56 Days

Wow, wow, wow, wow! Mind blowing good! So well written, with character development done so well, you cannot help but completely emerged in the story! Unique, fast paced, and absolutely unputdownable! Full of suspense, twist and turns, spine tingling chills, thrills, and gasp worthy shocks! This is one of those books that’s so good it’s hard to review, but should absolutely not be missed by any thriller fans! It’s dark, disturbing, and just plain good! Grab today, clear schedules, and prepare for one heck of a hangover! Highly, highly, highly recommend!

This is the first book I've read that uses COVID as a plot. And because it takes place in the city that I live, I was worried it would be too meta for me. I also thought it would feel gimmicky reading about something that only just started a year ago and is still ongoing. Like, how can an author write something so quickly and relevant and be good quality?

Well, all of those worries were completely unfounded. This is riveting story of first encounters, hidden secrets, and confined spaces. I really liked the jumps between the past and the present and the way the 56 days unfold. I thought the unravelling of information is done very well and the reveals always kept me on my toes. I also adored the sneaky references to CRH's other book, ‘The Nothing Man.’ And her author's note at the end does a great job at tying everything together - I think many readers will enjoy her take on COVID lockdowns.

So shame on me for initially doubting CRH. She has once again proved why she's one of my favourite crime/mystery authors.

I loved this thriller set during the Covid pandemic. Ciara and Oliver meet just days before the lockdown begins in Dublin. After a few dates, they decide to move in together. After that, things begin to quickly happen and the thriller begins. A five star read!

I absolutely love this heart pounding thriller. It kept me on the edge of my seat until the end of the book. This one’s a real winner.

I absolutely loved this book! On the surface a couple meet and start dating and decide to move in together when the COVID lockdown is announced so that they can see each other. This timeline alternates and we realize that one of them is dead 56 days after they meet. I loved how the back stories of the two main characters were slowly revealed layer by layer.

Oliver was such an interesting character in particular. I felt a little sympathetic towards him, and a little torn about that for reasons that I won’t get into in a spoiler free review. I also really enjoyed the banter between the gardaí at the crime scene and the little glimpse into their lives.

The plot was superb; built upon gradually with revelations coloring my earlier perceptions differently. I wondered until the last page how it would end, and loved how it did. A superbly written and marvelously clever book. Catherine Ryan Howard is an auto buy author for me now.

First, thank you to the publishers at Blackstone Publishing and Netgalley for this e-ARC of 56 Days.

56 Days is a crazy good murder mystery, a true whodunnit and why?

Taking place during the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdown of 2020, Ciara and Oliver meet via the fates and begin a relationship just a few weeks before everyone must be designated to their own households for at least 2 weeks. This untimely event seems to spell the end of their relationship, or does it?

When a body is discovered after almost 5 weeks of lockdown, Lee, a detective called to the scene, immediately thinks murder, but was it?

Switching between three points of view, Ciara, Oliver, and Lee, you’ll love the back and forth timeline happening in 56 Days. It really showcases the writer’s strengths in constructing a great whodunnit! I was completely shocked by the events as they unfolded. The story starts off a bit slow, but once all three voices are introduced, it really begins to take off!

The ending is crazy good! At first I thought this was happening, but it turned out to be something completely different. This is an unputdownable thriller with plenty of twists and turns! 56 Days releases August 17! Preorder today!

First i want to thank Blackstone Publishing, NetGalley and Author for this outstanding ebook copy!
In return for an honest review!

56 Days..... WoW! Let say first I knew this was going to be a wild ride! And I enjoyed every second of it!

I'm so happy someone wrote a story with the covid pandemic added into the mix! I was wondering how long it would take and obviously Howard decided to jump all over it!. Bravo girl! 😍

56 Days Ago..... Ciara and Oliver have just started dating getting to know one another..... When suddenly Covid 19 hits strikes Dublin.
They decided to move in with each other!
56 Days Later...... A body has been found in Oliver's flat!
Only one of them is dead and the other is still alive!

