I'm conflicted with this novel it was good and I liked the twists and I didn't guess the ending completely but there are points in it that just didn't work for me,
I've read previous novels by Catherine Ryan Howard which I've enjoyed but this is totally different to her other work.
Its the story about Adele Rafferty who was a child actress in a famous soap who quit when she thought she was going to make it big in the movies, which unfortunately for her never happened so when she gets a call to leave LA and go back to Ireland to make a low budget horror film she thinks this could be the start of her comeback, but soon fiction is becoming a reality and Adele isn't sure what is real or not. The book alternates between whats happening with Adele, the fictional movie script & book which I did find distracting.

Run Time is the latest thriller by Catherine Ryan Howard and whilst it was very readable the overall storyline seemed to just lack a little.

Whether that was the script part which was confusing or whether the main character was just too unbelievable I’m not sure however I did feel slightly disappointed at the end.

I enjoyed the concept of this more than the actual experience of reading it as it was all too frantic and unbelievable. Adele was a bit of a mishmash and not likeable, in fact no one was really likeable. I think I probably missed the point of this but after absolutely loving 56Days, I was a bit underwhelmed.

‘It all started the day of the audition.’
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Strap yourselves in for August 11th for the release of Catherine Ryan Howard new book! And if you’ve read ANY of her work before, you know you’re in for one hell of a treat! Easily one of my favourite authors! My advice? Pre Order right now!!
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The project
Final Draft, a psychological horror, being filmed at a house deep in a forest, miles from anywhere in the wintry wilds of West Cork.
The lead
Former soap-star Adele Rafferty has stepped in to replace the original actress at the very last minute. She can’t help but hope that this opportunity will be her big break – and she knows she was lucky to get it, after what happened the last time she was on a set.
The problem
Something isn’t quite right about Final Draft. When the strange goings-on in the script start to happen on set too, Adele begins to fear that the real horror lies off the page…
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I feel as though this is my new favourite Catherine Ryan Howard!! I couldn’t have read it faster and if this isn’t picked up to be made into a movie or tv show I will be shocked as I could visualise everything so vividly in my head! Such a clever concept and so well executed! Yet again excelling herself as an author, I’m already excited for what may come next!!

I was very taken by the blurb of this one as it sounded really good but unfortunately it just didn’t work for me. I didn’t like or relate to Adele the main character in anyway, I found the film script part of the narrative confusing and generally just felt that it was lacking something although I couldn’t put my finger on what. A shame as it had so much potential and I do enjoy this authors books normally.

A brilliant pacy novel set on a movie set with a story-within-a-story. A heroine escaping her past in LA gets a phone call for a role back in Ireland - her hometown. She agrees but the shoot triggers memories when unexplainable things occur...Is life imitating art?
I loved this one!! I’ve read all of Howard’s books and she’s a consistently great author. I loved the way she builds tension and how immersive her books always are. A compelling thriller about the dark side of moviemaking and overcoming trauma.

I wish I had enjoyed this book more. I wasn't taken with the main character, and I found the plot a bit muddling, and slow. I just didn't enjoy it I am afraid to say.

I could not get enough of this book.

I loved the combination of the story being told in real time and then the script showing what Adele was reading/filming. I felt it added more depth to the story as you could see it more from Adele’s POV what it was that she was reading and how that compared to what she was experiencing in real time.

I found the horror elements to be really well written to the point that I started hearing similar noises to what was described in the book and convinced myself that it was all happening in real time.

When the first reveal happened, I honestly was a bit disappointed. I thought, surely this isn’t the whole storyline being revealed. But no, luckily it wasn’t. And the actual full reveal was more unexpected but not surprising. I kinda liked it.

My favourite section of the book was ‘Act ll’ as that was where all the action really kicked in.

I think this is a really good book to read near to halloween if you want to get into a spooky mood. I’d be interested to see this as a film.

I was really looking forward to reading this book after enjoying The Nothing Man, and it’s safe to say I wasn’t disappointed. This is a thriller with a touch of horror and a dash of Scream-style self-awareness, making it perfect for fans of any of these aspects.

In this book we follow main character Adele, who is a former soap actor living in Los Angeles. After some unspecified traumatic event in her native Ireland she’s struggling to find work and is making ends meet by working in a crummy motel.

So, when she suddenly gets a job offer back home for a horror movie that could relaunch her career, she jumps at the chance to get on the plane and get started with the (admittedly weird) shoot.

