Ruth Ware, the bestselling author of THE TURN OF THE KEY and IN A DARK, DARK WOOD, returns with another “locked-door” thriller set in a blissful, rustic mountain chalet --- full of secrets, betrayals and murder.

Snoop is the hottest music-streaming app around, presenting subscribers with a way not only to stream their favorite tunes, but to listen along with other users in real time. Want to see what Lady Gaga listens to as she falls asleep? Snoop. Want to know which songs get Obama hyped for his workouts? Snoop. Want to spend time with a significant other while physically apart? Snoop. Even better, Snoop boasts a company that is full of beautiful, sexy and cool employees as unique as they are magnetic, especially when it comes to Topher and Eva, the former lovers who founded and now run the company.

When we meet the employees of Snoop, they are setting out for the exclusive ski resort of St. Antoine, located high in the French Alps. Joining them is plain, unassuming Liz, a former employee who, despite her insecurities and inability to fit in with her effortlessly cool colleagues, wields great power over the group. What initially seems like a company retreat centered on mindfulness and cooperation is quickly revealed to be something much more: a chance to get all the shareholders together to discuss a buyout.

The current employees are divided, with some siding with Eva, who wants to sell the company for millions of dollars, and the rest agreeing with Topher, who believes there are far more riches to be made in keeping the company and expanding on the model. Standing between them is Liz, an accidental shareholder who has the power to swing the vote --- and the anxiety-inducing fear of making the wrong choice and creating an enemy out of either Topher or Eva.

With a storm approaching and the buyout on the table for consideration, the Snoop team decides on one quick ski before the snow takes over and the conditions become too unsafe. Ostensibly the goal is to blow off steam, have some group fun, and return to the chalet with minds made up just in time for a chef-prepared dinner, fancy cocktails and expensive bottles of wine. But when they get back, Eva is no longer among them, and the storm is closing in.

With Eva missing, the company hierarchy starts to dissolve; the team forms alliances and shares secrets. Adding to the mystery, we see them all from the vantage point of Erin, the housekeeper and host of activities at the chalet. Alternating perspectives between Liz and Erin, Ware invites us to watch as the group bands together, argues and takes to their separate corners, with only Liz and Erin seeing the ties forming and breaking. But no one, not even detail-oriented and responsible Erin, is prepared when Mother Nature steps in and an avalanche strands the group with no power, desperate motivations and...murder?

The temperatures are dropping, the body count is rising, and Liz and Erin are desperate not only to find the killer but to make sure that the rest of the guests make it off the mountain alive. Ware employs her trademark “locked-room” technique to ramp up the suspense, turning the novel into a sort of game of Clue, with no WiFi, no outside forces, and no lack of secrets and betrayals. Neither Liz nor Erin is sure who they can trust; even worse, everyone seems to have a motive. So it is up to the two of them to decide who has the most to gain and who already has lost the most. Weaving the wild, snow-covered mountain with the equally dangerous murderer among the group, Ware crafts a totally immersive and atmospheric thriller with a classic whodunit feel.

As much as I enjoyed ONE BY ONE, I will be the first to say that it is a rather familiar plot that feels heavily informed by the works of Agatha Christie. By no means does this diminish the suspense or mystery here, but it is very much a “cookie-cutter” book for newer thriller readers who are not as well-versed in classics. The characters are also a bit lackluster at times; I found myself not fully invested in their backstories and often felt that they distracted from the main plot. I did enjoy Liz and Erin's perspectives, which fleshed out the mystery and helped us see the clues, but I did not want to hear about their lives before the retreat. Give me more murder!

With its gorgeous setting and locked-in vibe, ONE BY ONE feels like classic Ruth Ware, a return to her earlier works, like IN A DARK, DARK WOOD and THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10. There is a nearly cozy aspect to her tone, but it is balanced beautifully by her talent for building suspense and inserting murder into an otherwise idyllic environment.

I'm usually a huge fan of Ruth Ware but this missed the mark a bit for me. For some reason, I wasn't really invested in the characters, and the story didn't pull me along the way you expect a thriller to do.

Couldn't put this down, I both read and listened to this book. Once again I am not surprised that I enjoyed Ruth Ware's latest book.

Going to a ski resort for a company getaway sounds wonderful until one of your coworkers disappears during an avalanche and you're stuck at the resort with a murderer.

Thankfully for our main character, she works at the resort, but can she and her friend Danny survive their guests?

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One by One, started off a little slow; introducing you to the different characters and their dynamic personalities. Once it is uncovered that there is a possible murder in their group it quickly goes sour for all involved. I enjoyed the back and forth between the characters as you could see how their mind slowly works to figuring the murder. I've slowly become addicted to listening to Ruth Ware's novels something about the way Imogen Church reads them gets me hooked into the stories.

