If you like your thrillers darkly clever, and just a little bit unhinged, Burn After Reading is your next obsession.

Catherine Ryan Howard delivers a wild ride through the world of true crime, fiction, and the blurry lines in between. It’s a story within a story—where the author’s manuscript might just be confessing to a real murder.

Catherine Ryan Howard knows how to write a twisty thriller - and this is is another well-crafted and compelling read.

Emily is a writer who, after a successful debut novel, is struggling with second book syndrome. In order to placate her publisher she agrees to ghostwrite the memoir of former professional cyclist Jack, who lost his wife Kate in a house fire. With evidence suggesting Kate was dead before the fire, Jack is the prime suspect - and the book is his opportunity to put his side. Emily flies to Florida to spend a week interviewing Jack - and things take some unexpected turns. What really happened - and what secrets is Emily herself keeping?

This is a story that keeps you constantly off balance, never quite knowing who to believe or who to trust. The fact that it all takes place in Sanctuary, a still under construction new town, adds to the sense of unease and isolation. Told in a mix of timelines and from multiple points of view, this is a book that keeps you guessing as details are slowly revealed - and keeps you turning the pages eager to get to the truth.

I was more disappointed than anything else by this book. Having enjoyed previous work from Catherine Ryan Howard and then whist it was on my tbr list I seemed to constantly be reading encouraging reviews and recommendations of it but the reality wasn’t as good as the anticipation
So going against what evidently is the majority view I thought the characters were leaden and despite a very original plot the story just dragged for me. The forward by the author was enticing so maybe just overall I heard and read too much so it was almost an inevitable fail.
It’s the book of the month for discussion in one of my book groups so I will be interested to see if anyone shares my opinion…

Emily is offered a chance to ghostwrite the autobiography of professional cyclist Jack Smyth who lost his wife in a house fire the year previous. She really wasn’t in a position to turn down this offer as her 2nd book was overdue to her publisher and she wasn’t in a position to pay back the advance.
She heads to Florida to interview Jack but with a lot of restrictions and this is when things start going wrong.

This is a decent read and will certainly keep the pages turning but not up to the author’s usual high standards. Somewhat disappointing.

Thanks to NetGalley.co.uk and the publishers for this ARC.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I did not know who to believe in this book and thought the ending was really satisfying

I don’t tend to read crime or thrillers because I am a massive wuss, but I make an exception for Catherine Ryan Howard because she has the most brilliant ideas. The concept for Burn After Reading - inspired by OJ Simpson’s own apparently fictional confession - blew me away and I couldn’t wait to read it.

There’s something almost comforting in CRH’s writing, even when she’s writing about horrible events, I think it’s knowing you’re in safe hands with a writer totally in control of the material. I was gripped by this book from the opening pages and read it in a day. Towards the end I thought it got a bit convoluted and convenient, but not so much that it spoiled my enjoyment. Also the setting is fantastic and unlike anything I’ve read before. 4.5/5

Thoroughly enjoyable book. Engaged with me from the opening page to the closing chapter. It gives the reader plenty of opportunity to second guess what could possibly of taken place that fateful night.

Really unique story a good book to curl up with and enjoy

Successful author Emily is struggling to start her second novel when she is tasked by becoming a ghostwriter for Jack, and Olympic cyclist who has high hopes for clearing his name after he is accused of murdering his wife, Kate.
As Emily spends days cooped up in an isolated house in Florida with Jack, getting all the information she needs for his book, the lines between innocence and guilt start to become increasingly blurred.

This was my first book by Catherine Ryan Howard and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The dual timelines and POVs always hook me in. Not a book with many twists, but a book that will keep you guessing and wanting more long after you put the book down.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Burn After Reading is the new crime thriller from Irish author Catherine Ryan Howard. In multiple narratives, it focuses on the story of former Olympic cyclist turned entrepreneur Jack Smyth, who is the prime suspect in the death of his wife, Kate.

Kate narrates some chapters too, recounting her days in the run-up to the fire that claimed their County Clare home. Autopsy results showed that Kate had been beaten to death before the fire started.

Most of the book is narrated from the perspective of Emily, a Dublin writer who has been tasked with ghostwriting Jack's memoir, in which he hopes to clear his name. Emily has one successful book under her belt but is struggling with her sophomore effort. Instead of returning her author's advance to her publishing company, they've asked her (forced her) to take on this project.

