I was on the edge of my seat with this one and I definitely will recommend it to my thriller loving friends on bookstagram

“None of us know what we're capable of, if the circumstances were right. Or wrong.”

I’ll be honest and say I was kind of nervous starting this one, I wasn’t sure if I was ready for a book on the pandemic yet… but the premise was interesting and I ended up finding the content okay!

56 DAYS AGO- Ciara and Oliver meet in a supermarket queue in Dublin the same week Covid-19 reaches Irish shores.
36 DAYS AGO- when lockdown threatens to keep them apart, Oliver suggests that Ciara move in with him.

This book is told over the course of 56 days and there’s a lot of POV and time jump changes. I did the majority of this novel via audiobook and sometimes it got confusing especially in the beginning when I wasn’t prepared for it. It was overall entertaining and I think it would have been a good novel even without the pandemic aspect. If you love unreliable POV & a countdown narrative this one is for you!

This was such a juicy listen. I sat in my car while parked, listening. Fast paced, from every point of view, secrets abound to the last. I highly recommend this quarantine mystery.

My Highly Caffeinated Thought: A unique premise using the pandemic as a backdrop to a purely addictive thriller.


56 DAYS is quite possibly the most binge-worthy psychological thriller I have read all year. Howard dazzles her readers with exquisite writing, fabulously complex characters, and twists that make you want more.

What can one say about this book? I loved it from beginning to end. The fast pace of the storytelling combined with the multiple timelines kept me on the edge of my seat. There is a beauty in the way the author unravels this mystery as well as the one in the past. As the reader, you get to be inside the heads of Clara and Oliver as their relationship evolves.

And I must say, using the COVID-19 pandemic as a backdrop to the world these characters are living in is brilliantly executed. Howard plays with the idea of isolation as means to get away with a crime and I am here for it.

This book is the second I have read by the author, and they keep getting better. I cannot wait to read what she gives us next.

I did not read this book and my rating is not reflective of the book's quality or writing, but rather the fact that it was removed from my TBR in lieu of other titles I'm more excited about.

I was actually surprised I got this one. I have heard mixed reviews on this book and decided it was not one I wanted to listen to with the end of the year so near. I also don't know if I can handle a COVID book right now, hahaha.

I adored this book because it was such a twist.!
I loved that author wrote about a couple isolated together due to the COVID pandemic in Dublin, Ireland and it has so many layers. Oliver and Ciara are forced to move in together but there were so many other sinister things going on behind the scenes. I love the back and forth in time to discover the dead body and to solve the murder.
Thank you for the brillant Advanced audiobook for my honest review and I thoroughly enjoyed it. . Well done!!!!!

A really taut thriller that is so unexpected. I loved how I felt awful for every character in this book, even the antagonist. The narrator is lovely and her voice is so full of empathy and emotion. I would definitely recommend this to thriller fans.

3.5 stars. It's kind of weird reading a book set in the Covid era, but the author did it well although sometimes, it took over the story a little too much. This was a twisty mystery that kept me guessing and surprised me, which I love.

I have previously read Catherine Ryan Howard books but this has to be the best one yet!

From the beginning I couldn’t figure out where it was going and had to keep reading to Find out what clues were given next. Unusual setting adds to the intrigue in this book.

Great read would recommend to all my customers no matter what topic they’re into

“Lies are spindly, unwieldy things. Delicate filaments, like bundles of nerves in the body. Easy to twist, hard to control, impossible to keep hold of. He tries not to tell any more of them than is absolutely necessary.”

56 DAYS AGO Ciara and Oliver meet in a Dublin supermarket the same week that Covid hits Ireland. 35 DAYS AGO Oliver suggests that they live together so as to not be kept apart by the restrictions. TODAY detectives discover a decomposing body in Oliver’s apartment. Will they be able to discern what happened, or has Covid created the opportunity to commit the perfect crime?