The two detectives Lee and Karl, were great characters. Well played!
I was gripped from the start and it kept me up reading all dang day!
Overall if you enjoy police investigation, twists and tension.and a plot that is tense and full of twist and turns?.
You will not want to miss this amazing electrifying book!

I seriously can not thank Blackstone Publishing, NetGalley and Author for giving me a chance to read and review this compelling advanced ebook copy!

I was so excited to recieve a copy of this book and I am so happy it did not disappoint. The storyline was original and clever. I thought it was a great idea to use covid-19 l9ck down as a way to develop a murder mystery. I loved the alternating timelines and narrators throughout the book. You got to see each person's point of view and find outwhat each person was hiding because they both had secrets. At a certain point there were so many twiststhat I could not put the book down until I knew what actually happened. I love all the twists. This was a fun and crazy read that I simply could not put down and I enjoyed thoroughly.

4.5

This book has confirmed that Catherine Ryan Howard is a new favourite and auto-buy author for me!

I read The Nothing Man by this author earlier this year and absolutely loved it. It quickly became a favourite of all time. When I saw this one on NetGalley, while I knew I loved her writing, I wasn’t sure I was ready for a book about COVID just yet, but decided to give it a go anyway.

I’m so glad I did!

This book is about Ciara and Oliver, who meet just before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and decide to move in together in order the see each other during lockdown. 56 days later, a body is found in Oliver’s apartment.

I don’t want to say too much about what this book entails because I don’t want to spoil anything, but that initial premise had me so intrigued when I first read about this book.

I thought this was fantastic. I had an idea of where this was going, and despite that, I was still enjoying my time reading it. That just shows how much I love Catherine Ryan Howard’s writing, because if this were the case in another book, I’d have probably been bored just waiting for the reveals to happen.

I WAS SO WRONG. This book took a turn I didn’t expect at all. I couldn’t believe it. It truly shocked me.

This is a really fast-paced book. I got through it so quickly. I just wanted to see how it would all come together and didn’t want to put it down. I thought the characters were written so well, and while I didn’t necessarily ‘like’ them the whole time reading this, there were moments I sympathised with the both of them.

The only thing that I didn’t like so much about this book was that it was a little repetitive at times, because in some instances we got the same events but from both Ciara and Oliver’s perspectives.

I didn’t quite love this as much as The Nothing Man, but it’s still a fantastic thriller. If you think you’re ready for books with covid in the plot line, I’d definitely recommend you give this one a go.

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

They say that there’s three sides to every story – your side, my side, and the truth. Sometimes, though, that’s just the start, and as 56 Days unfolds it starts to become clear that first impressions can cover any number of secrets.

Set in Dublin at the start of the COVID 19 pandemic, we’re introduced to Oliver and Ciara as they first meet. They bond over space shuttles and French 75s; when lockdown begins only a couple of days later, they decide to move in together rather than face separation. Unfortunately for them, the reader knows that someone isn’t making it out of there alive; but how and why did it all go so wrong?

56 Days is absolutely excellent – so many of these books turn into a race to the end to find out what happened, but here the reader is going to enjoy the journey just as much as the eventual discovery. It may feel like it reads fast, but that’s just because it will suck you in right from the start – I’d advise against starting this at bedtime, because putting it down again is the only part I didn’t enjoy.

This is one of the first novels I’ve read to take place in the pandemic, and it’s anything but a gimmick. Catherine Ryan Howard has captured the uncertain, unsettled feelings of those early weeks, even down to the odd guilty spark of relief at no longer needing an excuse to stay home. The atmosphere broods in the background, building up the tension and paranoia between our two doomed lovers and bolstering the uncanny feeling of something that’s just not quite right. She’s preserved a moment of time that was hard for the people living in it to put into words, and done it with beautiful clean prose that immerses a reader and keeps them captivated.

56 Days will engage, it will enthrall, and it will most definitely surprise. Easily one of my favorites for 2021, and one I’ll be recommending to everyone in need of a good book.