Emily spends a week in Florida with Jack; put up in a brand new house in a partially finished, purpose-built new town. There are very strict rules imposed around their interactions, so there are no leaks about Jack's memoir.

While the concept of Burn After Reading is an intriguing one, and it has a very gripping opening section that will certainly hook its readers, I found it lost pace beyond its early chapters. Ryan Howard is well known for her clever plot twists and derailing red herrings, but unfortunately, I found there were too many in this book, and they were either repetitive or they got tangled up in one another.

While it is expected that a reader must suspend some disbelief with thrillers, sometimes having too many narrative strands can mean that characters end up doing things that are hard to accept based on what we've learned about them. It can also mean we don't get a satisfying ending.

I thought Emily lacked substance and depth as a character, and I do feel the multiple plots got in their own way. However, I don't think that will stop many readers from enjoying this thriller, and I have no doubt it will be a very popular read.

The concept of this book is so good! I had no idea that OJ Simpson wrote a book about "how he would have done it if he did" - a false confession of sorts. What a crazy idea! So I love that CRH has used that as the basis of her story here.

From the start, you're made to question Jack's guilt/innocence. Would an innocent person really make a false confession to prove their innocence?! Or is he using this as a means to confess his guilt and get away with it?

It's very clever and obviously allows for many twists to work their way in, especially when it comes to other players in the game.

I wish the impact of the twists were slightly bigger, but I enjoyed this all the same. It's a fast-paced and gripping thriller that explores some great themes around our consumption of true crime.

Burn After Reading is a tense and suffocating psychological thriller which kept me hooked right to the end.

I found the pacing a little changeable, which meant some of the characters didn’t have quite the impact they could have, and the story lagged in places. However I was sucked into the story even before it started. Howard’s author note at the start of the book set just the right sinister tone for this book, grounded in reality. Emily’s experience in the first chapter firmly cemented that eerie feeling and I just had to know what was going on. The ending was satisfying, and I would have loved to read more about what happens after the closing scenes.

Overall a compelling, creepy and captivating read, one I would highly recommend.

Thank you Random House UK for a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed are my own.

Burn After Reading by Catherine Ryan Howard was full of tension and suspense from start to finish, it was an excellent psychological thriller that will have you hooked. It is fast paced throughout with lots of twists and turns Especially as it will have you questioning every characters motives especially the main character Jack Smyth!

A year ago, Jack Smyth was a former professional cyclist, lost his wife in a fire at their home. His life fell apart around him. But the nation’s sympathy turned to anger when it emerged that she had died before the fire started, in a violent attack. Although Jack has never been charged in connection to her death, a suffocating cloud of suspicion hangs over him and he’s become convinced that the only way out is to tell his side of the story.

Emily Joyce is a ghostwriter and she is offered the job to write Jack's side of his story, her main motivation for saying yes is the payday and it will also be a great career move. She flies out to the eerie, empty, master-planned town of Sanctuary, Florida, to hole up with Jack for a week, getting his story down.

But the story Jack tells isn’t the one she expected. . . . . Soon Emily is thrown into a dangerous plot twist that she may not be able to write her way out of. . . . . . .

This book is so good and I highly recommend Burn After Reading. . Great holiday read.

Big Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers | Bantam for my ARC.

This one was definitely an experience! I was fully emerged into the story literally from the first few pages. The writing style as always was so fittingly perfect for this type of story and the easy we got a different snippets of other points in this book was so interesting. Not that I didn’t expect twists and turns but what really surprised me is how well everything was connected and unraveled towards the end. And even acknowledgment fits perfectly in this book. This story constantly makes you wonder and question every little detail that characters do or say. And when eventually everything falls into place you still have doubts, if it’s really the end and truth or is it just another turn.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House UK for the ARC in exchange for an honest review❤️‍🔥

