I was so excited for this. A horror movie setting in the wilderness. Sign me up. Maybe if it was shorter. I'm not even exactly sure what didn't work for me. But I was definitely a little let down

I own this and intend to read it in the future I'm just clearing this off my board to reduce stress. I will update when I read/review.

This book is akin to a series of nesting dolls. It looks at what people will do to satiate their creative urges. Plus, it tackles whether you should eventually give up and move on from your dreams for your own good.

I thought the story was good, but it got a bit confusing with how often it switched between being fake and being real. And the person who did (part of) it was super easy to guess early on.

A really fun and thrilling suspense novel that you will especially love if you are a movie buff or a fan of classic mysteries. Catherine Ryan Howard is a great writer and always brings the suspense and thrills. An intellectually stimulating, yet also very fun and thrilling, read!

2.5 stars rounded up.

2.5 stars rounded up

Run Time is a thriller set in a horror movie set. The set is far away from society and the cast is on their own at a dwelling deep in the wilderness.

The MC Adele is a struggling actress who has had her professional reputation ruined. She gets a break when a role as the heroine in a horror movie is offered to her. However, the cast, crew and location are all to be kept secret.

I will say that I really struggled to stay interested in the story. My mind kept wandering and I kept losing focus. Despite that, I still really wanted to find out what was going on so I stuck with the book until the end.

This book was just ok for me but it did have some good mysterious elements. I did like that it was a book about a book (or movie script) which was kind of interesting.

As a big Catherine Ryan Howard fan, I was super excited to pick up Run Time—a thriller about Hollywood and making movies? Yes, please! Plus, it’s set in Ireland, which is always a win for me, and the whole “locked door/location” vibe is a personal fave.

What worked for me:
• The Hollywood movie set backdrop was such a cool twist for a thriller
• I loved the locked-in setting—it gave me all the tense, claustrophobic feels
•Howard’s writing is always sharp and super engaging, which kept me turning the pages
even when the plot slowed down

Unfortunately, I didn’t love the plot as much as I did her other books. At over 500 pages, it felt long and a bit repetitive. There’s a lot to juggle between the main story, the script within the book, and the movie set itself, and they all cross over quite a bit, which makes it tricky to follow sometimes.

Even though Run Time wasn’t my favourite, Catherine Ryan Howard is still an auto-read author for me.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the gifted copy of the book.

I LOVE this author but this one just didn’t hit for me. I was a little bored throughout and found the story dragging. This won’t change the fact that I will read this author every time she writes a new book.

I went into this with minimal expectations because, despite really enjoying the two other CRH books I’ve read, the goodreads reviews had me worried. I’m glad to say I ended up really enjoying it! Explaining this book without spoilers could best be done with this quote: “Thoughts and prayers with whoever has the job of writing the Netflix description.” A book within a movie within a book. A great piece of slow burn light horror that I didn’t necessarily find scary but it was very suspenseful and took a lot of unexpected turns that kept me on my toes. In a world of so many similar horror books, this plays on a lot of familiar tropes to deliver some uniquely its own. I was worried it was going to drag because it’s on the longer side but there was never a dull moment for me. My favorite parts were the movie script parts. I also loved the women empowerment and feminist angle. Overall, highly recommend adding this to your Spooky TBR.

I’m super bummed about this rating because I do enjoy this author, however, in the words of Amy Santiago, “Ya just plain boring”. I’m really tired of the “paranoid girl who doesn’t know what’s real or fake” cliche. It just dragged and was very repetitive; which, I guess is to be expected for a book about a movie about a book. Also the number of times the name “Steve Dade” was mentioned was insurmountable. It had an interesting premise and was easy to follow along, but the story really missed the mark for me.

This was a decent thriller. It has book within the book thing aspect. I liked the story and the points of view. The beginning held my attention better than the end. Even though this one was not my favorite, I would read the next one by the author.

Really enjoyed this one! THE NOTHING MAN is one of my favorites and I was really looking forward to RUN TIME. While the premise is so interesting and gave me ALWAYS THE LAST TO DIE vibes, it could have probably been a little shorter.

I love all of Catherine Ryan Howard’s books, and Run Time was such a twisty, multi-layered atmospheric thriller! I will say it got a little repetitive in spots, but I loved the overall plot and how everything wove together in the end!

I loved the premise of the book but unfortunately it fell a little flat for me. It was way too long and Adele was not a likeable character. I typically love unlikeable characters in thrillers, but with Adele I quickly lost interest in her and what happened. Also, it was confusing going back and forth from the screenplay and the story. I wasn’t a big fan of this one, but I have loved the author’s previous works!

Not my favourite of Catherine's books however its an adrenaline-fueled thriller that did have me guessing throughout. It felt more horror-y thank her previous works but it did lend itself to the plot.

A fast-paced and twisty psychological thriller. Catherine Ryan Howard does it again and knocks it out of the ball park with Run Time.

Similar to Catherine Ryan Howard's other books were for me, Run Time was twisty, atmospheric, and quickly paced which kept me hooked into the story which is hard to do for me at almost 400 pages. I really enjoyed the psychological horror movie elements and it really helped add to the overall tension of the story. I might be late in reviewing this one but definitely glad I got around to it!

Thank you so much Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for my review copy!

Catherine Ryan Howard is one of the few authors who consistently manges to build atmosphere into her books. The story lines are unique, the characters well developed with enough of their own personal problems that the clues point in different directions after each chapter. As this fame seeking woman works her acting skills, someone else is working to keep the show from going on. So many times I thought I knew what was going to happen next and then.......well, no reveals from me. If you've never read any Catherine Ryan Howard titles, you have some serious binge reading ahead of you!!!!

I wanted to love this book, I like the concept of a story within a story, and this sounded like a fun, unique book. However, I struggled to follow and stay engrossed in this book for a lot of the time. I enjoyed Howard's previous book, 56 Days, so I will definitely continue to watch out for her new releases, this one just fell flat for me.

56 days was one of my favorite books of 2021, so I knew I would enjoy this one! It was definitely scarier in my opinion and very consistent about building tension. I found myself constantly waiting for jump scares! While it didn't sell me like 56 days did, I still really enjoyed it and think it makes some fun discussion as well which you don't always get in books that lean more scary. The setting was unique and so interesting as well! Will definitely continue to purchase from this author!

I really wanted to like this book, as it has elements of some of my favorite storylines. I love a secluded location where something creepy happens, most especially. The honest truth here? Nothing really happens. I was deeply bored.