Burn after reading is the new novel by talented writer Catherine Ryan Howard.
Jack Smyth is a former known cyclist who returns home to find that his home is on fire. He rushes into the house to save his wife, but she was already dead. After the fire the investigation reveals that his wife was dead before the fire started and he is the No 1 suspect.
A year later he meets Emily who once wrote a best-selling book. But now she is in debt because she has trouble writing her next book in her Two book deal. So instead, her publishers asks her to be a ghostwriter for Jack on a book to confess what happened to his wife.
This is another gripping thriller full of tension and I liked the storyline and the location setting. But for me I found the conclusion to this story a bit underwhelming. 4 stars from me.

I always look forward to a new Catherine Ryan Howard novel, so was eager to read this. It didn't disappoint. Catherine really knows how to keep your attention all the way through a novel and this was brilliantly done.

as always, howard has created a compelling and thrilling story that keeps me up way too late. absolutely phenomenal work as always!!!

Another interesting read by author Catherine Ryan Howard, having read most of her previous reads this is not my favourite by far but still a good story/novel.

We meet Jack, who tragically lost his wife in a house fire but it was proved that she had died previously before the fire in an attack and obviously Jack was the number one suspect, although never charged for the murder of his wife.

Formally, Jack was a professional cyclist so the news of the fire and the death of his wife was widespread. He decides to tell his story and hires a ghost-writer. We are introduced to Emily, who is a good well-rounded character and carrying secrets of her own.

Burn After Reading was very atmospheric and felt like the characters were well liked.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and author for allowing me an ARC in exchange for my honest review. 3.5 stars from me.

Amazing edge of your seat story you won't be able to put down this is a thriller which will keep you turning the pages long into the night

I've read and loved all of Catherine Ryan Howard's novels so was very keen to read Burn After Reading. This is a slow-burn thriller that really hooks the reader in. We follow Emily who is hired to ghost write the memoir of Jack - a former professional cyclist who is under suspicion of murdering his wife. We also see the days leading up to the death of his wife from her perspective. The novel feels claustrophobic and I was on the edge of my seat for parts of it. Other parts felt a little too drawn out, and there were times when it was a bit repetitive. On the whole though I really enjoyed this one and will definitely recommend it.

Burn after reading deserves the full five stars! A ghostwriter is locked in an interview room with a man who might be a murderer, in this gripping new mystery which I couldn’t put down!

Burn After Reading was a great read with a storyline that kept you guessing as you worked through the character’s different sides to the story. It built well without slow spots and had a strong conclusion, I’d recommend this read.

Confession time: I'm not a huge fan of twisty psychological thrillers in general as the whiplash twists are often more ScoobyDoo than anything extraordinary in nature BUT I always read CRH and I was delighted to get the opportunity to read an early copy of Burn After Reading.

I saw an instagram post explaining the book idea came from seedlings of the OJ Simpson story; what if a suspected murderer suggested how he could or would commit the crime without saying he actually did it. So I was intrigued and when I got into the story I was even more delighted to see links not just to that crazy crime caper but also to cycling scandals and silence amongst the sport fraternity; all topcis that have fascinated me over the years.

This novel is different to CRH's previously work, it's still a psychological thriller but it is the excellent story telling, that keeps you turning the pages, and not the body count or number of wild rollercoaster twists, that delight you.

It's genuinely riveting and I was so interested to see how she was going to manage to successfully tell a brand new story by retelling multiple tales that are likely very fresh in most readers minds. I thought it was very clever indeed.

This is a very enjoyable read, in all honesty, I too was obsessed by the OJ story, let's be honest that was a rare time the Scooby Doo ending was actually real life.
Note to self: the next time I am rolling my eyes at the twist in the tale, I should bear that in mind.

#BurnAfterReading is available in April 25, stick it on the TBR list folks. Many thanks to #netgalley and @randomhouseUk for the advance reader copy in return for an honest review.