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Rating 5.0/5.0

Solid thriller by Ruth Ware! I will say I figured this one out fairly early, but the way the book was written, I still found it to be a thrilling read. One of Ware's stronger books, IMHO. The locked-room setting in a skiing village in the Alps was quite escapist.

My first Ruth Ware read. Loved it. It is a fast-paced thriller that will keep you an the edge of your seat. Characters are interesting and while the plot was well thought out, I was able to guess the identity of the killer about a quarter way through the book. I will definitely be recommending Ruth Ware books to my patrons.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for a digital ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. This review can also be found on my Goodreads page.

A little confusing at first because I had no idea what “snoop” was, why the subtitle listed what they were listening to, etc. But once Snoop was explained to be a music app, I could settle in to the story. I enjoyed the character of Erin and her resiliency. The Agatha Christie storyline of “and then there were nine...” became a bit unreal but the novel picked up steam about 1/2 way through. Overall a good thriller by Ruth Ware.

I was disappointed that this one didn't enthrall me more. Ware's books tend to be some of my favorite thrillers, but this one just didn't do it for me.

Thank you Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review!

We can’t party this Halloween, but I have the perfect pandemic book for you. Ruth Ware has been called the modern Agatha Christie, and her latest mystery, One by One, is like a modern version of Dame Agatha’s And Then There Were None. There are plenty of differences, naturally, so you won’t be able to figure out the ending. Personally, I think it’s Ware’s best book to date, and when you curl up with it tomorrow, you’ll forget about your usual Halloween activities. Get your bag of treats, the beverage of your choice, and your favorite quilt, and you’re good for the evening.

Big thanks go to Net Galley and Gallery Books for the review copy. This book is for sale now.

Erin and Danny work for a resort company, running a European ski chalet that caters to small companies and the well-to-do. A start-up company called Snoop schedules a retreat, but no sooner have the loud, entitled Snoopers disembarked and gone skiing, than an immense avalanche thunders down, leaving the vacationers stuck. Nobody can get cell service; everyone is grumpy. And one of them hasn’t come back from the slopes.

From there, things only get worse. At least there’s enough food to last awhile; but then the electricity goes off, and someone else is found dead in their room, most likely murdered! Oh, it surely isn’t pretty. Erin and Danny are scrambling, trying to improvise amid the bickering guests, whose in-groups are becoming more rigid; small hostilities increase. But it isn’t just about personalities; there’s a company buyout on the table, and a great deal of money is at stake. They have to hold everything together until the authorities can reach them.

This is a fun book, with lots of snappy dialogue and just the right number of variables. We backtrack after the murder is discovered, figuring out who was in the right place at the right time; and with the missing person still gone, it’s increasingly likely that we have two murders, not one. But as the alibis and witness statements unfold—all unofficially, since the cops can’t reach the chalet, which is still nearly buried in snow—it becomes evident that most of what’s offered is hearsay. Person A couldn’t have done this, because they were somewhere else. But…do we know for sure that’s true? They say so, but they could be lying. And as more murders and more stories unfold, we have a tasty little puzzle indeedy.

I have read and reviewed all but the first of Ware’s novels, and in each case I was drawn in, reading avidly, only to throw up my hands at the preposterous revelations and developments that I found in the last twenty percent of the book. But that doesn’t happen this time. I go all the way through it, and in the end the story stands up and I feel as if Ware has played fairly. The suspense is palpable and it builds steadily leading up to the climax. This is a good solid mystery, and I have new respect for this writer.

So there you go. Get your copy, and you can thank me later. But turn on the lights and lock the doors before you commence, cause this one is a humdinger.

Wow! ‘One By One’ had my heart pounding - what a turn of events!
Ruth Ware has truly become the Agatha Christie of our time with modern who-dun-its. In the final scenes, I found myself holding my breath and squirming as the murderer was revealed and everything came to a shocking end.
It has been a long time since I have read such an engrossing novel. I highly recommend this one for anyone that enjoys mystery and thrillers!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. .

One by One by Ruth Ware

A luxury ski resort in the French Alps is the setting for this NY Times bestseller about getting snowed in with murderous co-workers. Snoop, a company with a successful music app, has its top executives on a corporate retreat when an avalanche strikes, isolating them. The power goes out, the phones don’t work – and then people start dying.

Too often in a locked room thriller an author tries to create a 1950s style environment where our modern technology doesn’t work and people find themselves in a man versus the elements scenario. I understand the lure of this plot device – especially in novels where it would make criminal activity easier to enact and get away with – but what I truly appreciated about this story is that it highlights how much that technology is part of our lives, whether we want it to be or not. Sympathetic characters, an intriguing plot and the author’s smooth, polished writing style made this one of my favorite suspense stories of 2020.

One By One by Ruth Ware

Rating 3 / 5 Stars

Publication Date - 9/8/2020

** Thank you to Netgalley, Gallery Books, and of course, Ruth Ware, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have an interesting relationship with Ruth Ware’s books. I find myself either loving or hating the novel and never really meeting in the middle. The last book I loved by her was The Lying Game. I keep coming back to her books, because for the most part - I do enjoy them in some way, but often they do not come together to form a coherent like or dislike. For example, I might love the characters or the plot and hate everything else. I really do struggle with my ratings for her books.