Loved! This mystery/thriller set in Dublin during the first lockdown is hard to put down. Ciara and Oliver meet right at the beginning of the pandemic. With the one household rule, Ciara and Oliver decide to move in together. As the story unfolds and secrets are revealed, these two have more than a past in common. 56 Days is filled with so many surprises and twists. Thank you, NetGalley!

56 days ago: Oliver and Ciara are dating and getting to know each other. As they start that stage where they only want to be with each other, COVID-19 hits Ireland. They make the decision to move in together. Now: A decomposing body is found at Oliver’s apartment.

It took me some time to get into this one. There is a lot of back and forth, jumping around, and same situations in different point of views. Once I got the flow of the book, the pacing started to pick up. The last third of the book sealed the deal as a five star read. There were unexpected twists, some of which entirely changed my emotional experience. Overall it turned out to be a darker and more somber than thriller read, but it was perfect.

“People think the decisions you make that change the course of your life are the big ones. Marriage proposals. House moves. Job applications. But she knows it’s the little ones, the tiny moments, that really plot the course. Moments like this.”

56 Days comes out 8/17.

Ciara and Oliver meet in the grocery store and bond over Ciara's NASA tote bag. This is the same week in March 2020 that the pandemic reaches Ireland. Cue the lockdown and the pair decides that it would be better for Ciara to move in with Oliver instead of them both being alone. 56 days later, detectives find a decomposing body in Oliver's apartment. ⁠
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56 Days is a quick-read, dark pandemic thriller. Catherine Ryan Howard really had me tricked that it was romance at the start. I was really rooting for Ciara and Oliver's relationship and honestly forgot that this was a thriller/mystery at some points. This book may not be for you depending on how this past year and a half has been for you. The premise is centered around the pandemic, namely lockdowns, so be aware. ⁠
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The narrative is told from multiple POVs and also includes time jumps forwards and backwards. Some situations are retold from different perspectives as well. I only found it slightly repetitive during the first chapter we revisited because that chapter was so dialogue heavy without the character's inner thoughts. ⁠
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The Gardaí (Irish state police) had entertaining banter but this also leans towards sexual harassment if the two detectives weren't friends outside work. Both Ciara and Oliver have intriguingly complex backstories and CRH got me with one of the twists. I had to go back half a page to double check I hadn't misread something!⁠

4.5 rounded up.

18 months ago when the lock downs where at their height, I remember wishing for fiction set in the "Covid World." I wanted to read about people facing what was leaving me overwhelmed: "doom-scrolling" the news, shortages at the supermarket, masks, and social distancing. In 56 Days, Catherine Ryan Howard manages to create a compelling thriller set in the first weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, complete with police procedure and truly surprising plot twists.
Newly-dating couple Oliver and Ciara decide to spend their two-week stay-at-home together at Oliver's apartment, keeping the arrangement a secret. 56 days later, one of them is discovered dead in the apartment, It looks like an accident, but the police investigator suspects that the story is more complicated than it seems.
I will recommend to fans to Gillian Flynn and B.A. Paris, and anyone looking for fiction that has the COVID-19 pandemic as a plot point.

Thank you to Blackstone Publishing and Netgalley for a digital copy in exchange for review.

Ciara and Oliver meet in a supermarket queue and start dating. 2 weeks later, Dublin goes into complete lockdown and Oliver suggests they move in together to build on their budding relationship without external interference. A month later one of them is dead.
56 days was a great psychological thriller that kept me guessing at every turn. I saw some of the twists coming but it still managed to surprise me at the end. I very rarely get emotionally invested in the characters of thrillers. It’s usually the plot that gets me hooked. But this one managed to do both.
Well plotted, well paced and intriguing thriller with plenty of plot twists. This twisty lockdown murder mystery should definitely be on your tbrs!
Rating : 4.5 stars

When I read the synopsis of this book and got approved for it on NetGalley I got so hyped up to read this and let me just say it was so worth the hype. The ending was amazing. All within a couple of minutes I went from saying out loud “NO WAY” and then “wait….WHAT?!” And I love when books do that! I know I said in my last review I didn’t like the Covid talk but I found this different and I didn’t mind it at all. This book had me thrown for such a loop. I read it so quickly it is so fast paced and is told in multiple points of views and over different times. There’s so much going on it just has you hooked from the very beginning. I highly recommend this book!