I started this book closer to release date but ooomph, I just couldn’t do the Covid thing. Too soon, man, too soon. But now it is not quite as fresh, so I gave it another go…and I enjoyed it! As the story progressed I realized that the Covid references were more of a backstory as opposed to the main plot point. It was actually very clever how the author wove a mystery into quarantine, and the mystery kept me guessing throughout.

The audio was fantastic! The book is narrated by Alana Kerr, who has the most calming Irish accent. She really brings the emotion, fear, and sarcasm of the characters to life.

Thank you to Netgalley, Blackstone Publishing, and the author for the ARC and ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley & Blackstone for providing an audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Hey, it had to happen, right? A thriller that takes place during the early days of the pandemic! This story takes place in Dublin, where the lockdowns are apparently pretty intense. We start off in pre-Covid world, where Ciara and Oliver have just met, perhaps by chance, perhaps not, in the supermarket lunch lines. They strike up a (awkward) conversation outside, but Oliver has secrets, and so does Ciara, it seems, although we don't get to Ciara's secrets until much later.

The flashing back and forwards is a bit confusing. We start off with one notion of the relationship, then we see the other character's viewpoint and have to rethink the whole thing. This happens several times.

The police officers are *slightly* interesting, and there's a B plot that kind of hangs out in the background about cops being put in compromising positions with their own handcuffs, but it never goes anywhere. Not sure what that was about, if Hyde is going to reintroduce it in a future book? I hope not, because the cop characters are not particularly compelling. Much is made about the body left for 2 weeks in a 2-bedroom apartment in a complex, and the grossness and horrific smell of advanced decomp. Like, numerous scenes involving mints, vapo-rub, changing clothes, etc. One scene would have sufficed.

I had one notion of where the story was leading, and then there was a twist in the last third of the book. As twists go, it wasn't a shocker, but it was not what I expected. Then the cops basically worked out the manner of death in advance. We as the readers know that there is a sort of poetic justice in the manner of death, but the reasons for it were kind of cloudy. I didn't have a sense that the killer was especially bent on revenge, they were on a fact-finding mission about something that had happened almost 20 years before, ostensibly to aid a dying parent who they weren't even close to. That was a bit of a muddle.

The voice acting was good, aside from my constant complaint that it's often difficult to distinguish between characters when the voice actor limits themselves to just "male" and "female" voices with no distinction other than that.

As mysteries go, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. I wanted to know what happened, but then, I always do. :)

OK THIS BOOK! I know it was all over the book community and FOR GOOD REASON!!! Pick this book up ASAP! It is truly SO GOOD. I went into this blind, thinking it was going to be more about people dying because of Covid. However, that I was not the case, the book is just set during the beginning of the pandemic.

Ciara and Oliver meet each other in a super market the week before lock downs are starting in Ireland. They are strangers and this isnt the best time to start a relationship, but Oliver invites her on a date and Ciara is head over heels for this handsome man. Oliver finds the 2 weeks of stay at home will work in his favor. He wants to know Ciara more and due to the lock down, invites her to stay at his place for the 2 weeks. Ciara is over the moon, until she starts to find more and more things out about Oliver. What is he hiding? Why does she feel so strange around him?

YOU GUYS! I am trying so hard not to spoil it but there are so many twists and turns in this book... I am blown away. When I say I want twits, THIS IS WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT! This is the perfect book to blow your mind and the truth is so satisfying. I thought this book would be more horrific in the sense of the ending that we end up finding out pretty quickly because we also follow the police finding Oliver dead pretty quickly in the story. BUT that death isnt even the crazy or the horrifying part of the whole story. It is just so good, you HAVE to read it!

Too soon for a thriller that surrounds our current pandemic you say?!?! Not at all! This was really a great book. I’m so glad I listened to the audiobook because the narrator’s accent added so much to the story & I enjoyed it so much!! This had a couple of great twists. I will say the back and forth time line was a little confusing. But overall it was a good book and I definitely recommend this one.

