„The Nothing Man“ is a captivating thriller about a young woman who survived the attack of a serial killer when she was twelve and the man who was The Nothing Man.

Eve was twelve when her family was killed. She survived because she went to the bathroom and for some reason the killer never came to look into the bathroom. Her parents and little sister died. After this traumatic event she grew up with her grandma. Eve lives in Ireland and Ireland is a small country with a small population so she had to change her last name and never told anybody about what happened to her. Then one day she writes an article about The Nothing Man. After that she gets convicted that writing a book about what happened may find help to finally catch the killer.

The book is very cleverly crafted. It is a book inside a book because we are going to read Eve’s book. The story is not about finding the killer because we know who he is from the first pages. He stopped is killing spree after he murdered Eve’s family and lives an ordinary but unfulfilling live as a security guard. When he learns about the book he gets worried that he might be caught after all.

So we see Jim, the Nothing Man, reading this book and his reaction to it. This is an unusual approach for a story and I enjoyed it. The writing is superb and the pace is fast. It gives us an inside look into what it means to survive this kind of attack and at the same time we see how this killer lives is ordinary live after his “career” as a killer. I would highly recommend this compelling thriller.

I really enjoyed this book. When I read the synopsis, it made me think of I will be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamarra and the Goldengate killer and if he ever read her book. I really loved how it was written, part Eve's story then seeing it through Jim as he read it. I thought it was a really enjoyable read and everything was all tied up at the end.

The setting of the Nothing Man is the familiar location of my home, Cork. I don’t know if it was because of this or because of the horror of the crimes described, but The Nothing Man touched a nerve with me. I was completely freaked out after reading it, but at the same time I couldn’t stop.

The story is told in an unique fashion, a book within a book. Eve Black is the only survivor of a brutal murder in her family home. The NothingMan killed her little sister, father and mother, leaving 12 year old Eve behind. Nearly twenty years later, Eve bares all with her true crime fiction book. Eve is no longer the victim, she is on the hunt to find The Nothing Man.

We are reading along with Jim Doyle, a disgruntled security guard. Jim has a deep, dark secret – he is the killer known as The Nothing Man. Seeing the story from the killer and victim’s point adds a layer of complexity to the book. There’s a delicious, dark feeling to seeing Eve drawing in on the murderer. A dangerous game has kicked off.

The settings were so normal and familiar, I could see the terrifying scenes clearly in my head. The Nothing Man is cleverly plotted and the layout is unique and adds to the experience of reading the story.

To summarise, this is pacy, creepy and compulsive crime fiction. Beware, it might just give you bad dreams.

Thanks to Net Galley and Atlantic Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.
This is the first book I have read by this author, one word would review it - Brilliant!!
I was captivated from page one, the pages literally turned themselves, a gripping psychological thriller.
The narrative is told between a victim who survived, Eve, who is searching for the truth and the killer, The Nothing Man.
Who is this silent killer, who leaves no trace evidence behind, who gains entry to his victims homes as if he had a key.
It’s very cleverly written, a game of cat and mouse, one book inside another book, and The Nothing Man is reading his story and his rage builds.
It has been twenty years since his last murder!
The suspense and tension builds throughout this book.
A top favourite read for me to date in 2020. Will definitely be reading more from this author.

Innovative, gripping thriller with an engaging protagonist. The Nothing Man is a twist on the serial killer genre which feels entirely fresh and modern. Queen of killer fiction, Catherine Ryan Howard, goes from strength-to-strength.

The Nothing Man, Catherine Ryan Howard.

You’ve just read the opening pages of The Nothing Man, a true crime memoir from Eve Black. Survivor of a serial killer who murdered her whole family, dubbed The Nothing Man.
Jim Doyle, an ageing supermarket security garden flips through its pages with rage building, because he was... is... The Nothing Man.
The more reads, the more he realises Eve is about to find him and he needs to stop her before she closes the case for good.

This is a fascinating storyline for a book! True crime is HUGE. So true crime fiction from BOTH perspectives, yes please.

Catherine Ryan Howard has been on my “want to read” for a while and I am so grateful to #NetGalley and #AtlanticBooks for the ARC of this one because she is brilliant.

I loved the duel perspectives, flipping between measured heartbreak and absolute rage. Howard has written an brilliant thriller.

Those final chapters knock you down, if you are a fan of the genre you’ll know that it can become predictable at times, the finale here was one epic twist after another.

A must read for thrill fans.