Writer Emily owes her publishers an advance for a book she hasn't written, so agrees to ghost write the story of retired cyclist Jack Smyth, whose wife Kate tragically died in a fire just under a year ago, Jack apparently wants to clear his name of suspicion. But is he telling the truth? And what is Emily herself hiding?
I really liked the way the plot of this thriller was constructed. It opens with Emily trapped in a fire, then toggles timelines to give us both her and Kate's story, while moving the narrative along in real time.
There's a constant sense of danger and fear, and the tension of the emerging truth is heightened by the secrets Emily herself is reluctant to face,
The title of Emily's first book, The Witness, really does come back to haunt her as she becomes a witness to Jack's version of his tragedy.
I felt Jack's justifications for writing a tell-all book were a little contrived, but that's my only criticism of an overall page-turning story.

The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard is one of my favourite books of all time but every other book I have read by her I never enjoy as much as that one. But this one was really really good. I've been in a reading slump for ages and this was the first book that I picked up and was actually able to finish.
This book was so good and I flew through it within a couple of days. It constantly has you questioning all of the characters and their secrets and whether or not you can trust them. Even the main character has a massive secret that she is hiding throughout the book.
There was so much about this book I really enjoyed. The writing was so easy to fall into and the mystery kept me on my toes throughout the whole book. I loved the little authors note at the beginning that gave us background on how the author came up with the idea of the story and I feel like that added an element to the story when I was reading it as I knew where she was pulling her inspiration from.
I was quite scared that the ending would be left open-ended and I am so glad that she didn't do that and we got a conclusion to this story.
I cannot wait to pick up more Catherine Ryan Howard books in the future

Catherine Ryan Howard has done it again!! This book is so eerie. I was holding my breathe in parts and the ending blew me away. Catherine has a real knack of making you think you absolutely have it all worked out and the pulling the rug from under you. I can't say anymore because I don't want to spoil anything for anyone. Just WOW!!

Another book with lots and twists and turns. You never know what is right and wrong until the end.
Good captivating read

Firstly thank you for my early access in exchange for a review .
This was an interesting read and an insight into a writers life and dilemma they face.
At Times the characters and timelines felt confusing for me and when reading the ending I wasn’t sure if I had missed a page .
Fast paced and full of revelations to keep the reader turning the page .

Catherine Ryan Howard is the queen of the high concept premise and she’s knocked it out of the park again with Burn After Reading. There’s a gripping heart-in-mouth opening, a main character you can’t help rooting for in writer Emily, and plenty of twists before reaching that dramatic conclusion…. This latest offering from Howard will keep you guessing — and flip-flopping between Jack Smyth’’s guilt or innocence — right to the end. A one (or two at most!) sitting reading.

Emily an author has been sent by her publishers to be a ghostwriter for an athlete who is suspected of killing his wife.
She doesn’t want to take on the assignment but she owes the publisher a second book and feels that she has no choice.
An engaging thriller with lots of twists and turns.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House, Transworld Publishing for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

A great story, which I always find with this author. Well written with plenty of dark, family secrets, I highly recommend. You will never know who to trust xx

Would possibly round up to a 2.5star.

After reading and enjoying 56 Days by this author I have been wanting to read more by them. Unfortunately this one didn't quite hit the mark for me.

This was nearing 400 pages and so much of it felt repetitive due to the back and forth between flashbacks and the present.

The two main characters were pretty fleshed out but all the side characters felt like after thoughts so I did find myself not really caring what happened to them.

The plot was pretty straight forward and I found the ending lacked bite. It did cover some important topics such as domestic violence and I wish these extras were explored more as it would have given the characters more depth.

I did enjoy the authors writing style and would probably give them one more try after this but overall this just didn't work for me as a domestic thriller and I found myself a little bored by the end.

This is such a great book. I absolutely loved it. Loads if twists and turns. I couldn't put it down. Great ending as well.

This is the kind of thriller that gets under your skin and leaves you questioning what role everyone has and whether they’re on the protagonists side or messing with their head. Set over a very short but intense time frame with some flash backs to before the fire this gets increasingly tense as the story progresses. The storyline is simple but works well and I love how it was inspired by true locations and events - the actual book location had me freaked, I would have hated to be there but it really added to the tension.