How many stars? All the stars! 5+ for Burn After Reading!
Catherine Ryan Howard has an incredible ability to create twisty, mysterious novels that are true rollercoaster rides.
In Burn After Reading, our protagonist is Emily, a successful author who is struggling to start her second novel, when she becomes a ghostwriter for Jack. He is a former Olympic cyclist, who now stands accused of murdering his wife Kate. And Emily's role is to write his story, about his innocence.
The storyline has several timelines and PoV, we meet Kate, a week or so before her death. And, then we have Emily in the present day, experiencing an increasing number of bizarre events. There's no issue with moving back and forth in the storyline as the author has clearly delineated the sections through the use of dates and names at the stage of the section.
There are so many twists, and the reader soon realises that Emily's past may be coming back to haunt her, as the tension builds up and the conclusion is fan-blooming- tastic!
I raced through this book - honestly, family and pets went hungry as I couldn't put Burn After Reading down long enough to make a cup of tea!

Burn After Reading is full of tension and suspense.
Emily wrote her first book a few years ago, it was a hit and was given a two book deal but she hasn’t managed to come up with a second book. Her publishers have emailed her to meet up. Emily thinks they are going to want the £25,000 that she owes them for only giving them one book but when she meets them it’s for something very different. Jack Smyth is a famous cyclist amongst other things but his wife died in suspicious circumstances and he wants a ghost writer to write his autobiography and tell his side of the story. Emily flies to America to meet him but is he innocent?
This was a decent read and has a lot going on, a few twists to keep you interested and a couple of reveals. The storyline flowed well and was fairly solid with a decent ending. The characters were varied making it an interesting read filled with tense moments.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishing, Bantam for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

Catherine Ryan Howard is always surprising. Her latest thriller, Burn After Reading, is a beautifully told story that is tension filled and suspenseful and also packs a powerful psychological punch. She has the knack of turning a story on its head, sometimes more than once, and this book certainly kept me guessing. It has a cleverly constructed plot offering a labyrinth of twists and turns.

Emily Joyce, our protagonist, wrote a successful debut novel that did rather well. But she had a two book deal and has been unable, for reasons that become clear much later in the book, to write another. Having taking the advance, and now earning very little, she lives in trepidation of her publishers asking for their money back. So when she is approached by them, she feels she has no option but to accept an offer to ghostwrite the memoir of Jack Smyth, a former professional cyclist whose personal life is shrouded in controversy. In exchange, they will wipe out her debt.

Jack Smyth’s wife, Kate, died in a house fire under suspicious circumstances, leading to suspicion that Jack was involved, despite a lack of formal charges and that he wasn’t in the house at the time. Determined to tell his side of the story and clear his name, Jack has a publishing deal for his story and his publisher pretty much blackmails Emily into being his ghostwriter, setting the stage for a complex exploration of truth and deception.

The narrative revolves around what happened prior to Kate’s death and whether Jack was really involved. As Emily spends days cooped up in a house in Florida, interviewing Jack, digging into his past and the events leading up to the fire, she uncovers layers of secrets and lies that blur the lines between innocence and guilt. The narrative is further complicated by Emily’s own hidden past, adding another dimension to the unfolding drama.

Catherine Ryan Howard’s writing is both engaging and immersive, characterised by meticulous attention to detail and an understanding of human psychology. She employs a multi-perspective narrative, seamlessly weaving together various timelines and viewpoints, including those of Jack’s wife, Kate. This approach not only enriches the storytelling but also deepens our connection to the characters. Her prose is crisp and evocative, capturing the nuances of each scene and emotion with precision.

She excels in creating multidimensional characters whose motivations and actions feel authentic and relatable. Emily is a flawed yet determined protagonist, her internal struggles and moral dilemmas adding richness to her character. Jack is equally compelling, depicted as both charismatic and enigmatic, leaving us to question his true nature. The dynamic between Emily and Jack is well-developed; their interactions charged with tension and ambiguity. Other characters, such as Emily’s friend Alice, and assistant, Grace, contribute to a complex narrative full of tension, which exemplifies Howard’s skill in character portrayal. ​

The novel’s pacing is deliberate, allowing for a gradual buildup of suspense that culminates in a series of shocking revelations. While the initial chapters begin at a leisurely pace, this measured approach serves to heighten the impact of the plot twists. The atmosphere is downright weird. Emily and Jack are staying in an empty house in a deserted place called Sanctuary, in Florida. Sanctuary is a man-made town, not yet developed and only half built. That makes it deserted at night and eerie in the extreme. This is an environment where isolation and secrecy breed paranoia, immersing us in a world where danger feels omnipresent. The tension is meticulously calibrated, with each chapter ratcheting up the sense of unease, keeping us on edge throughout and enhancing the novel’s suspenseful atmosphere.

