This is a good story, but is somewhat hampered by the style adopted. I stuck with it and enjoyed it more than I expected early on. The story moves around forward and back in time to fill in the gaps in the story line. I personally do not like this, and find it a little frustrating. The plot develops in a small village by the sea outside Cork in Ireland. An Instagram influencer has gone missing from a holiday home and the story follows a social media reporter who is investigating. The style does allow the author to hold back from revealing too much too early and add in some nice twists. All in all apart from the time jumps it is a very good read.

Couldn't put this book down! We suspect what's happened from the beginning but these suspicions need to be confirmed as events are revealed. Really liked the split narrative between characters. I loved the twist at the end, very well done. I'll definitely look out for more from the author!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this arc. I was drawn by the premise of the book that has a video clip of a murder, then the narrative rewinds and fast-forwards. It immediately grabbed my attention, and what a corker of a book this was, too. This is my first Catherine Ryan Howard book, but I’ll definitely be checking out her backlog of novels and eagerly awaiting anything new she writes.
Howard is an Irish writer and Rewind is set there. It alternates between Dublin and the tiny, sleepy seaside town of Shanamore. This opens with a video clip of a young woman sleeping in a hotel room who wakes up and is murdered by an intruder. The intruder then breaks the hidden camera lens. The clip then rewinds in time and we see this young woman, Natalie, an Instagram influencer, who came from Dublin to Shanamore Cottages - holiday cottages - with the specific intention of looking for something. But what is she searching for?...Who killed her, and how do they know about the hidden camera? Who is Andrew, the manager of the cottages and why is he spying on his guests?...
This was a fast read that zipped along. There’s a host of characters. Audrey, a 29-year old journalist looking for her break; Jennifer, a manager at another hotel who is having an affair with Mike; and Sean, a Gardai (Officer) recently relocated to Shanamore. Each chapter is like a puzzle piece that fits together to reveal that horrifying bigger picture. This was a quick, pacy read. Each character is fully fleshed. I especially loved the setting of Shanamore and the eccentric, faded establishments. Howard captures that cold, seaside town feel and turns it into something creepy and sinister. The town of Shanamore is claustrophobic and dark, you just want the characters to get the next bus out of there! An absorbing, corker of a read that innovates and presses refresh on the thriller genre. 5/5.

Enjoyed this book. Really clever structure and great sense of place and atmosphere. Totally believable. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A modern whodunit with the added twist of what was it! Although the time jumps can be a bit confusing, the characters are compelling enough to keep you reading.

A different sort of detective thriller. One where the real detective is a down on her luck reporter for an on-line paper. ‘Reporter’ may be pushing it as she trawls the net for stories she can embellish and regurgitate, with a ‘click-count’ judging her success or failure. However, her big break comes when she is assigned to investigate a missing person, Natalie O’Connor, an internet lifestyle sensation with thousands of followers. Meanwhile Natalie is doing some sleuthing of her own, trying to discover why her husband had spent a lot of money renting a holiday cottage a few weeks previously. It’s bound to end in tears or even worse!
A thriller with good pace and interest. Possibly someone from Eire could have picked up on a few things quicker than me but the journey was fun nonetheless.
On a technical point, the day / night camera hidden in the clock, when in night mode, couldn’t define the colour crimson. If I am to be really picky, it would also require either an infrared light source (940nm to be invisible to the human eye) or use a technique called integration if no major light source was available. The latter would not have been able to capture the fast movements detailed in the video.

A modern thriller in the age of social media. I found the time shifts confusing and was unable to finish the book.

New author for me so wasn’t sure what to expect, loved it was set in Ireland and enjoyed the change of scenery from the U.K.!

Really creepy characters in this one and it had a fair amount of twists to keep you hooked throughout the book, it defo kept me guessing and I enjoyed it a lot, I thought it had eve day thing you’d want from a decent psychological thriller

An Irish setting is a refreshing change; an Irish mystery is even more appealing.
Howard uses the device of a camera rewinding, pausing and running to map the action of this mystery. A journalist, a popular instagrammer, a paedophile owner of holiday homes and a Gaudia all feature in different time zones of this "camera" so that reading it is deliberately confusing but not unpleasantly so.
Natalie, the instagrammer, is missing. The journalist decides to find her and they both go to Shannamore cottages to follow the breadcrumb trail which has as kne of its "crumbs", a credit card receipt for a stay at the cottages.
This book has a touch of "Pyscho" and, interestingly, a touch of "Enduring Love" (Ian McEwan). It could be a film as it cuts from one scene and time to another but the latter section pieces the celluloid together quite satisfactorily indeed.

This is a very good story! Couldn't put it down. Keeps you guessing right until the end. A few creepy characters well played in the storyline and lots of guessing for me throughout. Definitely recommend.

Curious multiple narration and timelines in a murder mystery/crime thriller.

