Thank you to Netgalley and Atlantic Books for the arc of the nothing man by Catherine Ryan Howard.

5 star read as it was a mindblowing, captivating, hooking, gripping, mesmerising and surprising book, This is This is mix between True Crime podcasts to documentaries as well as memoirs and bipgraphies which this book is basically them inside of a thriller book like WOW WOW WOW!!!!! Catherines writing style is just something else it is impeccably brilliant oh my gosh! loved loved loved it !!!

RECOMMEND HIGHLY!!!!!!!

I really enjoyed this and couldn’t put it down.
Captivating and different, I’ll be recommending for our book club.
Loved the characters and the whole concept.

This is just a great read! Perfectly balanced psychological thriller, and a definite page Turner! Many thanks to publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Eve Black survived a violent attack on her family but the killer was never caught. Now she has wrote a book about her experience and the killer is reading it

I really enjoyed this book. I found the story very compelling and fast paced that I just wanted to keep reading it to find out what was going to happen.

It's always hard to review thrillers without giving too much away so all I can really say about this book is that it was different and fresh. Good thrillers need to stand out and have something different as a lot of them are along the same lines.

This one I really enjoyed but I did find the end a little bit nice and neat but there was a little twist. This is the second book by this author I have read and have enjoyed both so will read more in the future.

Thank you to the publisher via Netgalley for the book to review.

From the outset we know the identity of The Nothing Man. He is a security guard in his sixties, Jim Doyle. We know he is a killer, we know that Eve Black survived his attack when she was just 12 years old and has now set out to try to catch him. She has written a book about him and we get to read that book at the same time as Jim Doyle reads it.
Eve’s story is ‘a book within a book’ and the result is just brilliant, a really first class read. Eve’s writings are interspersed with the reactions of Jim when he reads each section of the book.
What will Eve’s book tell Jim about her investigations? How close is she to identifying The Nothing Man? Does Jim have anything to worry about? Does Jim need to take any action to protect his identity?
Highly recommend this original and unique book.
Thanks to NetGalley for a Kindle copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A 12 year old girl survives an attack on her family killing her parents and sister. A serial killer remains free while she spends the next 15 years in a fog of fear, mistrust and isolation. Education reveals a talent for writing and circumstances result in a tutor encouraging her to write her story. But what if she writes his story as a tool to seek retribution and justice for her lost life and slaughtered family. So we the reader begin reading the book outlining an obsessive search to find a serial killer, using long lost memories and stories of other victims to shake the very foundations of the man who escaped justice . To bring him out of nowhere into the light and scrutiny of justice. A difficult subject written in two timelines, present and past memories covering traumatic events. A well constructed and written conclusion that cannot change events but resolves a long standing mystery. Many thanks to publisher and NetGalley for .ARC .

This was a very different book to what I usually read and I was very interested to read it. It was brilliant and very compelling. I was very impressed with how this was written and it didn’t bore me in fact, quite the opposite. Based on a true story there were times when I had to re read a sentence or two to take in what was written.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Oh what an excellent book, I loved it. I know that "who dunnits" generally, follow a thread to an expected conclusion and for the most part we all try to work out who did what to whom. Here we have something different, we know who holds the two ends of the thread that make up this story. What makes it such a great story is the unravelling of all the knots in the thread until the whole story is laid out before us.

Loved the knots, loved the way the knots were tied and thoroughly enjoyed their unravelling. I will be very surprised if you do not enjoy them too.

“I was the girl who survived the Nothing Man. Now I am the woman who is going to catch him.”

These are from the opening pages of Eve Black’s true crime memoir, “The Nothing Man: A Survivors Search for the Truth”. The Nothing Man committed a string of home invasions, assaults and murders, twenty years ago in Cork county. Named so by the press because he leaves no evidence behind at the scene of the crime. At the age of twelve, Eve was the only member of her family to survive a Nothing Man attack, now as an adult she is obsessed with finding the man that ruined her life.

Supermarket security guard Jim Doyle is reading it too. The Nothing Man was - is - his other name. With each turning page Jim’s rage grows, he needs to know what Eve knows. The more he reads the more he realises how dangerously close Eve is to getting to the truth.

I love the concept of reading a book within a book, getting fully immersed into Eve’s story telling only to be interrupted and punctuated with Jim’s reactions and corrections. This was my first Catherine Ryan Howard book and I will definitely be reading more. Her easy to consume writing style, memorable characters and fascinating structure makes for a great thriller book!

WHAT A READ!!! I was completely captivated by The Nothing Man and I read it one sitting, barely raising my head from the book until I reached the satisfying ending.

Who is The Nothing Man? It’s the name given to a serial killer who, two decades ago, in Cork, entered homes, assaulted and killed its occupants. His latest victims where the Black family and, after killing the mother, the father, and the youngest daughter, he disappeared and he was never found. Eve Black is the only survivor of the attack and she’s written a book that investigates the crimes of the Nothing Man in the hope to find the killer once and for all.