A gripping isolation thriller with a pandemic twist that readers won't be able to put down!

Ciara thinks she's met the guy of her dreams when she bumps into Oliver in queue at her local supermarket. But when COVID-19 threatens to keep the pair apart, Oliver suggests she move in with him. Thinking this is her chance to take their new relationship to the next level, Ciara agrees. But is Oliver who she thinks he is, or is he hiding a dark and deadly secret?

Told in a shifting timeline between the time Ciara and Oliver meet to a couple of months later when a dead body is discovered by police in Oliver's apartment, this is one thriller that kept me guessing all the way through. This is sure to be one of the break-out thrillers of 2021!

“Set just before and during the first weeks of the Covid-19 lockdown in Dublin, Ireland, this captivating tale from Edgar finalist Howard opens with something amiss in an apartment complex. Flash back 56 days. Oliver and Ciara, two shy people in their 20s, meet in a supermarket. Both have recently moved to Dublin and are alone, so lockdown Set just before and during the first weeks of the Covid-19 lockdown in Dublin, Ireland, this captivating tale from Edgar finalist Howard opens with something amiss in an apartment complex. Flash back 56 days. Oliver and Ciara, two shy people in their 20s, meet in a supermarket. Both have recently moved to Dublin and are alone, so lockdown seems like the perfect time to start a relationship. But as their courtship unfolds, so do their secrets, seems like the perfect time to start a relationship. But as their courtship unfolds, so do their secrets.” Catherine Ryan Howard has used the Covid pandemic as the backdrop of this modern thriller. I could not put this book down. Told in alternative time frames, Ryan sets the scene with the main characters quarantining together. There is an underlying sense of danger and mistrust but Ryan does not show her cards. Bits & pieces are cleverly revealed, intensity rises and the reader is sucked in to this novel even after the last page. I have been waiting for a thriller that keeps you up reading all night and 56 Days did that and more.

Set in Dublin during the initial stage of Covid, this story is about a couple who decided to live together during the lockdown. But things went awry when one of them is found dead. What really happened?

I know this is a brief synopsis but there is a lot going on in the plot. All I can say is that it was twisty, suspenseful, left me flabbergasted and I LOVED IT!

The story is told from different POVs with events happening within 56 days. Catherine is a brilliant writer and I do not know how she did it but these 56 days were intense and as the mystery unravels, oh my goodness, it was bananas!

I liked most of the characters but absolutely loved the two detectives - Lee and Karl. I want to be their friends!

In a nutshell, a MUST READ book!


Pub. Date: Aug 17th, 2021

***Thank you Blackstone Publishing, author Catherine Ryan Howard and NetGalley for this gifted ARC copy to read and review.***

This book focuses on two people who meet right before the COVID-19 lockdown. Seems that they really hit it off and are going to really enjoy ones company. Nope. The reader is told one of them is dead and no one knows whats going on. This book was a friggin blast to read. Timelines alternative between 56 days ago and to the "today". This kept it at such a great pace for a thriller. You get multiple perspectives from Ciara and Oliver which slowly made you question more and more about them. Who's lying to who? Who is being someone they aren't? This book blindsided me on multiple occasions. I thought I had it figured out but nope. Not even a little bit. I will be reading ALL the CRH books.

4.5 Stars.

This was a fun mystery! I had my hesitations going into this about it being set during 2020 with the covid-19 entanglement, but I think this ended up being a very normal perspective on the whole situation. Aside from the obvious murder/mystery the book was actually about.

I loved the characters in this. Ciara and Oliver were quite the dynamic relationship all filled with secrets. I loved how the writer had the ability to make you feel a certain way for a character (can't give too much away here), you actually felt bad and wanted everything to work out for them in the long run. I enjoyed trying to figure out what the back story really was.

I also enjoyed the format. The jumps through time were easier to follow than I anticipated at first, and they really added to the story. I loved the dual perspective (kind of) of the past and even some of the repetition of the character's thoughts, but just with that little addition of information that kept you learning what was truly happening.

