In the middle of the Irish countryside a small film crew are making a horror film called Final Draft. The premise is that a young couple in a creepy cottage find a novel and everything that happens in it happens to them. There is something not quite right about the crew, however. Everyone has been hastily assembled and everyone is really desperate for the job so they aren’t asking any questions about the rather strange set up. The most desperate of them all is their leading actress, flown in as a last minute replacement. Adele’s last acting job ended in disaster and she urgently needs a hit film. As soon as she arrives strange things start happening, it’s like real life is echoing the film echoing the book….
Run Time is a clever premise and Catherine Ryan Howard keeps up a relentless, page turning pace. It’s a rather far fetched plot though and I found the ending to be a bit neat and rather rushed.
I really enjoyed her other books and didn’t love this quite so much but it will keep you hooked. Thank you to #netgalley and #atlantic books for allowing me to review this ARC

Love the concept of this one! I really enjoyed the way it was written with part script like format too. This was my first book by this author but I am keen to read her previous works now too as I loved the writing!

FROM THE COVER📖

Movie-making can be murder . . . 
The project
Final Draft, a psychological horror, being filmed at a house deep in a forest, miles from anywhere in the wintry wilds of West Cork.
The lead
Former soap-star Adele Rafferty has stepped in to replace the original actress at the very last minute. She can't help but hope that this opportunity will be her big break - and she knows she was lucky to get it, after what happened the last time she was on a set.
The problem
Something isn't quite right about Final Draft. When the strange goings-on in the script start to happen on set too, Adele begins to fear that the real horror lies off the page...

REVIEW 🔪🎬😱😬🌚📝
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Thank you to NetGalley and Atlantic Books for the ARC. This is my fair and honest review

Catherine Ryan Howard is one of the most inventive writers around there is doubt of this after reading her latest novel none of her novels are the same in terms of plot lines that is for sure.

With this novel I enjoyed the unique concept more than the actual experience of reading it as it was all too frantic, unbelievable to the extreme, lacked any real thrill or tension and it seemed quite daft all round. it was a clever concept but it just did not work.

The setting along the with initial concept captured my imagination.

Things like the secluded tree lined wood and floor to celling windows looking out the dark woods gave an instant atmosphere of unease and creepiness, that along with elements like a skeleton crew, creepy crew members, strange messages and no Wi-Fi/Phone reception made the perfect recipe to create a thrilling scary read however the way the plot develops and the annoying lead character meant this brilliant setting was wasted.

The plot loses the momentum about 30% in for me. I felt enough time was not spent actually setting up for the big finial reveal a lot of it was merely a lot of Adele running around in the woods by herself, I felt the pace slowed greatly at this point without the benefit of other characters and their dialogue to bounce off, furthermore I don’t think this actually had the authors intended purpose it would have worked better with slow build up, it happened all too quick. No tension or a sense of eeriness was created at all. It was just a girl running about a damp forrest after nothing happening or with not much it appeared to be fearful from.

When the first reveal happened, I honestly was a bit disappointed. I thought, surely this isn’t the whole storyline being revealed after such little real build up, it wasn’t but what followed made the book completely different from what I suspect most readers were expecting after reading the synopsis, and it become almost a farce.

There was far too much going on and none of it in anyway believable ,even in the world of fiction, the actual full reveal was unexpected but not surprising. It was the same old story of jealously, delusion and lazy portrayal of mental health, particularly of woman’s mental health. I thought better of the writer tbh.

The ending isn’t great, it’s very underwhelming and just sort of fizzles out before any pop.

However the last page which is a newspaper cutting did make me laugh as it was keeping with the character of Adele both in terms of how she portrays herself in the first POV over the novel(which is strangely set as three acts this doesn’t work at all even with the novel being set within a film set,act two is by far the most disappointing, I get the first act shows the before the second the event and the third the after but the way the story is written does not work with in this lay out) and how she appears to be seen in the surrounding world of characters that are featured. She is very much the pretty, slightly boring, poor me, classic self deluded ,self involved ,stereotypical actor type.

