I’m very glad I listened to the audio of this one, because I don’t think I would have realized how Ciara’s name was pronounced. Now that I’ve heard it I realize it’s the Irish pronunciation, but I certainly didn’t make that connection by just reading the book. I know how to pronounce Siobhan, at least! The audio production was perfect, and I especially loved it because I have a definite weakness for Irish accents.

This isn’t the first book I have read that mentions Covid, but it’s the first that uses it as a main plot point. I have to admit I was nervous about reading a Covid-based book while we’re still in the middle of dealing with the pandemic, but actually thought the plot was handled very tastefully. I loved the way lockdown was used as a catalyst to force the characters into close proximity. What a risky decision to move in with someone without telling anyone, though! As scary as it is to think about, I’m sure something like this happened somewhere in the world.

Surprisingly, I enjoyed the trip down memory lane to the first days of lockdown. CRH did a good job of describing how odd it was to walk around empty streets and not hear any traffic. Especially driving down the Las Vegas strip with all of the casinos boarded up--it was eerie!

The plot is told in an overlapping fashion, as you can tell from looking at the chapter titles. We read a scene from Ciara’s perspective and a few chapters later read it again from Oliver’s perspective, and vice versa. I liked this as a method to show both character’s reactions, but do admit that it got a little repetitive at points. The book could have been slimmed down by not repeating so much of the dialogue, which didn’t change between scenes. The plot also jumps to present day and the officers’ investigation of the body found in Oliver’s apartment. I enjoy when books tackle a storyline from both directions like this, and it was very well done.

Both characters have secrets, and I thought they all came out at the perfect pace. This is certainly a thriller I would recommend, even to people unsure if they’re ready to read about Covid.

I wasn’t sure if I was ready for a covid-era story but this one worked! It was less “about covid” and more of a typical suspense plot line set against the backdrop of the lockdown in Dublin. Because of the setting, plot points work a bit differently and things that might seem unrealistic in other novels became feasible here.

As expected of a good suspense novel, there are plenty of reveals along the journey. The author’s primary method for revealing clues involves jumping back in time and sharing a scene from the perspective of another character. I found this effective and frankly chilling at times. Well done!

Overall, the novel puts a fresh spin on a fairly standard plot, creating a clever story that could only happen in the crazy world we’re dealing with. If you enjoy suspense and okay with covid as a plot device, pick this one up!

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy I’m exchange for my honest review.

This was a pretty intense thriller told from three different points of view during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland. We hear from both sides of a couple, as well as a police detective investigating a death in their apartment during quarantine lockdown. This was super fast paced and easy to listen to. I finished the whole book in a single day because I just couldn't put it down.

This was a 'Bookstagram made me do it' read!

I've seen this book everywhere.  I've seen mixed reviews and decided I needed to give it a try.  I was able to get approved on NetGalley for the audio version and put it at the top of my list as my next listen.

As the story started out, I was not interested at all and thinking that it was perhaps going to be a dry romance book.  But once past the first scene, it became more interesting to me and after the first couple of chapters, I was invested.

Dual timelines are just ok for me, in general.  However this story had more than two timelines.  It would go back and forth to different parts of a timeline to unfold the story in a specific way to ensure you don't learn information before you need to.  It was a little too much for me, all the bouncing around.  Additionally, some scenes would be played twice, once for each character, and so you had to listen to whole scenes two times. I found this really boring and was not a fan.

The good parts about this story are the secrets!  Some you can almost see coming and some you won't see at all until you are tripping right over them.  That was the fun part!

The backdrop of this story was during Covid and the idea of moving in with someone you barely know during the Covid lockdown is mind-boggling to me and a perfect setup for a murder mystery!  This was a great idea.

Overall, this was an OK read for me.  The set-up of the unveiling timeline was interesting but left a little to be desired in the delivery of the actual unveiling.

Thank you to #BlackstonePublishing and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

This was the first book I have read that was set during Covid, a lock down to be specific and I think the author did a good job of capturing that in the story without going overboard. I do think it may be too soon for some people to read about it though. The story was a really unique one and though I'm not sure I found the premise entirely believable I still enjoyed the story. I liked the main characters and the writing was well done so that the reader is immediately sucked into the story. The plot was good and the twists were very well done.