Keeping that in mind - One By One is the first book by Ware that I see hitting the middle group between like and dislike. I didn’t love it, and I didn’t hate it. Yes, the plot has been done before, in many successful books, I might add - but It is a solid plotline where Ware does take a creative direction.

Getting snowed in at a Ski Chalet should seem like a nice break from work right? Sitting by the fire, drinking tea? What happens when you are stuck with your coworkers, many of whom you do not like. What happens when people start getting killed off, meaning one of you are not safe and have no escape?

My main issue with the book was the lack of character development. I know Ware wanted to have many characters to keep the murders happening in the novel, but there were just too many. I often found myself reading and wondering who that was - having to go back and figure it out.

I didn’t mind having two narrators, but I really wanted this book to be written in a different style, I think this is mainly due to my critique above. It would have been nice if there were only a few characters, and each of them had a narrative.

As for my final critique: the killer. I knew right away who it was, and when I was correct I was kind of disappointed. I wanted to see a spin, where the killer was the last person I suspected.

In the end, I’m giving this book a 3-star rating. It sits higher than other books by Ware, but is mediocre at best. One word to describe One By One - Meh.

Another fantastic read from Ruth Ware. I was initially a bit worried when I saw this was a retelling of Agatha Christie's classic "And the there were none," but was relieved that this is more of a re imagining then a straight retelling. The only fault of this book is the amount of characters you need to keep track of and who they are in relation to each other. Otherwise, I couldn't put it down!

This is my second Ruth Ware book and I found this book to be way better than the first one I have read. I am glad that I decided to give Ruth Ware a second chance.

This book has a slow start and there are a lot of characters that are involved in the story. It took me quite a while before I could get everyone straight in my head. The story itself is told from 3 peoples point of view and that also took me a while to remember who was who.

It wasn't until the story was about 50-60% complete that I really found myself enjoying the book and struggling to put it down. This was about the time when one of the characters started to figure out what was actually going on. I have to say that it took me by surprise and I also didn't see it coming either. I really like a good story that keeps you guessing and can blindside you.

Unlike the previous Ruth Ware book that I have read, I really enjoyed the ending of the book. The previous one, I felt like the ending was left incomplete and I was concerned that would be the case here. I am so glad that I was wrong.

The one thing that took me a while to figure out and does eventually get explained is the Snoop information that is provided at the start of the chapter. Honestly, I found that the information was unnecessary for the story itself and didn't really contribute at all.

Rating: 4 out of 5 because the story didn't really catch my attention until further into the book. Once it caught my attention I had difficulty putting the book down.

Thanks, I assigned an interview with the author with a staff writer and will run the story in 11 newspapers and websites in the Southern California News Group including the Orange County Register and Los Angeles Daily News. I will include links when I post.

Ruth Ware does it again. As always with Ware's thrillers, One by One kept me on the edge of my seat frantically turning pages to find out what happens next!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced digital copy of One by One.

I decided to give this book a second chance. This is my first Ruth Ware book.
This is just my own opinion. Someone else may absolutely love this book. There is nothing wrong with that.
It was very predictable and not thriller enough. I was hoping for more suspense the kind where your sitting on the edge of your seat and can’t put down the book because you just have to find out what happens next. Nope it did not do that for me. Sadly this book was not the right book for me.
Also, it felt like the ending of the book just kept dragging on and on.
There where more than one opportunity to end the book. But then you turn the page and there is yet another chapter.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free e-arc for review.

I have a love-hate relationship with Ruth Ware. I really enjoyed <i>In a Dark, Dark Wood</i>, but <i>The Woman in Cabin 10</i> was a snooze. So I wasn't sure what to expect coming into this one. The premise is interesting, although I must say that I'm not too intrigued by the idea of Snoop. But that doesn't really matter.

We're introduced to a LOT of characters, but the story is told from two points of view: Erin, who works at the chalet, and Liz, an ex-employee of Snoop. Liz is clearly on this trip because she feels she has to be, and is extremely uncomfortable and awkward from the moment we meet her.

But I must say, this fell flat for me. I'm giving it three stars because I read the entire thing. But there was no real mystery - unless you count figuring out the why. I guess that was interesting enough, but it didn't provide enough to save the book, in my opinion. This may be a good fit for some, but it's not among my favorites.

Lame and boring. A paint by numbers “suspense” novel that fails to offer any shock and awe. Given my history with the author’s work, not even the dud conclusion managed to evoke surprise.

I am a huge fan of Ruth Ware and I loved this book! She is so good at introducing characters and plot in ways that make me want to keep reading. This one was as good and suspenseful as all her other books.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. This was a fun locked-room mystery! Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.