With strangers on the shore, strange e-mails and texts on Emily’s phone and just a connecting door between Emily and Jack, it’s no wonder that both Emily and I spent the whole book on edge. In this novel no-one is quite who they seem to be and the whole book left me still agog at where the real truth lay.

Verdict: Burn After Reading is a testament to Catherine Ryan Howard’s prowess as a storyteller. With its intricate plot, well-drawn characters, and atmospheric tension, the novel offers a compelling exploration of truth, guilt, and the stories we tell ourselves and others. This is a psychological thriller that captivates, grips and challenges perceptions, keeping us guessing until the very end.

Emily Joyce is the author of a successful debut crime novel, ‘The Witness”, but she is struggling to write her second novel. She had an advance from her publisher, Morningstar, six years ago but it is long gone and she can’t afford to pay it back. However, Morningstar has come up with an offer to free her of debt. They will wipe the slate clean if she agrees to ghost-write a memoir for an ex professional cyclist, Jack Smythe, who is suspected of killing his wife, Kate.

Jack’s account of Kate’s death is that he ran into his burning house to pull her out, badly burning his hands, but she died in his arms. He bizarrely wants to write an O.J. Simpson type memoir hypothesising what he would have done if he had killed his wife.
With no other way to pay back her advance, Emily reluctantly agrees and find herself secluded in an empty town under construction on the Californian coast with a man who may well be a murderer. Staying in the guest cabin of a house belonging to one of Jack’s friends, she has been given a week to interview him under strict security guidelines and must then return home to London to write the book.

The dynamics between Emily and Jack are quite chilling. They must spend hours together each day while he recounts the story of his rise in the cycling world and the crash that ended his dream. Emily suspects Jack is not a reliable narrator and doesn’t know how much she can trust him.

Most of the novel is narrated from Emily’s point of view but we also hear from Kate in the days leading up to her death, when her battered body was pulled from the burnt out ruins of their house. Jack has not been arrested for her death, or for the fire but the public is not convinced of his innocence, which is why he wants to tell his story and release his memoir as quickly as possible.

The suspense is slow to build, gradually creeping in when Emily starts to see a strange man watching her, but doesn’t really become pick up until near the end when Jack gets to the final chapter of the book describing how he would have killed Kate <u> IF </u> he’d done it. Although, the plot is intriguing and the setting of an uninhabited town under construction is very eerie, as is Emily’s feeling of being trapped with no one to call for help, the story as a whole felt quite flat and it wasn't until the end that I felt at all invested in what was going to happen.

Burn After Reading by Catherine Ryan Howard - out 10 April 2025

Brief blurb: A ghostwriter is locked in an interview room with a man who might be a murderer.

My thoughts: An author with a secret that could destroy her and a man accused of murdering his wife are teaming up to write his story in an isolated house in Florida. Is he guilty and is she in danger? With dual timelines and multiple narrators I found this a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining book.

If you enjoy books with twists and turns then you will love this.
4 stars

I’m a bit of a fan of Catherine Ryan Howard’s novel and Burn After Reading didn’t disappoint.
Emily is forced to take a ghostwriting job by her publishers. She owes them a second book and has already spent her advance - this is a way to cancel the debt. However, the subject is Jack Smyth - a famous cyclist back in the day, now under suspicion of murdering his wife. He just wants to set the record straight, doesn’t he?
Put to work in a luxurious house in a half built beach town in Florida, Emily is increasingly aware of her isolation, especially as she begins to realise she is being watched and then the notes begin to arrive. It appears to know her long buried secret.
The tension is expertly ratcheted up, the twists are clearly used - all in all a very clever thriller.

Emily struggling to write her second book is offered a ghostwriting job by her publisher. Jack Smyth an Olympic cyclist who's wife died a year earlier in a house fire but the autopsy revealed she was already dead. Twist and turns in this book ramps up the tension between the two main characters who are well drawn by the author. I would recommend this book and I'll be looking forward to more books from this author. Thanks to Random house and Netgalley fro this review ARC.