We, the readers, know from the beginning who the Nothing Man is because, as we read extracts from Eve’s book, we also read Jim Doyle’s perspective as he reads the book himself. Who is Jim Doyle? Jim is a man in his sixties who works as a security guard in a supermarket. There is nothing exceptional about him, except that he is the Nothing Man and he’s escaped capture for the last twenty years. But what if the book that Eve’s written could reveal his identity? And why did he leave Eve alive twenty years ago? The Nothing Man is not simply a story of a serial killer, but it’s also the story of his victims. Through Eve’s narrative, we read the other victims’ stories and Eve’s story as well. Eve describes her pain, her fears, and being labelled as a survivor.

I was completely addicted to this story. It is very well-written, well-developed, and detailed. The plot is original, twisty, and chilling and I had goose-bumps, even though I was right into the middle of a heat wave. If there is a thriller to read this year, this is it. Don’t miss this remarkable unputdownable novel!

excellent read.
This book is a psychological thriller, there are some twist but mainly it followers the story of a girl who survived a serial killer and now wants to catch him. The plot was unique as its a book being read in the book by the serial killer himself and written by the victim.
Very different from your normal cat and mouse chase, serial killer reads

I thoroughly enjoyed this read! It reminded me of the best of true crime, and the tragic story of Michelle McNamara and her quest to find the golden state killer. It felt real and tangible and all the more thrilling for it! Not a mystery, but a cat and mouse chase that will have you racing through the pages.

What a breath of fresh air this book is. From the title and the narrative structure to the plot. This is a book that the genre needed. This is a book I needed.

The characters are so real and compelling, with nuanced actions and emotions. The narrative structure that permits an insight into the mind of Jim Doyle reveals a terrifying, yet somehow pitiable man because of his hubris. Eve is determined and brave, and yet even she has blind spots that make her so realistic. The plot is exceptional. building the tension to almost painful levels, before releasing the pressure. There are moments of hope, sadness and poignancy, particularly when Eve remembers her family and a wonderfully bittersweet conclusion that had me gasping.

I am eagerly awaiting the author's next book.

My thanks go to the publishers and Netgalley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Very much enjoyed this original twist on a serial killer story. I have to admit it got a bit confusing because you are reading a book in a book whilst also following the real time actions but once I sorted that out I was hooked. It wasn’t the sort of book where you are waiting for the ultimate twist and it didn’t need any big shocks even though there were one or two but it was a story that you just had to read to the end.
I’m delighted to recommend this as a thoroughly good read.

This book is just…wow. I was hooked from the first page, honestly this story was captivating, it’s the kind of book that you are desperate to see what happens but also really don’t want it to end.

Going into the book I was both intrigued by the fact that we know who the killer is but I also wondered if there would be the same kind of suspense as there would be if we didn’t know. All I can say is I was on the edge of my seat, it was thrilling getting to experience Jim’s reactions to the book and as he gets closer to finding out if what Eve knows will expose him I could feel the panic as if it were my own.

The split of the passages between Jim’s narrative and Eve’s book were expertly done, I thought the tonal change worked so well and really heightened the suspense. I also liked that it felt like I was getting a true crime book and a thriller at the same time, it is such a unique take on a story.

I don’t want to say too much more about the story but another thing that I loved exploring was the contrast of the things The Nothing Man has done, which are sensationalised and notorious, against Jim as he is now. It just added that extra layer of brilliance to an already clever story and is the kind of thing that can really make me invest in the story that bit deeper.

I wish I could go on and on but to be honest this is just one that you should read and experience for yourself, it is a book that you don’t want to miss.

Absolutely brilliant. No more needs be said but I categorically recommended this book, with bells on. Superbly written with heart and soul. Drama, suspense and thrills abound. Grab a cuppa and a comfy seat as you will not want to stop once you start.

Highly recommended 5 stars.

I am so excited to be part of the Ambassador Book Buzz for The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard. Thank you to the amazing team at LoveReading and Corvus for this opportunity.

Needless to say, this book made me stay up all night, just to find out how it ends.

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.

The Nothing Man starts when Jim is at work, walking through the supermarket, and he notices that a girl has a book with the name "The Nothing Man" with her. His heart starts racing - because he knows what it means. The Nothing Man is a mysterious man that has assaulted and killed many people in the area, and even after twenty years, no one has found him yet. But Jim knows the truth - because he is the man who did all these crimes.

Eve Black is one of the survivors, that managed to escape his attack by hiding in her bathroom. She writes a book about her experiences and the experiences of the other victims. With her whole family dead and nothing to lose, she is set to find out, once and for all, who the mysterious man is.

I loved the writing style - the book within the book - it was unusual and very interesting for me to engage with. I was so intrigued and invested, and that did not change at all. There are many twists and turns in this book, and you will enjoy them all, especially the very ending, where everything just comes to a big climax. It kept me glued to my seat, and I want more.

I loved the difference between Jim and Eve - their different recollections to how things happened, and why they did. In her book, Eve is explaining how the attacks and murders took place, and right after that, we also witness Jim's reaction to Eve's writing, and whether he agrees or not with how correct her facts are. It was very scary at times, to read from the killer's perspective, and the reasons of why he made some choices.