Not my usual genre, but I like original work in most areas. And the plot of this caught my attention. A social media 'influencer' on a furtive visit to an out-in-the-sticks 'holiday cottage' goes missing soon after arriving.

The manager, with cameras in all the rooms of his cottages, is watching his screens when he sees a murder taking place.

As with Marion Crane in Psycho, we aren't allowed much time with the 'lead character' Natalie to feel overly invested in her or her 'influencer' lifestyle, probably a good thing as she herself notes how others view her condescendingly or with jealousy. We know early on she is dead. We don't know who did it, or why.

We also have the reference to another Psycho character with the manager of the Shanamore Holiday Cottages, Andrew: "the guy was a bit weird, yeah, and not exactly born for the hospitality business, but he was no Norman Bates." He sees a murder and doesn't report it, he has cameras viewing his guests. As readers we are left to guess and deduce.

Other narrators, including the local policeman investigating, take up narrator roles. The story moves in different time directions at once, both forward from the murder to gradually filling in the timeline preceding it.

While I enjoyed the journey through the twists and maze of possibilities, I hadn't guessed the conclusion, and did quite like the surprise.

It wasn't a book with a hero/ine in particular, as it was split between various characters. It was more a journey around an overall plot and event, meaning you didn't have someone to travel WITH. It was cleverly done, and well done, with a good 'realisation' moment.

Can be confusing with various time positions bouncing around as well as the different voices/points of view, but overall if you're concentrating, it's tight and taut.

With thanks to Netgalley for the sample reading copy.

I really enjoyed this! It was pacey and twisty enough to keep me gripped from start to finish, and really easy to read while still keeping me guessing right to the end without concealing too much. The exact right balance for a psychological thriller like this.

A guest is murdered in an out of season, holiday cottage, captured on film. For me this was one of those books which was good in parts, but not so in others. It was confusing and jumped around a lot - could’ve done with being about a third shorter, maybe by getting rid of some of the characters who didn’t really add much to the story? I did like the writer’s style but just wish there had been a bit less of it! Also it was an intriguing, creepy concept which made me want to read it.

Rewind is a compelling, time-shifting thriller about voyeurism, obsession, and the dark side of the internet.

Catherine Ryan Howard writes a hugely engrossing and entertaining novel that deals with some serious issues in this gripping thriller full of suspense and menace.

Andrew, the manager of Shanamore Holiday Cottages has a terrible secret - he watches his guests via a hidden camera in their rooms. One night a shadowy figure emerges onscreen, kills his only guest, Natalie and destroys the camera, leaving Andrew feeling horribly guilty. But who is the murderer and how did they know about the camera?

Entertainments reporter Audrey is given the opportunity to work on a story of Natalie's disappearance however, as she starts working on the story, she realises that this is her golden opportunity to make it as a news reporter, so she searches for the truth that lies behind the mystery.

Catherine Ryan Howard delivers an unrestrained and exuberant story of menace with a toxic concoction of voyeurism, secrets, eeriness and the evils of social media. Rewind is beautifully plotted, a cracking story and a book that I revelled in all the way through. It brought no disappointments and everything was well wrapped up in the fabulous finale.

A riveting and exemplary thriller that I'm very happy to recommend.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel from Atlantic Books/ Corvus via NetGalley at my own request. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

Rewind is the first book I've read by Catherine Ryan Howard. I struggled a bit at the beginning to get my bearings with the timelines and characters and found it quite predictable but overall still an enjoyable read.

An interesting fusion of crime fiction genres.

The setting and some of the characters give this story a noir twist, the suspense and level of menace keep the reader turning the pages, and if you're reading it alone, probably wishing you weren't.

There is a murder, a cast of possible suspects, and an amateur sleuth working out whodunnit, more efficiently than the authorities. Part of the enjoyment is not just finding out who, but also why, and what the others part in the mystery is.

This is also part techno-thriller, the victim is a social media influencer, there are strange online groups and the dangers of the dark web. Living life in the full glare of social media may reap celebrity and monetary rewards for some, but there are setbacks, in terms of obsessive fans and haters.

The thriller also had an original layout, scenes are short and prefaced by media playback terms; play, pause, fast forward and rewind. This emphasises the media aspect of the story and enables the story to be told from different viewpoints and different periods, before, during, after and outcome.

Complex characters, a brave and largely successful mix of genres and something a little different, which is always exciting to find and read.

I received a copy of this book from Atlantic Books- Corvus Books via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This book had me on tenterhooks. As with other readers the time line was also something I was confused about but ignoring that the book had me gripped from start to finish.

Wonderful read! As always, I found the writing style addictive and this was a true page turner. 5 stars

Due to how the story is written there was some confusion on my side. But I liked the play, pause, fast forward, replay - it's a unique take on how to structure your chapters. Suspenseful, unpredictable and overall an enjoyable read.