The novel is laid over three acts all of which is of is told from the first POV of Adele, with a prologue told in first POV of one of the film crew and intermixed with pages of the script of the Final Draft the film that Adele is shooting as the lead.

I did quite the movie script being included I think that was meant to add to the tension as we were reading along side Adele but if anything it highlights how poor the tension was created in the main story, it was like the author wanted to leave a gap in between to keep you reading and to develop a slow simmering feel but it really didn’t, the insertion of the film script interrupts the flow and it inevitably leads to some repetition.

However I did like the ending of the film script it was quite amusing and in true horror slasher film style was cheesy and left room for a not needed squeal. The film script for me added a sense of a parody of a slasher movie set in the late 90’s which after some quite dull so called mystery in the main body of the Nobel made me chuckle if anything else. Footnote I preferred Kate to Adele. Adele as a character wasn’t for me.

What makes this three stars instead of two was the fact the concept was brilliant, unique in terms of initial plot and had a great setting , presented in a different way this could have easily been five stars, I think there needs to be some serious editing and rewriting of parts before publishing to make it as good as the authors previous work.

I'm conflicted with this novel it was good and I liked the twists and I didn't guess the ending completely but there are points in it that just didn't work for me,
I've read previous novels by Catherine Ryan Howard which I've enjoyed but this is totally different to her other work.
Its the story about Adele Rafferty who was a child actress in a famous soap who quit when she thought she was going to make it big in the movies, which unfortunately for her never happened so when she gets a call to leave LA and go back to Ireland to make a low budget horror film she thinks this could be the start of her comeback, but soon fiction is becoming a reality and Adele isn't sure what is real or not. The book alternates between whats happening with Adele, the fictional movie script & book which I did find distracting.

Run Time is the latest thriller by Catherine Ryan Howard and whilst it was very readable the overall storyline seemed to just lack a little.

Whether that was the script part which was confusing or whether the main character was just too unbelievable I’m not sure however I did feel slightly disappointed at the end.

I enjoyed the concept of this more than the actual experience of reading it as it was all too frantic and unbelievable. Adele was a bit of a mishmash and not likeable, in fact no one was really likeable. I think I probably missed the point of this but after absolutely loving 56Days, I was a bit underwhelmed.

‘It all started the day of the audition.’
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Strap yourselves in for August 11th for the release of Catherine Ryan Howard new book! And if you’ve read ANY of her work before, you know you’re in for one hell of a treat! Easily one of my favourite authors! My advice? Pre Order right now!!
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The project
Final Draft, a psychological horror, being filmed at a house deep in a forest, miles from anywhere in the wintry wilds of West Cork.
The lead
Former soap-star Adele Rafferty has stepped in to replace the original actress at the very last minute. She can’t help but hope that this opportunity will be her big break – and she knows she was lucky to get it, after what happened the last time she was on a set.
The problem
Something isn’t quite right about Final Draft. When the strange goings-on in the script start to happen on set too, Adele begins to fear that the real horror lies off the page…
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I feel as though this is my new favourite Catherine Ryan Howard!! I couldn’t have read it faster and if this isn’t picked up to be made into a movie or tv show I will be shocked as I could visualise everything so vividly in my head! Such a clever concept and so well executed! Yet again excelling herself as an author, I’m already excited for what may come next!!

I was very taken by the blurb of this one as it sounded really good but unfortunately it just didn’t work for me. I didn’t like or relate to Adele the main character in anyway, I found the film script part of the narrative confusing and generally just felt that it was lacking something although I couldn’t put my finger on what. A shame as it had so much potential and I do enjoy this authors books normally.

A brilliant pacy novel set on a movie set with a story-within-a-story. A heroine escaping her past in LA gets a phone call for a role back in Ireland - her hometown. She agrees but the shoot triggers memories when unexplainable things occur...Is life imitating art?
I loved this one!! I’ve read all of Howard’s books and she’s a consistently great author. I loved the way she builds tension and how immersive her books always are. A compelling thriller about the dark side of moviemaking and overcoming trauma.