A unique, extraordinary tale, expertly crafted.
In County Cork in the late 90's a serial killer is targeting certain Women, certain families, five in total, each one worse than the one before, escalating in terror and violence and victims.
This book is two stories in one. One story is told by one of the survivors, the other from the viewpoint of the killer, culminating in both stories colliding..
All the characters have depth of character, and the descriptive text means that the reader feels the terror of The Nothing Man

I loved this. The Nothing Man killed Eve's family & now, 20 years later, she has written a book detailing his crimes & she's come out of hiding to catch him. This is really two books - the one penned by Eve & the story around it, which is a fantastic way of giving the reader different points of view. This book gave me goosebumps on numerous occasions, with its chillingly real, simplistic moments, things as innocuous as finding your bedroom door locked when it shouldn't be. This is a serial killer you can believe is hiding in plain sight, it made me double check the locks!

So a character by the name of Eve Black pens a true crime book which details the murder of her family and others at the hands of ‘The Nothing Man’.

Now, the magic happens with the clever perspective of this story, and it’s an exceedingly effective approach.

As you would expect each chapter consists of several passages from Eve’s book, but it’s presented in such a way that it felt as though both I and the killer were turning the pages simultaneously. This ‘real-time’, sinister ‘read-a-long’ is particularly arresting as his immediate agitated ‘critique’ follows each excerpt.

Just try to imagine the state of mind of such a person who is confronted by things they can’t publicly object to. A survivor of one of your crimes is making judgements about you, your motives, your mind, and your life. One of his victims' words have found their way into the anonymous life he’s built for himself and it’s making him very, very angry.

And to further escalate his ‘offence’ she has also vowed to identify him, despite there being zero evidence to connect him to any crime scene or victim. Or is there?

He doesn’t like this feeling of self-doubt. He likes Eve Black even less. What could she possibly can say or do that will shatter the anonymity of ‘The Nothing Man’? How can she possibly succeed where the police have failed? And THAT is the real drive of this immersive read.

Although I found it a slow burner in places I can 100% appreciate the author’s strategy. Good job.

So The Nothing Man came along at exactly the right moment. I was knee deep into “I’ll Be Gone In The Dark ” a book that should be read by everyone and I’d just finished listening to Man In The Window, a podcast about the Golden State Killer which focused quite a bit on giving his victims a voice

Then I picked up this. At the heart of it is a killer…he is still free, old now and no longer hunts..but one day he spots a true crime novel. It’s all about him..by one of his surviving victims.

Catherine Ryan Howard is one of the best plotters in the business when it comes to crime fiction..in this case she has imagined an intriguing scenario with its roots firmly in a real life story, a kind of “what if” that immediately grips you and doesn’t let up until the very last page.

A book within a book, a twisted mind, a brave survivor…put all this together and you have a wonderfully absorbing read that is very hard to put down and even harder to leave behind you when you are done. Beautifully crafted for maximum impact, The Nothing Man is one of the most atmospheric and addictive novels you’ll read this year.

Highly recommended.

Wow! This is a fabulous, edge of your seat, gripping thriller and I loved it.

It’s the heartbreaking story of a young girl, whose family is murdered by a serial killer and who then decides to write a book about her experience. Unbeknownst to her, the killer is reading the same book.

The writing is impeccable and I was enthralled from the first page. At times it’s an uncomfortable read and I defy you to read this book and not check under your sofa cushions or double check your doors and windows! However, it also does an excellent job of positioning the low life’s that rape and murder where they should be and the victims become the important names to remember. This is something I’ve long supported. Why do we know killers names, but, so often, not those of their victims?

A full and deserved 5* read. Fabulous!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Atlantic books for the opportunity to preview and Congratulations Catherine Ryan Howard on this amazing book. I will post more widely upon publication, but, in the meantime, many congratulations.

An excellent, pacey read.
Oh wow! I picked this up on Wednesday evening and I finished it today. What a read!

I have read all of Catherine Ryan Howard's books so far. I think she is a very clever and articulate author and I was looking forward to The Nothing Man - it did not disappoint!

We are drawn in to the split tales of Eve and Jim, the victim and the perpetrator. We live in a world full of books, TV series and podcasts focussed on true crime; The Nothing Man is a very timely book. I could imagine the 'crimes' in Cork being opened up again for review and raked over again by Eve- the surviving victim, the guards and the armchair sleuths, the general public.

I don't want to give too much away; it is a gripping read. Full of tension and suspense and I was engaged and drawn in from the first page.

I would like to thank Netgalley, the publisher and the author for my ARC, I really enjoyed this book and I will recommend it to others.