I would say this one will be towards the top of my list of recommendations for mysteries. Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for allowing me to review this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Pandemic fiction! I am here for it. This book is twisty and exciting. You move back and forth through the span of a couple of months. Multiple POVs. I especially enjoy revisiting a familiar scene with new information and/or from a different perspective. This is a *smart* mystery.

Five stars. All the stars. I 💜 a smartly done thriller. There is a reveal that had me like 😮. If you were thinking about reading this one, I vote “do it”

Is it too soon for COVID pandemic-themed books? I think not! This was an excellent thriller about a murder that occurs during a lockdown in Dublin, Ireland. This boo is unique in that it switches among timelines and between characters/narrators to give you a unique perspective. I didn't see the big twists coming and while it did take me about half of the book to really get into the "must continue reading" aspect of it, I got there and you should, too!

(Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review).

Thank you for Blackstone Publishing for the arc via NetGalley.

4.5*
I would never thought that I would read a book about the pandemic, I felt it was enough to live in it. But the hype got to me, I got interested. And I was not disappointed.
I liked the realness of it and the details about the unknown when it all started, the questions and how we suppose to continue with our life and like how it all happened in real life. But it was not overwhelmingly done, didn’t take the attention from the plot. The writing style was interesting with jumping time lines from character to character, it kept me on edge and I wanted to know what happened. It makes you think, what would you do in their situation? When you just met another person after long time who you are happy with, but a global pandemic begins with a lockdown and against all the red flags you move together and starting to question yourself if it was a good idea…
So this book really surprised me in a good way!
Theres some plot twists but didn’t felt so huge because as we follow the characters they show us what they do and why, so I was a little bit missing the “ Big Boom Moment” when turns out what happened, but its because of the jumping between times, so it couldn’t build up so much if that makes sense.
It was still interesting and exciting read, I really enjoyed it.

I was pleasantly surprised by how well written and entertaining the story was, and would definitely recommend. I was drawn in by the premise, but on the fence since we are still living in the midst of the pandemic and I wasn't sure if it would capture the feelings and the depths. My hesitancy was unfounded (and the author also revealed she wrote the book over three lockdowns, so plenty of time to craft a great story as she also lived through the events, just like her characters.)

What a ride! What a thrill! What a book!! This is our September book club pick and I was so excited to grab a copy. Worth it!!

WOW!

Absolutely could not put this one down. The book begins by sucking you in with a love interest between two lonely strangers in Dublin. Once the COVID pandemic hits, they decide to become lockdown roommates. Slowly and steadily, things are revealed about their past. But who can be trusted?

I don’t want to give up much else because I was shocked and tricked at every turn. I always try to guess what’s really going on in every thriller, but I have to admit I did not see any of that coming. So well done. And don’t let the talk of the pandemic deter you - it was a helpful tool to set the claustrophobic tone for this ominous thriller. Be sure to read the trigger warnings on book of the months page if you’re worried about that. Otherwise, try not to look up too much beforehand about this one, just dive right into it and enjoy the thrilling ride.

First, (and most likely last) book set during the first lockdown I read, not because it wasn't good but because it's way too fresh for me to read about the first cases and lockdowns, etc. However, this book was much more than that. I read somewhere once that every romance book could be a thriller if things turned sour and this was the perfect example of it. Ciara meets Oliver right before the first lockdown happens, they move in together because they like each other's company, they have a good time, might as well take a chance, right? Except both of them have secrets and confined together 24/7 might make them implode sooner rather than later and a rotting body is found.

The writing was engaging, keeping me guessing up until the end of the book. The twists were well done, clever. I highly recommend this if you want a gripping thriller à la The Guest List.

Wowza! This book was amazing! This one strung me along for the ride, I needed to know what was happening and what happened. With the different timelines it was displayed perfectly for a perfect crime. At 70% of the story I got SOME clarity and my mind was blown, for some reason I didn’t see that coming. Then another twist! I highly recommend this for my gore, thriller, mystery fans!