Sooooo this one was really hard to get into. I almost feel bad because I might not have given it a fair shot. I saw mixed reviews and I'm definitely unsure of how I feel about it.

I don't like that it took me more time to get invested.
I did like that it was the first book that dealt with COVID as the main plot. I don't personally think it's "too soon" or something that is taboo and shouldn't be written about. It just wasn't totally for me?

More than a year into this pandemic, the art created at the beginning of the global quarantine is beginning to trickle out, including 56 Days which features a young couple meeting in the days leading up to Ireland’s lockdown and deciding to live together so they can continue exploring this new relationship while adhering to national protocols. But moving in with someone you’ve only known for a few days is a massively bad idea under normal circumstances and an even worse idea in a mystery novel because, what do you know, 56 days after meeting one of them winds up dead.

This is an excellent little suspense novel complete with alternating timelines, unreliable narrators and plenty of twists and turns. Yes, I saw most of the twists coming, but not in a frustrating way, just in a “I read too many of these types of books” way. I listened to the audiobook in two days because I just couldn’t turn it off. And that, to me, is the best thing I can say about any thriller.

This book was such much more fun than I could have even expected! I was nervous going into a book about current events, but it was handled so well. I loved the changing perspectives & the way it kept me constantly guessing. I will absolutely be buying from this author in the future! I'm just so happy to have read a book that felt so fresh & original.

56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard

So, you've just met the perfect guy. The only trouble is, the country is about to go into COVID lockdown. You move in together without telling anyone (because that's just crazy, right?), and 56 Days after meeting, one of you is a decomposing corpse.

Catherine Ryan Howard adds another stunner to her arsenal of thrillers with 56 Days. I loved this story that begins at the end, telling the story in reverse. But what makes this book so unique is that after the first couple of chapters, you forget the story is moving from present to past. As you read it, you THINK the plot is coming together, when in fact it's been fraying and unravelling all along. No one is who you think they are, and everyone, we learn, has an agenda.

Like The Liar’s Girl, 56 Days proves that Catherine Ryan Howard is a master at slow-burn crime story/thrillers.

A solid 4.5 stars here.

Thanks to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for providing physical ARC and audiobook formats.

The Narrator did an excellent job bring this story to life. Sometimes the jumps in timeline are confusing to follow in audiobooks but in this one. Loved it!

Remember March of 2020 when we thought we’d have to stay home for a couple of weeks and then life would go back to “normal”?
56 Days begins before what was supposed to be a two week lockdown in Dublin. Set in a backdrop of working from home and isolated circumstances, it was easy to miss a man disappearing.
I loved this twisty thriller. I listened to the audiobook over the past couple of nights and I had absolutely no idea where it was going. It was a brilliant setup and setting, and y’all need this for your end of summer reading stack.

I thought it was too soon but after seeing all the rave reviews for 56 Days, I couldn’t help myself. It is the story of two people living in Dublin who meet right at the beginning of the pandemic and then the story flip flops back and forth between their initial meeting and 56 days later when the man is found dead in his apartment. While it may be too soon, it was fascinating to see how things were handled in Ireland as compared to California. It was also so interesting to read about how everything unfolded, knowing what we know now and how much has changed in our lives in such a short time. It made the whole thing so relatable. The suspense element was done in such a clever way with the timeline jumping around, dropping so many clues but also red herrings to throw me off. Just going to go wash my hands now….

I did enjoy this. I thought having Covid as the plot would be a little strange. I feel like it’s definitely relevant though. Good read

This was a perpetual page turner. This is a fast paced pandemic themed thriller. The twist and reveals are well done. I really enjoy the jumps in time to uncover and reveal th 56 days. This was a quick read.

I really wanted to like this one more, but sadly it didn't quite work for me, especially as an audiobook. I felt that at times I was a bit confused on when we were supposed to be, so would've appreciated the ability to flick back through the book to try and place myself.
I did think the story was clever, and I didn't guess the twist surrounding our MC's identity at all. However, the Covid spin seemed to be a little bit of a marketing technique... rather than a plot point? The story would've worked without it in my opinion, because we didn't spend that much time with the character's in their forced shared living arrangement.
Overall, I have two more of this author's books, which I will be reading, but I don't have a massive pull to grab them soon.

The novel is set around a rather soulless, new-build set of flats in the Harold’s Cross area of Dublin 6. It is a complex called The Crossings that is all polished chrome, glass and exudes an impersonal feel.

