i've been singing catherine ryan howard's praises for the past few years and i was v excited to get early access to her latest

this book explores morality, ghostwriting, the true crime industry, all set in an eerie new community in florida. so compulsively readable, very tense and unsettling, and again i really liked the ending

Wow! This book pulled me in from the start. It's full of twists that keep you guessing right til the end. Highly recommend.

My first read by this author and I must admit, I struggled with it. The premise was so good that I decided to keep going but I just couldn't have any connection with the characters, and the chapters, although short, were all over the place and I had to keep going back to keep track.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for my honest review

This was as you would expect from this author a book full of twists and turns most of them. I just didn’t see coming making it one heck of a good read. I liked the character of Emily and enjoyed the rapport between her and Jack and how it changed as the book progressed. This is one that I would recommend to all lovers of crime fiction perhaps it could’ve been a little shorter as towards the end as it seemed to drag a bit but that’s my only gripe. All in all it’s a book I enjoyed a lot as it kept me guessing.
My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, Bantam for giving me the opportunity to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Another cracking read from Catherine Ryan Howard, Burn After Reading is full of plot twists and suspense.

Emily is a successful debut novelist, struggling to write her second book. Summoned to a meeting with her publisher, she is asked to ghostwrite a memoir for famous cyclist Jack Smyth.
After agreeing, Emily is flown to Sanctuary, a partially built town in America, where she is staying next door to Jack.
It turns out that the memoir she is being asked to write is actually a “non-confession “ from Jack, regarding the death of his wife, previously thought to have died in a house fire, but is now known to have been dead before the fire started.

This was a challenging read, told from multiple pov and timelines. I loved the twists.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy in return for my honest review.

If you like your thrillers darkly clever, and just a little bit unhinged, Burn After Reading is your next obsession.

Catherine Ryan Howard delivers a wild ride through the world of true crime, fiction, and the blurry lines in between. It’s a story within a story—where the author’s manuscript might just be confessing to a real murder.

Catherine Ryan Howard knows how to write a twisty thriller - and this is is another well-crafted and compelling read.

Emily is a writer who, after a successful debut novel, is struggling with second book syndrome. In order to placate her publisher she agrees to ghostwrite the memoir of former professional cyclist Jack, who lost his wife Kate in a house fire. With evidence suggesting Kate was dead before the fire, Jack is the prime suspect - and the book is his opportunity to put his side. Emily flies to Florida to spend a week interviewing Jack - and things take some unexpected turns. What really happened - and what secrets is Emily herself keeping?

This is a story that keeps you constantly off balance, never quite knowing who to believe or who to trust. The fact that it all takes place in Sanctuary, a still under construction new town, adds to the sense of unease and isolation. Told in a mix of timelines and from multiple points of view, this is a book that keeps you guessing as details are slowly revealed - and keeps you turning the pages eager to get to the truth.

I was more disappointed than anything else by this book. Having enjoyed previous work from Catherine Ryan Howard and then whist it was on my tbr list I seemed to constantly be reading encouraging reviews and recommendations of it but the reality wasn’t as good as the anticipation
So going against what evidently is the majority view I thought the characters were leaden and despite a very original plot the story just dragged for me. The forward by the author was enticing so maybe just overall I heard and read too much so it was almost an inevitable fail.
It’s the book of the month for discussion in one of my book groups so I will be interested to see if anyone shares my opinion…

Emily is offered a chance to ghostwrite the autobiography of professional cyclist Jack Smyth who lost his wife in a house fire the year previous. She really wasn’t in a position to turn down this offer as her 2nd book was overdue to her publisher and she wasn’t in a position to pay back the advance.
She heads to Florida to interview Jack but with a lot of restrictions and this is when things start going wrong.

This is a decent read and will certainly keep the pages turning but not up to the author’s usual high standards. Somewhat disappointing.

Thanks to NetGalley.co.uk and the publishers for this ARC.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I did not know who to believe in this book and thought the ending was really satisfying

I don’t tend to read crime or thrillers because I am a massive wuss, but I make an exception for Catherine Ryan Howard because she has the most brilliant ideas. The concept for Burn After Reading - inspired by OJ Simpson’s own apparently fictional confession - blew me away and I couldn’t wait to read it.

There’s something almost comforting in CRH’s writing, even when she’s writing about horrible events, I think it’s knowing you’re in safe hands with a writer totally in control of the material. I was gripped by this book from the opening pages and read it in a day. Towards the end I thought it got a bit convoluted and convenient, but not so much that it spoiled my enjoyment. Also the setting is fantastic and unlike anything I’ve read before. 4.5/5

Thoroughly enjoyable book. Engaged with me from the opening page to the closing chapter. It gives the reader plenty of opportunity to second guess what could possibly of taken place that fateful night.

Really unique story a good book to curl up with and enjoy

Successful author Emily is struggling to start her second novel when she is tasked by becoming a ghostwriter for Jack, and Olympic cyclist who has high hopes for clearing his name after he is accused of murdering his wife, Kate.
As Emily spends days cooped up in an isolated house in Florida with Jack, getting all the information she needs for his book, the lines between innocence and guilt start to become increasingly blurred.

This was my first book by Catherine Ryan Howard and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The dual timelines and POVs always hook me in. Not a book with many twists, but a book that will keep you guessing and wanting more long after you put the book down.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Burn After Reading is the new crime thriller from Irish author Catherine Ryan Howard. In multiple narratives, it focuses on the story of former Olympic cyclist turned entrepreneur Jack Smyth, who is the prime suspect in the death of his wife, Kate.

Kate narrates some chapters too, recounting her days in the run-up to the fire that claimed their County Clare home. Autopsy results showed that Kate had been beaten to death before the fire started.

