Don’t miss The Trap, the latest dark and twisted thriller from internationally bestselling crime writer Catherine Ryan Howard—inspired by a series of still-unsolved disappearances.
A New York Times Best Thriller of 2021
A Washington Post Best Thriller of 2021
A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year
An Amazon Editors’ Pick
''Bloody good.'' —The New York Times
''Timely, surprising, emotionally alive, this is about as good as suspense fiction gets.'' —Washington Post
No one even knew they were together. Now one of them is dead.
56 DAYS AGO
Ciara and Oliver meet in a supermarket queue in Dublin and start dating the same week COVID-19 reaches Irish shores.
35 DAYS AGO
When lockdown threatens to keep them apart, Oliver suggests they move in together. Ciara sees a unique opportunity for a relationship to flourish without the scrutiny of family and friends. Oliver sees a chance to hide who—and what—he really is.
TODAY
Detectives arrive at Oliver’s apartment to discover a decomposing body inside.
Can they determine what really happened, or has lockdown created an opportunity for someone to commit the perfect crime?
Look for these other pulse-pounding thrillers from award-winning, internationally bestselling crime writer Catherine Ryan Howard:
Distress Signals
The Liar’s Girl
Rewind
The Nothing Man
Run Time
The Trap
Download and start listening now!
“A twisty tale of suspense…Early on, readers realize that Ciara and Oliver aren’t going to make it as a pair…Through flashbacks and flash-forwards, Howard reveals how the two met (in the self-service checkout line at a Dublin supermarket), what secrets each is keeping from the other (and from themselves), and how trust in a new partner—especially at a time of intense isolation—can go wrong in the worst possible way. Howard also astutely conveys the vertiginous and abrupt changes that happened all those months ago. The novel is not, however, meant to be some kind of grand commentary on the pandemic, about the millions of lives lost and countries and societies upended. It’s a thriller, a bloody good one, that kept me guessing as I turned the pages at a furious clip.”
— New York Times
“56 Days is a terrific novel written by an author who is certain to become a distinguished voice in crime fiction. You won’t want to stop reading until the very end.”
— Karin Slaughter, New York Times and internationally bestselling author“Timely, surprising, emotionally alive, this is about as good as suspense fiction gets.”
— Washington Post“The queen of high-concept crime fiction.”
— Jane Casey, author of the Maeve Kerrigan novels, on The Nothing Man“Catherine Ryan Howard brings crime writing to a new level.”
— Sam Blake, bestselling author of Little Bones, on The Nothing Man“Catherine Ryan Howard is a gift to crime writing. Her characters are credible, her stories are original, and her plotting is ingenious. Every book is a treat to look forward to.”
— Liz Nugent, internationally bestselling author, on Rewind“Dark and dazzling, funny, sinister, and oh-so clever. I read 56 Days in a breath held right up until the final, mesmeric pages. Catherine Ryan Howard is ridiculously talented.”
— Chris Whitaker, New York Times bestselling author of We Begin at the End“[Howard] always snags me at the start with a hook and keeps me invested…The mystery element was very much a page-turner that overrode any potential uncomfortable feelings from the pandemic for me.”
— Book Riot“Each new twist, dispensed with surgical precision, will keep you hooked, nostalgic for the days when COVID-19 was the worst threat.”
— Kirkus Reviews“[A] captivating tale from Edgar finalist Howard…As the link between the couple’s outwardly simple yet complex romance and the murder becomes clearer through carefully doled out backstories, readers will find themselves rooting for these flawed characters no matter what their past indiscretions or crimes. Howard continues to impress.”
— Publishers Weekly“Howard has written an eerie, twisty story ripped from current headlines, in which a global pandemic becomes the foreboding hypotenuse of a dangerous love triangle.”
— Library Journal“I first fell in love with Howard’s writing in The Nothing Man and I jumped at the chance to read her latest. Even though I had a rough idea of what was going on with Ciara, I was still able to be surprised by the twist. I enjoyed the timeline jumps and the same story being told from both Ciara and Oliver’s perspectives. It gave a really rounded experience and reminds you that you don’t always get the whole story from one person. Perfect addition to your reading list!”
— San Francisco Book Review“As with Ms. Howard’s other thriller, The Nothing Man, this one is filled with a sense of foreboding from the first page. Nothing is as it seems, and yet everything is displayed in plain sight, if misinterpreted. 56 Days is a thriller with a heavy atmosphere of tension, set during a life-and-death time in our own contemporary history.”
— New York Journal of Books“Howard structures her novel as a clever sort of countdown, dishing out slow reveals about each of the characters, until the shattering ending that I might label Tarantino-esque if it weren’t so intimate.”
— CrimeReads“56 Days, Catherine’s newest crime novel, is without a doubt my favorite book of hers yet—and destined to be one of my top favorite books of the year. This clever and claustrophobic domestic thriller utilizes the pressure cooker of Ireland’s strict COVID lockdown policies to amp up the tension between a newly dating couple who decide to move in together rather than be forced to stay apart when COVID lands on Ireland’s shores. This book is masterfully plotted, deliciously entertaining, and brimming with the kinds of clever twists and reveals that you really won’t see coming.”
— Crime by the Book“56 Days is definitely one for thriller lovers that crave suspenseful story lines. Catherine Ryan Howard is a mastermind with this one.”
— Fresh Fiction“56 Days is pure perfection and a psychological thriller of the highest order.”
— BookreporterCatherine Ryan Howard is an internationally bestselling crime writer from Cork, Ireland. Her work has been shortlisted for the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best Novel, the Crime Writers Association (UK) John Creasey/New Blood and Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Awards, and the An Post Irish Crime Fiction Book of the Year multiple times. Her novels had been included in the New York Times Best Thrillers of the Year, the Washington Post’s Best Mysteries and Thrillers of the Year, and the New York Public Library’s Best Books for Adults. Obsession, the TV adaptation of Catherine’s fifth novel, the number one bestseller 56 Days, will debut exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. She lives in Dublin.
Alana Kerr Collins is an Earphones Award–winning audiobook narrator. She is also an actor, puppeteer, and singer who studied at the Impulse Company in London and earned a BA in drama and English at the University of Dublin, Trinity College. She starred in the short films Rachel 9000, The Deal, and Veritas and has appeared in several television series, including Emu and Big City Park.
Alana Kerr Collins is an Earphones Award–winning audiobook narrator. She is also an actor, puppeteer, and singer who studied at the Impulse Company in London and earned a BA in drama and English at the University of Dublin, Trinity College. She starred in the short films Rachel 9000, The Deal, and Veritas and has appeared in several television series, including Emu and Big City Park.