The novel is set in the early days of Covid and the plot moves between March 2020 and Summer 2020, when Covid was just rearing its ugly head. A chance meeting in a supermarket between Ciara and Oliver forms the basis for the story. In the NOW – to wit the Summer – a decaying body has been found in one of the apartments. The couple met 56 days ago from the point of the discovery.

DI Leah Riordan and DS Karl Connolly are off to investigate but first one of them has to disentangle the other from a sex game in an abandoned house, which, frankly felt quite random and extraneous to the otherwise good story building between Ciara and Oliver.

Imagine meeting, when Lockdown (how much nicer is the Irish notion of Cocooning?) is still merely a speck on the horizon, finding your feet in a new relationship with all the concomitant insecurities and excitement that come at the start of a budding romance. Then, the pressure of Lockdown descends and for neither are there any family members or friends in the vicinity, as both are newcomers to the city. The decision has to be made: do they, as an evolving couple, spend the period together or apart, it’s such a hard decision when each knows little about the other! The author captures those tentative, early steps in isolation very well, as they adjust to each other’s ways and needs, and each scrutinises the other.

There are of course secrets aplenty, that gradually unfurl as the novel moves through its paces. There are clever red herrings and a few surprises along the way, too! There is considerable back and forth so you do need to pay attention but it works well and makes for an overall engrossing read.

It’s quite brave to already be writing about the Covid pandemic – which the author does really well, capturing the frustrations and concerns and practice – but I am sure there will be readers who are not ready for this. I was certainly in two minds myself.

I listened to this as an audiobook and the narrator, Alana Kerr Collins does an excellent job, she has a very soothing voice with a wonderful Irish lilt.

If you want a book that keeps you guessing, then pick up 56 Days! Every time I thought I had something figured out it was something or someone else. The book takes place in Ireland at the beginning of the pandemic. At first, I wasn't sure if I wanted to read a book that talked about COVID seeing how it's still very much a part of our daily lives. BUT this book does talk about it but it's not really what it's about. It's about murder! Now I have your attention I see. Well, I will not give anything away. You want to see what happens you will have to go pick the book up!

The narrator did a fabulous job! I do love Angela Dawe's voice!

Wow, wow, wow! Talk about a timely + stunning thriller. This book captured my attention immediately and kept me intrigued the entire read. Told from multiple perspectives and switching from the past to present, this fast paced novel left me stunned + creeped out. I didn't see the end coming and the fresh + original twists and turns kept me guessing the whole time. The author wove a chilling tale of how the COVID-19 lockdown created a perfect storm for murder, greed, redemption and justice to explode between the characters. I also liked the audiobook narrator as well. Thank you so much to Blackstone Publishing + Netgalley for this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed The Nothing Man (and the reference in this one to it!). That was one of the best thrillers I’ve read. This one didn’t live up to it, but I still really enjoyed it. I liked the inclusion of the pandemic and the story coming from different points of view. I definitely didn’t expect any of the characters to be who they turned out to be.

56 Days is the new book from Catherine Ryan Howard that takes place in Dublin at the beginning of the pandemic. This review is for the audiobook version narrated by Alana Kerr Collins.

"56 days ago Ciara and Oliver meet in a supermarket queue. A few weeks later when the lockdown threatens to keep them apart Oliver suggests that Ciara move in with him. But Oliver has a secret...and so does Ciara...

Today detectives arrive at Oliver's apartment to discover a decomposing body inside. Was it an accident? Or did the pandemic cover the perfect crime?"

Howard does a nice job building the story. You think you know where it's going because there's a dead body at the beginning. But there's more layers to the story. Why is there a body? Who is it? Who is responsible? What happened? Howard gives us a little bit at a time.The ending twist was a surprise.
The time line jumps around quite a bit as the reasons are revealed. With the audiobook at times it was difficult to keep up with the timelines (mostly because I would miss it) But the context quickly puts you in the right place.

Howard discusses using the pandemic as a plot device in the author notes and how many authors have said they refuse to include it in stories. Her writing reminds us of the early fear and uncertainty...and how hard it was to find toilet paper. The story works better because of it.

How much can someone change? How much can one person forgive? Howard's characters are pretty clear.

Great audiobook performance from Collins. Gripping story from Howard.