible for the Nothing Man's crimes, he is both horrified by what he is reading while at the same time, he is reliving his glory days. His anger at having let Eve survive the initial attack is mounting.

Who will get to who first?

This is such a rollercoaster thriller. It is really well written and takes the form of a book within a book. Reminiscent of I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara, it is an exciting concept and works really well here. You are literally reading the memoir at the same time as the killer. Captivating and absorbing from the first page, this is not a book to be missed. An easy 5 stars!

The Nothing Man is superb, one of those books that promises something new and delivers on all fronts.

Eve Black survived the murder of her parents and her younger sister when she was just 12 but understandably the night it happens haunts her and given that the man who committed the crime was never caught, Eve has spent her life being watchful. Until now when she decides to do a podcast, and then write a book to try and jog memories and find the man responsible.

The other half of the book tells the tale from the perpetrator's perspective and how he hopes to continue living his life and that could mean making Eve keep quiet.

The plot is ingenious and the writing compelling, one of my top reads of 2020.

A psychological thriller that is different. Eve Black is was 12 when all of her family were murdered by a killer who police called The Nothing Man. Now years later, Eve has written a book about The Nothing Man detailing all the murders that he committed along with the evidence for each one.
Jim Doyle, a security guard for a shop, reads the book and this story shows Doyle's reaction to reading It.
Although I realised what would happen at the end, I was fascinated with how the killer's mind works and how tiny pieces of evidence piece together to link the murders.
Thanks to net gallery for the ARC for an honest review