Most of the book is narrated from the perspective of Emily, a Dublin writer who has been tasked with ghostwriting Jack's memoir, in which he hopes to clear his name. Emily has one successful book under her belt but is struggling with her sophomore effort. Instead of returning her author's advance to her publishing company, they've asked her (forced her) to take on this project.

Emily spends a week in Florida with Jack; put up in a brand new house in a partially finished, purpose-built new town. There are very strict rules imposed around their interactions, so there are no leaks about Jack's memoir.

While the concept of Burn After Reading is an intriguing one, and it has a very gripping opening section that will certainly hook its readers, I found it lost pace beyond its early chapters. Ryan Howard is well known for her clever plot twists and derailing red herrings, but unfortunately, I found there were too many in this book, and they were either repetitive or they got tangled up in one another.

While it is expected that a reader must suspend some disbelief with thrillers, sometimes having too many narrative strands can mean that characters end up doing things that are hard to accept based on what we've learned about them. It can also mean we don't get a satisfying ending.

I thought Emily lacked substance and depth as a character, and I do feel the multiple plots got in their own way. However, I don't think that will stop many readers from enjoying this thriller, and I have no doubt it will be a very popular read.

The concept of this book is so good! I had no idea that OJ Simpson wrote a book about "how he would have done it if he did" - a false confession of sorts. What a crazy idea! So I love that CRH has used that as the basis of her story here.

From the start, you're made to question Jack's guilt/innocence. Would an innocent person really make a false confession to prove their innocence?! Or is he using this as a means to confess his guilt and get away with it?

It's very clever and obviously allows for many twists to work their way in, especially when it comes to other players in the game.

I wish the impact of the twists were slightly bigger, but I enjoyed this all the same. It's a fast-paced and gripping thriller that explores some great themes around our consumption of true crime.

Burn After Reading is a tense and suffocating psychological thriller which kept me hooked right to the end.

I found the pacing a little changeable, which meant some of the characters didn’t have quite the impact they could have, and the story lagged in places. However I was sucked into the story even before it started. Howard’s author note at the start of the book set just the right sinister tone for this book, grounded in reality. Emily’s experience in the first chapter firmly cemented that eerie feeling and I just had to know what was going on. The ending was satisfying, and I would have loved to read more about what happens after the closing scenes.

Overall a compelling, creepy and captivating read, one I would highly recommend.

Thank you Random House UK for a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed are my own.

Burn After Reading by Catherine Ryan Howard was full of tension and suspense from start to finish, it was an excellent psychological thriller that will have you hooked. It is fast paced throughout with lots of twists and turns Especially as it will have you questioning every characters motives especially the main character Jack Smyth!

A year ago, Jack Smyth was a former professional cyclist, lost his wife in a fire at their home. His life fell apart around him. But the nation’s sympathy turned to anger when it emerged that she had died before the fire started, in a violent attack. Although Jack has never been charged in connection to her death, a suffocating cloud of suspicion hangs over him and he’s become convinced that the only way out is to tell his side of the story.

Emily Joyce is a ghostwriter and she is offered the job to write Jack's side of his story, her main motivation for saying yes is the payday and it will also be a great career move. She flies out to the eerie, empty, master-planned town of Sanctuary, Florida, to hole up with Jack for a week, getting his story down.

But the story Jack tells isn’t the one she expected. . . . . Soon Emily is thrown into a dangerous plot twist that she may not be able to write her way out of. . . . . . .

This book is so good and I highly recommend Burn After Reading. . Great holiday read.

Big Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers | Bantam for my ARC.

This one was definitely an experience! I was fully emerged into the story literally from the first few pages. The writing style as always was so fittingly perfect for this type of story and the easy we got a different snippets of other points in this book was so interesting. Not that I didn’t expect twists and turns but what really surprised me is how well everything was connected and unraveled towards the end. And even acknowledgment fits perfectly in this book. This story constantly makes you wonder and question every little detail that characters do or say. And when eventually everything falls into place you still have doubts, if it’s really the end and truth or is it just another turn.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House UK for the ARC in exchange for an honest review❤️‍🔥

How many stars? All the stars! 5+ for Burn After Reading!
Catherine Ryan Howard has an incredible ability to create twisty, mysterious novels that are true rollercoaster rides.
In Burn After Reading, our protagonist is Emily, a successful author who is struggling to start her second novel, when she becomes a ghostwriter for Jack. He is a former Olympic cyclist, who now stands accused of murdering his wife Kate. And Emily's role is to write his story, about his innocence.
The storyline has several timelines and PoV, we meet Kate, a week or so before her death. And, then we have Emily in the present day, experiencing an increasing number of bizarre events. There's no issue with moving back and forth in the storyline as the author has clearly delineated the sections through the use of dates and names at the stage of the section.
There are so many twists, and the reader soon realises that Emily's past may be coming back to haunt her, as the tension builds up and the conclusion is fan-blooming- tastic!
I raced through this book - honestly, family and pets went hungry as I couldn't put Burn After Reading down long enough to make a cup of tea!

Burn After Reading is full of tension and suspense.
Emily wrote her first book a few years ago, it was a hit and was given a two book deal but she hasn’t managed to come up with a second book. Her publishers have emailed her to meet up. Emily thinks they are going to want the £25,000 that she owes them for only giving them one book but when she meets them it’s for something very different. Jack Smyth is a famous cyclist amongst other things but his wife died in suspicious circumstances and he wants a ghost writer to write his autobiography and tell his side of the story. Emily flies to America to meet him but is he innocent?
This was a decent read and has a lot going on, a few twists to keep you interested and a couple of reveals. The storyline flowed well and was fairly solid with a decent ending. The characters were varied making it an interesting read filled with tense moments.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishing, Bantam for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.