I wish I had enjoyed this book more. I wasn't taken with the main character, and I found the plot a bit muddling, and slow. I just didn't enjoy it I am afraid to say.

I could not get enough of this book.

I loved the combination of the story being told in real time and then the script showing what Adele was reading/filming. I felt it added more depth to the story as you could see it more from Adele’s POV what it was that she was reading and how that compared to what she was experiencing in real time.

I found the horror elements to be really well written to the point that I started hearing similar noises to what was described in the book and convinced myself that it was all happening in real time.

When the first reveal happened, I honestly was a bit disappointed. I thought, surely this isn’t the whole storyline being revealed. But no, luckily it wasn’t. And the actual full reveal was more unexpected but not surprising. I kinda liked it.

My favourite section of the book was ‘Act ll’ as that was where all the action really kicked in.

I think this is a really good book to read near to halloween if you want to get into a spooky mood. I’d be interested to see this as a film.

I was really looking forward to reading this book after enjoying The Nothing Man, and it’s safe to say I wasn’t disappointed. This is a thriller with a touch of horror and a dash of Scream-style self-awareness, making it perfect for fans of any of these aspects.

In this book we follow main character Adele, who is a former soap actor living in Los Angeles. After some unspecified traumatic event in her native Ireland she’s struggling to find work and is making ends meet by working in a crummy motel.

So, when she suddenly gets a job offer back home for a horror movie that could relaunch her career, she jumps at the chance to get on the plane and get started with the (admittedly weird) shoot.

However, she soon finds the set-up is even stranger than she had first thought - and when things on set start to imitate the plot of the movie in which she’s starring, Adele begins to question what’s real and whether this was a good idea at all.

I absolutely loved Adele’s character in this book. She’s self-deprecating and very funny from the outset, which makes you root for her straight away. I also really enjoyed the deliciously creepy setting of the cabin in the woods, particularly combined with the idea of the night shoots skewing Adele’s perception of reality.

I will say this book gets very meta at times, so you do need to keep on top of that to follow the story. We sometimes jump to reading the script of Adele’s movie Final Draft, which in turn features excerpts from the novel on which it is supposed to be based, so there was some slight confusion at first as to which character I was ‘with’.

The middle of the book also features a lot of Adele running around in the woods by herself, so I felt the pace slowed a little at this point without the benefit of other characters and their dialogue to bounce off.

However, these minor points didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book and I found myself flying through it just as quickly as I did The Nothing Man. The payoff was also good in the final denouement, even if I did guess a small part of what was going on. I’ll definitely be interested in seeing what Catherine Ryan Howard does next!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atlantic Books/Corvus for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Having so enjoyed this author's previous book 56 Days, which I loved, I was so looking forward to this one. However, unfortunately, for me this wasn't in the same league.

It's an interesting premise of an actress who, desperate for a break following a successful soap run, but, little else recently lands a role in a horror film based in her native Ireland. So far, so good. What works is the character driven detail and the isolation of the film within a book. What didn't for me, was the repetition caused by the film within a book, the loss of momentum and the underwhelming conclusion.

Overall, a disappointing 2* OK read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atlantic Books Corvus for the opportunity to preview.

An incredibly enjoyable thriller! I loved reading this, it was so fun and I never had any idea where the story was going next. Plus Catherine Ryan Howard really nails that "creepy horror film" atmosphere. Superb!

I'm kind of confused as to whether I liked this book or not and to be honest I think the whole concept is confusing and that's why I'm confused!
Adele has been asked out of nowhere to be the lead role in a small budget horror movie, she jumps at the chance, as it might be the start of her return to the spotlight and help to banish all the bad things that happened before. The movie is called 'Final Draft' and is about a couple on a romantic getaway and the girl is reading a book and realises that the book is based on her and her situation. So you have the book dialogue and then the girl(Kate) in the movie dialogue and then you have Adele in real time dialogue. That's when things get confusing and a bit out there.