However, she soon finds the set-up is even stranger than she had first thought - and when things on set start to imitate the plot of the movie in which she’s starring, Adele begins to question what’s real and whether this was a good idea at all.

I absolutely loved Adele’s character in this book. She’s self-deprecating and very funny from the outset, which makes you root for her straight away. I also really enjoyed the deliciously creepy setting of the cabin in the woods, particularly combined with the idea of the night shoots skewing Adele’s perception of reality.

I will say this book gets very meta at times, so you do need to keep on top of that to follow the story. We sometimes jump to reading the script of Adele’s movie Final Draft, which in turn features excerpts from the novel on which it is supposed to be based, so there was some slight confusion at first as to which character I was ‘with’.

The middle of the book also features a lot of Adele running around in the woods by herself, so I felt the pace slowed a little at this point without the benefit of other characters and their dialogue to bounce off.

However, these minor points didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book and I found myself flying through it just as quickly as I did The Nothing Man. The payoff was also good in the final denouement, even if I did guess a small part of what was going on. I’ll definitely be interested in seeing what Catherine Ryan Howard does next!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atlantic Books/Corvus for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Having so enjoyed this author's previous book 56 Days, which I loved, I was so looking forward to this one. However, unfortunately, for me this wasn't in the same league.

It's an interesting premise of an actress who, desperate for a break following a successful soap run, but, little else recently lands a role in a horror film based in her native Ireland. So far, so good. What works is the character driven detail and the isolation of the film within a book. What didn't for me, was the repetition caused by the film within a book, the loss of momentum and the underwhelming conclusion.

Overall, a disappointing 2* OK read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atlantic Books Corvus for the opportunity to preview.

An incredibly enjoyable thriller! I loved reading this, it was so fun and I never had any idea where the story was going next. Plus Catherine Ryan Howard really nails that "creepy horror film" atmosphere. Superb!

I'm kind of confused as to whether I liked this book or not and to be honest I think the whole concept is confusing and that's why I'm confused!
Adele has been asked out of nowhere to be the lead role in a small budget horror movie, she jumps at the chance, as it might be the start of her return to the spotlight and help to banish all the bad things that happened before. The movie is called 'Final Draft' and is about a couple on a romantic getaway and the girl is reading a book and realises that the book is based on her and her situation. So you have the book dialogue and then the girl(Kate) in the movie dialogue and then you have Adele in real time dialogue. That's when things get confusing and a bit out there.

Once things picked up a bit, I was actually interested in it and I flew through it and I was eager to find out what happened. However, there was a bit too much of Adele on her own, rambling incoherently and getting hurt. Then when she started to doubt herself and what had really happened, it just got more confusing again.

Following the plot of the book, (the one in the movie) it was obvious what way the actual plot would go and who would turn out to be the crazy one, that surprise kind of got spoilt. The whole thing was very twisted and as much as I could follow it, I did enjoy it.

The best way to describe it is actually from a paragraph at the end of the book. ' Mysteries only exist because you don't have the answers & when you get them, all the mystery vanishes. Whenever the explanation comes, whatever it is, it can't live up to those ''what the hell is going on here?''moments at the start'.

Catherine Ryan Howard’s newest novel, Run Time, centres around Adele Rafferty, former child soap star, who steps in last minute to replace the lead actor on a horror movie being filmed with a skeleton crew at a remote location in West Cork.

I am not a fan of horror movies, in fact I’m a total wuss, so it’s safe to say I would not be watching the book’s movie ‘Final Draft.’ I read this book on kindle and I usually read my kindle in bed but I had to stop leaving it to bedtime to read Run Time. I was having dreams about running through the woods in total darkness 👀

The plot is a thrilling ride of emotion: I was scared, I was confused, I was shocked. My anxiety was through the roof and I just couldn’t put it down; I had to see what happened next. It’s very meta: it’s a story within a movie that’s about a book. And those are just a few of the ‘levels’ this book operates at. ‘Expect the unexpected’ is the way to approach Ryan Howard’s outstanding books. She is fast becoming one of my favourite authors.

A desperate actor tries to break back into film after she has an on-set breakdown but ends up stuck in a secluded location of rural Ireland filming a horror movie that begins to imitate its own script. Run Time takes meta fiction to its absolute limits, a book about a film about a book that seems to enact itself on the reader, then becoming reality for the actor and film crew. But of course it’s all a cruel trick, and there are twists I personally didn’t see coming. I love Catherine Ryan Howard’s thrillers but I didn’t find her latest quite as engaging as the others and I think that was because I found the sections written as scripts quite hard going to get through. Not my favourite of hers, but still a good read.

