Run Time by Catherine Ryan Howard is full of that mysterious atmosphere that immediately makes me fall in love with a book. It serves up that isolated setting - a cabin in the woods with scenes that almost borderline on a horror tale. Did some of it feel outlandish a bit, yes but that’s a 100% ok with me, it didn’t take away from this story I was truly captivated with. The narration was as superb as the story.

Catherine is making her mark one book at a time. I truly look forward to her next book. A huge thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for a gifted e-arc and listening copy in exchange for my honest review. I highly recommend this one. Happy Reading.

This book sounded so good and I was very excited for it however I couldn’t get into it when I picked it up. I do plan to give it another try in the future.

I’ve heard amazing things about this author and was so excited to read Run Time. The book sounded right up my alley, unfortunately it was a miss for me.

I really enjoyed the idea of this story. I felt like it started off strong. I was invested in our main character and wanted to see where her story went.

But this book is way to long. The middle was to slow for me. I knew the twist a mile away and was ready to get to it by the halfway point. I feel like this book would have worked better as a novella the idea was solid and interesting.

Overall I will definitely be giving this author another chance. I enjoyed her writing style and thought the idea of Run Time was fantastic. Just needed to be shorter in my opinion.
2.5/5 Stars

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for sending me an arc copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book was really fun! I find great pleasure in everything Ms. Howard writes. I have no notes. It was perfect.

I really enjoyed this suspenseful and original book. Did the main character make some choices that I would never had made? Absolutely. I think it's clear though that actors overlook a lot to further their career. There were several times that I thought I knew what was going on and I was completely wrong. The "big reveal" left me surprised. This was a satisfying read and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys this genre.

Catherine Ryan Howard is such a good thriller writer. I enjoy reading her books and this one was no different. I highly recommend picking up this fast paced thriller

Imagine getting hired as an actress to star in a horror movie in a remote wooded location. Imagine being the only female with a skeleton crew of men in this remote location with no cell service or transportation. Now imagine you are in this movie reading a book about the movie and the same crazy horror shit starts happening to you.

You still with me?

This frightening book had me on edge the whole time. Creepy cool concept. CRH I don’t know how you come up with this stuff but thanks for the wild ride!

Horrors on a movie set - what a fun and unique concept.
It was slow start, but eventually it picks up. Overall enjoyed the story, but was missing something in the end.

I liked the use of a screenplay within the book to provide additional information to the reader. The premise is a good one and opens the door for lots of twists and turns but unfortunately, I wasn't as surprised as I would have liked. Plot points were predictable, and the end was underwhelming. That said, this was a fast read and while I thought there were some missed opportunities, it wasn't a bad read overall.

I flew through this book!! I loved the creepy movie set setting where fiction and real world start to intertwine and the “can’t trust anyone” vibes completely take over!! This was the most bingeable thriller I’ve read in a while!! Totally recommend!!

I struggled with this book. It felt a bit convoluted and hard to follow. The dual storylines and the book within a movie within a book proved to be too complicated for me. I’m also not a big fan a gaslighting as a trope so there’s that as well. Still I finished it because Catherine Ryan Howard is an auto-read author for me, and this one book hasn’t changed that.

I received an ARC copy of Run Time just as I was entering a challenging stretch of my life and hit the biggest reading slump I've ever worked through (literally 3 months without finishing a single book). In hindsight, I wish I had powered through Run Time because I think it would've catapulted me out of that reading slump!

I'm a horror movie fan and a thriller reader (not to mention a Catherine Ryan Howard fan!) and this book just checked ALL of my boxes. It was interesting, suspenseful, convoluted (but in the BEST way), twisty, unreliable - so many verbs I love to experience when reading a thriller (or watching a movie for that matter). I did find one reveal a bit predictable but that in no way diminished the fun of reading.

Definitely recommend this one if you want a fast-paced original thriller, especially if you're a horror movie fan!

I love a good book within a book.... book. If you like that aspect of storytelling, you will love this one. My favorite thing about this story was the extremely creepy atmosphere. A deserted area in the woods, that's the stuff my nightmares are made of. I was not overly surprised by the suspense aspects of this one and that took a way a little of the heart pounding, page turning in fury excitement. Overall though, it's a good thriller and I definitely recommend this author.

The chaos in this book was completely enthralling. I couldn't pick up if everything was in our protagonists head or if things were being orchestrated. Makes for a good thriller

The narrators were great, however they could not save this novel. It was way too long. Too much of an intense build up for the silly ending that was revealed. I’m sad because I have enjoyed other novels by Howard. This one not a lot. Moderate cursing.

I loved this unique thriller! Howard’s writing is amazing with this story within a story.

Thank you, Catherine Ryan Howard, Blackstone Publishing & Netgalley for my copy! All opinions are my own.

TW: Gaslighting, Injury/injury detail, Toxic friendship, Murder, Death, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Blood, Violence
3.75 stars
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A book, within a book, within a book. At first, Run Time may seem a tad confusing but once you start to iron out the details and figure out what is real, and what is part of the book it starts to make more sense. At one point in her career Adele Rafferty had it all, now, she has a hard time finding a job after an unfortunate event that happened while on set of her last film. Out of the blue she gets a call from a number back home, and it seems to be the opportunity of a lifetime - she's being offered the lead in a film without even having to audition. The only thing? She has to sign a NDA as the film is super hush hush, and the filmmakers don't want anyone knowing about the film.

Adele has been getting cryptic calls and messages warning her not to go to the set as it'll put her in danger, she chooses to brush it off as she needs the money. As soon as she arrives on set things seem a little off, none of the crew is there to greet her, other than Donal, who has just been hired on as well. The second she does meet the crew they are all distant towards her and basically act like she's not there, it doesn't help that the director also seems to have a specific way of doing things but no one is questioning it. Soon after her arrival she starts to find clues that perhaps someone had been there before her, things start happening to her that were in the book, and with the texts she's been getting things just don't add up. As she starts to question everything, it's clear that she's pushing her luck.

The story takes a turn and it soon becomes a story about survival as it appears that she's in danger, the pacing was so fast and I just wanted to get to the bottom and figure out what was truly going on. At one point I didn't know who I could trust as the story spiraled out of control, I really liked how parts of the book were added to break up the plot and give you a look at what was to come!
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I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I cannot say enough good things about Run Time! The plot, characters, and ending were absolutely brilliant! Catherine Ryan Howard is one of the best psychological thriller authors out there! I cannot wait to read more from her!

I really enjoyed this quick paced thriller. The setting of a movie set was absolute perfection and it was so spooky. I got Friday the 13th vibes from it which I loved. I suspected everyone but did somewhat figure out the ending so I was a little underwhelmed with it. I love this author and can’t wait to see what she writes next.

I am a huge fan of Catherine Ryan Howard. I have read all of her books and was SO EXCITED to receive this one. In the end, I think this book was trying to do way too much. The author has a history of telling these meta type stories with books within books and interesting writing styles. This one felt a bit too much like inception to me. The book and the play and then real life made it a little difficult to follow which one I was reading about. I kept getting the plot lines mixed up and forgetting which detail belonged to which story. Overall I didn't dislike it, but it felt like a lot of work to fully enjoy it.