Once things picked up a bit, I was actually interested in it and I flew through it and I was eager to find out what happened. However, there was a bit too much of Adele on her own, rambling incoherently and getting hurt. Then when she started to doubt herself and what had really happened, it just got more confusing again.

Following the plot of the book, (the one in the movie) it was obvious what way the actual plot would go and who would turn out to be the crazy one, that surprise kind of got spoilt. The whole thing was very twisted and as much as I could follow it, I did enjoy it.

The best way to describe it is actually from a paragraph at the end of the book. ' Mysteries only exist because you don't have the answers & when you get them, all the mystery vanishes. Whenever the explanation comes, whatever it is, it can't live up to those ''what the hell is going on here?''moments at the start'.

Catherine Ryan Howard’s newest novel, Run Time, centres around Adele Rafferty, former child soap star, who steps in last minute to replace the lead actor on a horror movie being filmed with a skeleton crew at a remote location in West Cork.

I am not a fan of horror movies, in fact I’m a total wuss, so it’s safe to say I would not be watching the book’s movie ‘Final Draft.’ I read this book on kindle and I usually read my kindle in bed but I had to stop leaving it to bedtime to read Run Time. I was having dreams about running through the woods in total darkness 👀

The plot is a thrilling ride of emotion: I was scared, I was confused, I was shocked. My anxiety was through the roof and I just couldn’t put it down; I had to see what happened next. It’s very meta: it’s a story within a movie that’s about a book. And those are just a few of the ‘levels’ this book operates at. ‘Expect the unexpected’ is the way to approach Ryan Howard’s outstanding books. She is fast becoming one of my favourite authors.

A desperate actor tries to break back into film after she has an on-set breakdown but ends up stuck in a secluded location of rural Ireland filming a horror movie that begins to imitate its own script. Run Time takes meta fiction to its absolute limits, a book about a film about a book that seems to enact itself on the reader, then becoming reality for the actor and film crew. But of course it’s all a cruel trick, and there are twists I personally didn’t see coming. I love Catherine Ryan Howard’s thrillers but I didn’t find her latest quite as engaging as the others and I think that was because I found the sections written as scripts quite hard going to get through. Not my favourite of hers, but still a good read.

Adele is an actress who played the same part in an Irish soap opera for 14 years. Now she is trying to make it in Hollywood and jumps at the chance to play Kate in a low budget, skeleton staff horror movie set in West Cork. Once on set, she realises that things are not what they seem and that this opportunity might just seem too good to be true.

Wow! This book is not for the faint hearted. It really terrified me in parts which I loved! It was so exciting, fast paced and highly entertaining. Catherine Ryan Howard is one of the hottest crime writers out there and every book she writes is better than the last! Amazing!

I wasn't sure how to feel going into this one. I'm a big fan of Catherine's books but I'm not into horror movies at all so the blurb didn't really appeal. I'm so glad I gave this a go though as I really enjoyed it.

I absolutely love the author's writing style. It's conversational, descriptive and generally just really compelling. She is also great at world building and I could picture the characters and locations really vividly.

The story itself held my interest for the most part - I did get a little bit bored with the main character running through the woods but otherwise I was hooked. My only other quibble is what the author actually says herself - with all the exciting build up the ending was a little bit disappointing and predictable.

This definitely wasn't my favourite of the author's books but it was still a brilliant piece of writing and I would recommend it.

This was a read that was full of suspense and as the tension mounted I could feel the claustrophobia kicking in as the story progressed. I have to say it did take me a while to get into the book I found it a bit confusing with the film script parts of Final Draft and while I think it was integral to the story it did seem to spoil the flow a bit and to be honest it doesn’t take much to confuse me at times so maybe that was the problem , me !
The characters were well written and I did like Adele a lot she had far more guts than I have !
I enjoyed the premise of the story it was certainly very creepy and the book was a quick read I didn’t like it as much as the authors previous ones but still thought it was good it just had something missing but again maybe that was just me being picky.
So overall I would give this 3 stars and look forward to the next book from The super talented Catherine Ryan Howard.
My thanks to NetGalley and Atlantic Books, Corvus for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.