Adele is an actress who played the same part in an Irish soap opera for 14 years. Now she is trying to make it in Hollywood and jumps at the chance to play Kate in a low budget, skeleton staff horror movie set in West Cork. Once on set, she realises that things are not what they seem and that this opportunity might just seem too good to be true.

Wow! This book is not for the faint hearted. It really terrified me in parts which I loved! It was so exciting, fast paced and highly entertaining. Catherine Ryan Howard is one of the hottest crime writers out there and every book she writes is better than the last! Amazing!

I wasn't sure how to feel going into this one. I'm a big fan of Catherine's books but I'm not into horror movies at all so the blurb didn't really appeal. I'm so glad I gave this a go though as I really enjoyed it.

I absolutely love the author's writing style. It's conversational, descriptive and generally just really compelling. She is also great at world building and I could picture the characters and locations really vividly.

The story itself held my interest for the most part - I did get a little bit bored with the main character running through the woods but otherwise I was hooked. My only other quibble is what the author actually says herself - with all the exciting build up the ending was a little bit disappointing and predictable.

This definitely wasn't my favourite of the author's books but it was still a brilliant piece of writing and I would recommend it.

This was a read that was full of suspense and as the tension mounted I could feel the claustrophobia kicking in as the story progressed. I have to say it did take me a while to get into the book I found it a bit confusing with the film script parts of Final Draft and while I think it was integral to the story it did seem to spoil the flow a bit and to be honest it doesn’t take much to confuse me at times so maybe that was the problem , me !
The characters were well written and I did like Adele a lot she had far more guts than I have !
I enjoyed the premise of the story it was certainly very creepy and the book was a quick read I didn’t like it as much as the authors previous ones but still thought it was good it just had something missing but again maybe that was just me being picky.
So overall I would give this 3 stars and look forward to the next book from The super talented Catherine Ryan Howard.
My thanks to NetGalley and Atlantic Books, Corvus for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

"Meta" seems almost inadequate to describe the plot of Run Time, about a book called First Draft within a movie called Final Draft within a story narrated here by actress Adele Rafferty, formerly a regular on an Irish soap opera, now failing to make it in LA.

I knew from the start I was going to enjoy this, with Adele's narrative alternating with excerpts from the script of Final Draft, the Irish low budget horror film she is unexpectedly offered the lead role in. Of course, her dreams of a triumphant comeback don't go entirely according to plan. Low budget is one thing but the crew are both few in number and weirdly unprofessional, and it's not longer before things turn sinister - or do they? Deep in the countryside with few means of contacting the outside world, who, if anyone, can Adele trust?

It did all get a bit convoluted towards the end, but this was a cracking read which I thoroughly enjoyed. Many thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

Catherine Ryan Howard is a must read for me. Whatever she comes up with I am in! Even if it is a book about a horror movie film. I am neither into horror nor into movies. But if CRH writes it? Well it left me no chance!
What I love so much about her writing style is, that you can hardly stop at the end of a chapter. You always will want to know what comes next.

Twisty, addictive, clever, on the edge of your seat, compelling, choose any- they'll all fit!
Thanks #NetGalley #Atlantic Books, Corvus for this ARC

This is the second Catherine Ryan Howard book that I have read, after 56 Days and I was immediately hooked when it came to this story.
As a big fan of horror movies the whole idea of Run Time was a particularly interesting one.
I liked how the script/novel was interwoven with the current day and found Adele to be a good protagonist, even if I didn't always agree with her decisions.
The tension that was created once things start to mirror the book was fantastic. It definitely gave me those creepy horror movie but happening in real life vibes. It also made it hard to put down.
Like the book even refers to itself, the reveal at the end is pretty much never as exciting or good as what has led up to it in horror movies and that's definitely how I felt about this.
There were too many reveals/twists all going on at once that I had to take a second to stop and think what was actually going on. I also feel like when we find out who is behind everything it wasn't as interesting a person or reason as I thought it was going to be.
Admittedly, I didn't work out who was behind everything but then when you find out that several different people are doing different things that result in what is happening to Adele, it felt like a bit of a stretch.
However, I did love the scenes in which creepy things were going and Adele was running through the forest. Those were so strong that I don't think I can give this anything less than 4 stars.
I'm also always now intrigued when I see a new Catherine Ryan Howard release so I will certainly be keeping my eye out for what she does next.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.