4.5/5 stars

Thank you Blackstone Publishing for the ARC and Netgalley for the ALC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

When this book showed up in my mailbox, I was immediately intrigued by the cover. Between the color and the fact that it looks like both a book with a ripped dust jacket and an overstuffed dossier, I was mesmerized. Yeah, yeah, don’t judge a book by its cover, but I can’t help but be drawn to the good ones.

I was even more excited to see the audio available from Netgalley and requested it immediately. I finally got to finish it this morning.

If you know me at all, you know I love the book-within-a-book trend, so that aspect scored major points from me. It also has an incredibly captivating opening chapter; the reader gets a look inside the mind of a serial killer that finds a book about himself while at work. There’s no sampling the first chapter with this one. You’ll need to keep reading with that kind of intro.

But I will admit, when I got a little ways into the book-within-a-book portion, I felt like I was reading I’ll Be Gone in the Dark all over again. I was concerned there wasn’t going to be anything original about it. I realized my apprehension was was unwarranted when I found that I was completely absorbed by the insight into the killer’s thoughts and reactions to a book written about him and his crimes. Suddenly you can imagine Joseph James DeAngelo reading I’ll Be Gone in the Dark and wondering if he had the same thoughts before his arrest. This was such a fun and original approach to, what I like to call, “true crime fiction.” (Did I make that up?)

And if all of these other aspects I love weren’t enough, there was also an extremely unexpected twist at the end. It was just the icing on the cake.

It’s difficult to comment on the audio itself, as the quality didn’t seem to be as smooth as I’ve come to expect. It almost felt a bit grainy, or like the voices had a mechanical quality to them. I wondered if it was because it was an advance audio copy and maybe it was still being touched up. It was pointed out to me that this seems to be due to current limitations of the Netgalley app when listening at high speeds (and I almost always listen at 2x). I took a (very) quick listen at 1x and it no longer had the tinny sound to it, but I went back and listened to a random section after I had finished so I won’t comment on the narrators this time.

Thrillers are a more recent like for me. I always thought that I wouldn't enjoy them so I never read them. I loved this book. I did guess the twist before it was revealed, but I really did like it. And isn't that the point? Guessing the twist? I loved how the book went between narrators. It really made the story in my opinion.

The ending dragged a bit, but apart from that, this was an absolutely stellar read. Told like a fictionalization of I'LL BE GONE IN THE DARK, but: a little more personal, a lot more organized, streamlined, set in Ireland, and with the really awesome added perspective of the serial killer reading and reacting to the scenes in real time. Things that really speak for how well Howard handled this story: the book never felt uneven, even as it was told between two perspectives that did not go back and forth chapter by chapter (indeed, sometimes Jim's sections seem almost to interrupt the book between sentences, which felt so authentic).

Personally, I always love books set in Ireland, particularly crime books. It's a place that has a deep and bitter history of oppression, poverty, and silence, not to mention crime (though nothing like the violent serial and spree killings of America - more crimes of desperation and corruption). Setting this story in Ireland gave Howard a lot more freedom with how the press and public would handle a serial killer.

It was true to its true crime inspiration with the level of detail given to the various crimes and their victims, as well as the bits of self-insert by the writer as both victim and investigator. In all, it was a very successful use of the book-within-a-book style and, by utilizing two different narrators (a stiff-sounding female narrator reading the book and a more engaging male narrator telling the killer's side), the audiobook really maintained that illusion well.

If you’re sick of thrillers and all the similar tropes, this is for you. If you hate the books where women are weak, this is for you. If you love true crime, this is for you. Basically if you really love thrillers and want a different type of thriller, THIS IS FOR YOU. ⁣
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The Nothing Man is a fictional thriller, but since it reads like a true crime. It tells two sides: Eve Black’s take as she details the crimes that There Nothing Man committed in her memoir, including the night he killed her family while she was locked in the bathroom and Jim Doyle’s side as he reads her memoir and is afraid of getting caught. So basically this book was like if Joseph James DeAngelo had read I’ll Be Gone in the Dark. ⁣
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I listened to the audio for this one and the narrators did a great job. Specifically the female narrator who read Eve’s memoir. Her voice was similar to that of true crime shows like Snapped. It worked perfectly for this book. ⁣

An exciting new thriller that had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Catherine Ryan Howard is a new author to me, but I will certainly be checking out more of her work after reading this one. The back and forth narration was well-done, and wasn't confusing like it can sometimes be. A perfect creepy read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me a much appreciated audiobook download, in exchange for an honest review.

I received an advanced audiobook edition and egalley for THE NOTHING MAN by Catherine Ryan Howard in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Blackstone Publishing and Netgalley for the chance to read and review! I really enjoyed the author’s 2019 release REWIND, so was very excited to read this one!

Publication Date: 8/18/2020
Rating: 4.5 / 5
THE NOTHING MAN begins with the release of a new true crime book written by Eve Black, the only survivor when her family is killed by a man known as The Nothing Man. Now an adult, Eve is taking a hard look at what happened to her family when she was just twelve years old and to the killer’s other victims. The Nothing Man moniker came about because it was said the police had nothing on him, but Eve is determined to identify him and bring him down.