The more Jim reads, the more he realizes how dangerously close Eve is getting to the truth. He knows she won't give up until she finds him. He has no choice but to stop her first...

Usually, in our standard crime books, we have a crime scene, then suspects, and then we figure our way to finding the murderer. But here - we already know who the murderer is at the beginning of the story. But the rest of the world doesn't. And this is a concept that I haven't encountered yet, but really enjoyed it. Because this is something we don't think about often - when we have a crime, and we don't know who did it, the person that is guilty is out there somewhere, and knows he's deceived us.

The other important message from this book is to remember the victims.

Everyone remembers the name of a serial killer - but only few remember the victim's names.

"It's fine to be fascinated by serial killers," she tells me in her office after the lecture. "I am myself, obviously. They are fascinating because even though they look just like the rest of us, they do things the rest of us would never, ever do. But they are not especially intelligent. They don't outsmart authorities. You know David Berkowitz? Son of Sam? They caught him because he got himself a parking ticket at the scene of one of his crimes.

They are boring, ordinary, failures of men - not always men, of course, but predominately - who can't even manage to live, love and process their feelings in a world where the rest of us have all managed to master it by the time we're in our teens. These are no dark magicians. They have no special skills. People seem to forget that we know their names because they got caught. In fact, the only remarkable thing about them is what they took from the world: their victims. It's their names we should know."

Eve's book and her investigation behind the book had some powerful psychological lessons, and I enjoyed learning everything. If you already love true crime, and psychological thrillers, you have to absolutely read this and soon. This book is too good to be skipped.

My thanks to Atlantic Books Corvus for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Nothing Man’ by Catherine Ryan Howard in exchange for an honest review.

As it had just been published when I started reading I bought its audiobook edition, narrated by Alana Kerr Collins and John Keating, and combined this with the eARC for an immersive experience.

“I was the girl who survived the Nothing Man.
Now I am the woman who is going to catch him...”

This is the opening of Eve Black’s true crime memoir, ‘The Nothing Man: A Survivor’s Search for the Truth’, in which she shares details of the horrific murder of her parents and young sister in Cork some twenty years previously as well as recounting the other crimes committed by him.

The book catches the eye of Jim Doyle, a supermarket security guard. As he reads its pages his rage grows as he had been the Nothing Man, so named as he left no evidence for the Garda. He can tell that Eve is getting dangerously close to the truth and knows that he has to stop her and so comes out of retirement.

Well, talk about a hook! Likely not a great surprise that I read this in a single sitting. It was simply brilliant; well crafted and written in an economic style with sections of Eve’s true crime book imbedded into the narrative.

While there is no mystery as to the identity of the serial killer there is plenty of tension and yes twists. This is simply an excellent and unusual crime thriller.

A must read for lovers of crime fiction.

This is a great book from Catherine Ryan Howard. It set in the Cork area of Ireland which I enjoyed as it's an area I'd like to visit and reading about made it come to life a little in a positive way despite the subject matter..

Eve Black is the only survivor of horrific attack on her family in 2001 when Eva was twelve years old. Her parents and seven year old sister died that evening. It was the fifth and last in a series of attacks over a period of 21 months that were believed to be related as the victims were all restrained with the same braided blue rope.

In 2015, Eve, now in her twenties, wrote an article titled 'The Girl Who' which was published in the Irish Times and on their website and went viral shortly after. Eve was then encouraged to write a book in the hope of finally catching the perpetrator of these horrific crimes committed at the start of the millennium. She meets up with up with Detective Inspector Edward Healy who has spent most of his career in the Gardaí (Irish Police) trying to solve this case and welcomes the idea of a book to try and make use of any knowledge, no matter how scant, that readers can contribute to solve it.Eve entitles the book The Nothing Man as she wants to emphasize that the person responsible is probably very ordinary and dull despite having managed to escape justice for almost two decades.

The book alternates between the viewpoints of The Nothing Man, actually a shopping centre security guard called Jim Doyle, and Eve's book. The change in viewpoint was very clear (on my Kindle) as the font was much larger for Jim's story compared to Eve's. This was very helpful as I sometimes struggle with books with more than one point of view as the transition isn't always clearly marked.

I found some of the crime details upsetting and would have preferred less of these and they also felt long and drawn out at times. with some repetition. It was a great story though and made me want to keep turning the pages as I wanted to know how it turned out.

With thanks to NetGalley and Atlantic Books for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was one of the Best Books I have read this Year! Hang on in a very long time.

The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard was just Brilliant!

This book starts with “I was the girl who survived the Nothing Man. Now I am the woman who is going catch him.” What a header this was.......No wonder I was hooked!!!! and I know you will be!!!

I Highly recommend The Nothing Man and it would make a brilliant TV series. Bloody Brilliant!!!

If I could give it more Stars I would!

Big Thank you to Netgalley and Atlantic Books for my ARC in exchange for an honest unbiased review.