When Eve was 12, a man came to her house murdering her parents and her sister. This man was known as The Nothing Man’. There was no evidence to find him and after Eve’s family he never killed again.
Jim is working as a security guard when he sees a book called ‘The Nothing Man‘ about Eve’s survival and her quest for the truth and he knows it’s time to relive his past as The Nothing Man!
Wow!!! This can only be described as a book in a book! So cleverly written and in parts I was a bit spooked! Really enjoyed this book! Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

I think I’m in the minority here giving this book a 3* rating.

I liked the originality of the book, it’s certainly the first novel I have read with another book within its pages. That’s what grabbed my attention initially. Unfortunately I found that the “true crime” book wasn’t all that engaging. It was full of expansive , long winded explanations I just didn’t feel were justified. Personally though, I am not a huge reader of non-fiction, so need to consider that as this book was styled in that manner, maybe it’s just not my thing. I also found some of the plot points outside of the book and in the “real world” slightly unbelievable.

I have no doubt in my mind that this book will be a success. You only need to look at the current reviews to see that, in general, people are going to enjoy this cat and mouse thriller which is different to a lot of novels out there. I just don’t think it fulfilled my needs as a reader for me to absolutely love it. I wouldn’t be able to recommend it happily to anyone other than die hard fans of this genre, but there are a lot of them out there!

Thanks NetGalley, the author and publisher for giving me the chance to read and review this unusual book.

‘They waited for news, for updates, for an arrest. None ever came.’

I was ready to make my comparison to Michelle McNamara's I'll Be Gone In The Dark, which coincidentally was the book I read straight before this one, and then there it was in the acknowledgments on the final page. All this too say, I shall still make it as it truly made this book extra special in my eyes due to this odd coincidence.

Having just finished reading I'll be Gone In The Dark, reading The Nothing Man felt like reading about the GSK reading I'll be Gone In The Dark and I loved every second! What Catherine Ryan Howard does in this book is truly take you on a journey, at parts a (fictional) true crime memoir and at parts the story of a murderer aged by time and realising slowly but surely his time may be up. A thrilling read form start to finish that really and truly had me hooked init it's final pages.

It's little surprise at how good a storyteller CRH is, as her previous books have also been up there with my favourite reads. But I have now found a new favourite out of her books, in my opinion the best she has written so far! the characters felt so real and felt so much like those you would see in a true crime documentary! And the story's unfolding, which I won't say too much about to avoid spoilers, is so captivating that you can't help but keep flicking page after page to get to the grand finale of The Nothing Man's story.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Atlantic Books / Corvus for the ARC. A truly incredible read.
Bravo CRH, you've smashed it yet again!!

I was the girl who survived the Nothing Man.
Now I am the woman who is going to catch him...

You've just read the opening pages of The Nothing Man, the true crime memoir Eve Black has written about her obsessive search for the man who killed her family nearly two decades ago.

Wow what a most wonderful read. The author is fantastic. I loved how she told the story through Jim and the book. Very intense and well written. I highly recommend it to everyone. Thank you Netgalley for providing me with this book. loved it

Loved the format of a book within a book. Read this in one sitting it hooked me! Good characters and a brilliant plot

Catherine Ryan Howard has written some very readable crime novels and I’m glad to say that her latest , The Nothing Man, is another excellent book and was one I thoroughly enjoyed.

The story is told from multiple points of view and without giving any spoilers, from different timelines however the author is talented enough and the storyline strong enough for this to work and for it to add to and not to detract.

The main characters are well fleshed out and identifiable and the underlying main storyline propels this book along at an excellent pace that keeps the reader fully entertained.

If you enjoy crime novels with a seriously good twist then The Nothing Man is definitely a book for you.

I read The Nothing Man in one sitting. I loved the way this book was set up, with Jim (The Nothing Man) reading about his crimes and how the author of the book within a book is determined to find him after he killed her family. Jim is portrayed as ordinary which makes this work well - a psychopaths living an apparently normal life. Eve Black's story is told as a book within the book and is compelling. Overall I found this a tense thriller and not one to read before bed in the dark.

I really enjoyed this book and it had me gripped from the beginning. The characters were all realistic.. I really liked that the book was telling the story of a book being written by the survivor of an attack that killed her parents and younger sister by the Nothing Man. Also, the Nothing Man's story running alongside
.I did wonder if this was actually a true story at one point.

Great exciting read.

Many thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this ARC for which I have given my voluntary and unbiased review