I was a little hesitant about this book as it’s set during a pandemic we’re still in, but I was pleasantly surprised and so glad I picked it up. The pandemic wasn’t the main focus of the book, but it did add an interesting element to the mystery. The plot felt different and not like every other mystery/thriller out there.

I've tried to get into this audiobook several times but a combination of the narrator and all of the small details of the plot thrown at me immediately means I just struggled to enjoy this one

I received a ARC of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review. #56Days #NetGalley #audiobook

First words that came to my mind? What a tangled web of a story, woven perfectly yet mystifying. This one will have you asking yourself "What did I just read?"--in all the best ways.

56 days is set in the earliest days of the Covid-19 pandemic. I wasn't sure if I was ready to read those yet but the backdrop of silent, deserted streets worked perfectly with the story, Ciara and Oliver meet in a grocery store who are both suspicious and attracted to each other. The plot is set over several timelines and was told from 3 different points of view. I had issues keeping things apart in my mind (not due to the author's writing but due to competing attentions on my part). I had to rewind and re-listen in several spots which was harder to do because of the multiple viewpoints lead to some retelling of stories. I'm sure I will re-read this as a physical copy and enjoy it just as much.

56 days ago, Ciara and Oliver meet in a Dublin supermarket just as COVID-19 hits. 21 days later, as the city faces lockdown, in order to avoid being kept apart, Oliver and Ciara move in together. Ciara sees it as a way to build their relationship, while Oliver sees it as a way to hide his past, and his identity, from the world. Today, detectives find a decomposing body in Oliver's apartment.

This is the first, and only, book I've read that mentions COVID-19. Fortunately, it's not an attempt to sensationalize the pandemic or to devise a conspiracy theory about the virus's origins. Rather, the pandemic provides a timely backdrop and a vehicle to drive Ciara and Oliver together. This book shows how little two people know about each other, even when in a relationship, and especially when at least one is trying to deceive the other. There were some clever twists I didn't see coming near the end, and the devices used by the characters were realistic and well-planned. There was one detail in a supporting that seems to have remained unexplained and may have been nothing more than a red herring, but the rest of the pieces fit together well.

The narrator for the audiobook was a pleasure, and added to the rich Irish ambience of the story. The only nitpick I have is that several scenes were repeated, to give the perspective of another character, for sure, but it seems like some of it could have been cut back. At one point, even Ciara's internal dialogue is word for word to what was presented at the beginning of the book. While it makes sense, it felt redundant and slowed down the story. Nevertheless, I'd recommend this read for sure.

I struggle listening to this audiobook at times. The story is told in present and past tense and with dual POV's. At times I felt this was confusing. However, the end was unexpectedly good.

I decided to listen to this audiobook because I kept seeing it everywhere. It was on my sponsored ads, so I decided to give it a try. This book was my first time reading a covid related story. First, it took me a long time to gain interest in this story. I felt bad because the story was not moving fast enough. I did enjoy the plot twist, but I wish it happened sooner. Second, I was a bit confused listening to the audiobook. I was having a hard time understanding what was happening. This may have made the story move slower for me as well. The idea of the story was clever, but it was not for me.

A new couple decides to bunker down together during quarantine. after 56 days, one of them is dead.

Duhn Duhn Duhnnnnn

As someone who doesn't read a lot of mystery/thrillers, I think this was the perfect read since I'm not as familiar with the genre. As an avid romance reader, I loved that there was a relationship element to it. There wasn't a moment this book didn't have my attention. It wasn't fast paced by any means and I'd be curious to see how people who read primarily mystery novels feel about it but for me it worked. I don't have the patience to sit through mystery novels with layers upon layers upon layers of tangled webs and often times I just guess what happens and then skip to the end to see if I was right. This one didn't give me the urge to do that because the element of the relationship kept me intrigued.

I won't give any more because I don't want to spoil anything, but I would recommend this to those new to the genre :)