Jim Doyle is a security guard who spots Eve’s memoir on the shelf and is instantly drawn to it because he is the unknown man at the center of the book. The more he reads of Eve’s take on his story, the more he fears that she’s closing in on him. With the publication of her book, the case is getting new attention and Jim must protect himself at all costs.

This book was so unique and so well written and I was incredibly hooked. The book is written in two POVs. For Eve’s part we are reading her actual published work along with Jim. Interspersed with Eve’s case reports and personal recollections, we get inside Jim’s head to see how he is feeling about what he’s writing, his own memories of the killings so many years before, and his life now. Each perspective uncovers secrets that bring twists that I didn’t see coming.

The author does a great job of distinguishing these two voices. From Eve we get personal accounts, but in a way that makes sense for an edited, published memoir for public consumption. From Jim we follow along with his thought tangents and paranoia as his worry gets more and more intense. The audio did this very well also in using two different narrators for the two different POVs.

I highly recommend you add THE NOTHING MAN to your TBR and I’d encourage you check out the audio as well!

This book was so good! The story was so intense and I’d call it a pageTurner, except I listened to it. 😉
The bad guy was disturbing in so many ways. The way this story was told, back and forth between Jim and Eve, the past and present, kept this story flowing at such a great pace. I really loved the book and would highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good thriller or mystery novel.
With two narrators were the perfect idea for telling this through audio. Jim’s narrator was incredible. He portrayed him in the best way possible and I looked forward to his chapters. I had such a hard time with the female narrator, though. Had she been the sole reader, I wouldn’t have listened. Every sentence had the same inflection and it just did not work for me..
4.5 stars for the book. It was incredible writing,

The only member of her family to survive a massacre by the serial killer known as the Nothing Man when she was a child, Eve Black now lives for one thing. She’s written a book about the killer, hoping to jog memories of other survivors, eke out new information that will enable the police to capture the monster. Jin Doyle, a seemingly normal man, is reading Eve’s book, and he’s getting more excited and more angry as he reads, because Jim is the Whisper Man and he doesn’t intend to let Eve walk away this time. Kerr-Collins and Keating mesmerized and terrified me in equal measure, making this frightening story come to life

3.5 stars

The premise of this book was absolutely fascinating to me. The chapters alternate between a book (within the book) where the author's writing about a serial killer who's murdered all of her family and others. The serial killer himself finds the book at a store and starts reading it so the alternating chapters are told by him as he reads this book and reacts to what he's reading.

This book was great at first and great at the end with a bit of a slump in the middle, for me. As the details of the serial killer and the ways in which he killed all of his victims kept coming, I was pretty ready to put the book down but, of course, I kept wanting to see what was going to happen.

And I am glad I stuck with it. There were some twists I didn't see coming and other twists I did see coming. The whole book came together really well in the end.

I read an audio version of this book narrated by Alana Kerr-Collins and John Keating and the two different voices really helped make the story more real.

with gratitude to netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

"The Nothing Man" was an addictive, cat-and-mouse-style psychological suspense thriller following the alternating story of serial killer Jim Doyle, and the one victim that survived, Eve Black. You will not be able to put this down!

The audio narration was great, and the narrators brought life to the characters of Jim and Eve.

I’ve read all of Catherine Ryan Howard’s thrillers and 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐧 is hands down her best yet! And that’s saying a lot because I’ve loved them all... This one is clearly inspired by I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara and the Golden State Killer. However, Howard’s book is set in Ireland and our killer is known as The Nowhere Man. There are 3 POV’s : Eve Black (the author of the true crime book & survivor of The Nowhere Man), 63 year-old Jim Doyle (The Nowhere Man), and the final POV is the book (recounting his crimes, etc). So you get a book within a book & that’s always fun! It’s like Howard took our fantasy of wondering what could’ve happened if McNamara never died & she became entangled in a cat-n-mouse with Joesph DeAngelo...IT’S BRILLIANT 💎 hands down the best 2020 thriller so far...

WOW what a thriller! A retired serial killer... his last victim... a book within a book... Catherine Ryan Howard hit it out of the park with this cleverly crafted story. The audiobook is narrated by Alana Kerr-Collins and John Keating both narrators brought another layer to this compelling story. The book is told from the perspective of both Jim (The serial killer) and Eve (the victim)so the dual narration really enhance the book. And bonus the book takes place in Ireland and the narrators have Irish accents, but they were super easy to understand (not tremendously thick accents but pleasant to the ear for sure).

The book starts off with Jim working at a grocery store as security picking up a book called: The Nothing Man. The book is written by a victim of a serial killer named the Nothing Man by the media. Jim is agitated and rightly so because he is in fact the NOTHING MAN. Love spending time in the mind of crazy and Jim was one crazy SOB. He was also very paranoid that he was going to get caught, convinced Eve knew who he was. Eve was a great character, I loved her strength and her tenacity. Watching this compulsive story unfold was so much fun. It was just the perfect amount of tension, an addictive game of cat and mouse. I was on the edge of my seat and completely enthralled. I don’t often get scared in books, but there is a part of this book involving a bathtub and I was reading in the middle of the night, I seriously jumped. Thoughtful pacing and perfect narration this is one you won’t want to miss!

This book in emojis 📖 🔪 🩸 🏚

*** Big thank you to Blackstone for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***