Today we have the third Catherine Ryan Howard book I've read and I have some conflicting but overall positive thoughts!

Thank you @netgalley
And @blackstonepublishing
For the gifted eARC!

Run Time
By: Catherine Ryan Howard

My Rating:

Let's Start with some of the aspects I really liked. The author always does such an amazing job setting the scene and has picture perfect imagery. You will feel like you are in a mansion in the middle of nowhere Ireland in a dense forest.

I always enjoy thrillers surrounding celebrities and the wealthy. While some of their problems may not be something I ever face, I enjoy reading about them.

There is so much misdirection in this book which is actually a pro and a con

So let's get into some of the things that weren't for me

We've all heard about books about books and a book within a book, but here we have a book within a book within a book and it was a bit confusing keeping the storyline straight.

I was also a bit mentally exhausted with the amount of back and forth that happened in this book as well as the amount of repetition between each storyline.

Despite these two points, I did really enjoy the book. The characters were interesting and you just never really knew who was the villian.

My ranking of Catherine Ryan Howards books:
1. The Liars Girl
2. Run
3. 56 Days

3 stars for this entertaining but otherwise underwhelming read.

The strongly depicted atmosphere was the highlight and really helped to build the tension. The movie within the book aspect was interesting, although it did lead to lots of repetition, since similar things happened in both the script and to the main character. While the ending reveal was a disappointment, overall this was a fun and quick read, but not the author's best.

One of the first ever thrillers I read when I was getting into the genre was Rewind by Catherine Ryan Howard. I immediately ate up her backlist and then consumed all her future books. The concept of her books is always phenomenal. These really cool story telling techniques are used, and the writing is so unique. The problem that I seem to always have is that the endings wrap up SO quickly after such a long build-up and often in these really unbelievable ways. I get the whole bait and switch thing, but honestly, I prefer when we can piece together the mystery with our main characters. Unlike other novels where I felt like we could do that, this one kinda came out of left field. Sure, we know who the culprit is once we see Julia show up. And we know there's something shifty about the movie director from the gate. But the most compelling part of the story was the screenplay. Not sure that was the intention.

Combine Catherine Ryan Howard's intricate plots and pair it with horror movies and you have a recipe for a bingeworthy book.

I read this one so quickly that I'm almost sad to have gotten an e-arc because I'd love to read this again. From the moment it starts you know something is just slightly off. But of course, that's what draws Adele in. After suffering a devastating career setback, she's ready to jump at anything that will get her acting again. Hence how she ends up in a low-budget horror film.

Nothing can beat the secluded setting of the country side. This gave off huge cabin in the woods vibes which paired quite well with the meta style it had going on. If you're a fan of horror movies, of any kind, you'll be able to appreciate the commentary woven through out.

The plot itself was incredibly intricate. From the same strange events spanning different times to one large twist, right to another, it was all so smooth and made sense. Ryan Howard expertly wove in the seeds you needed to potentially figure it out earlier, but it's one of those reads where you're just in it for the ride waiting for the massive train wreck to happen.

I know so many people have this on their tbr, but if you don't, consider this a sign to add it. I promise this will be the bingeworthy book you need this summer.

What's your favorite Catherine Ryan Howard book? I'm torn between this one and The Nothing Man.

This book is like the Russian Matryoshka dolls…….a story in a story in a story.
   An out of work actress agrees to take on a job to make a horror movie for the much needed money, a chance for a comeback and the shoot would take her home to Ireland and away from LA.
   The location of the shoot is very remote with few amenities…….such as wifi.  Stranded w this crew of unfamiliar faces she discovers quirky, eerie, incidents keep cropping up……but just to her. As she tries to uncover the causes for them she gets increasingly mired into a world of self doubt, paranoia and finally blatant terror.
   The author’s descriptive narrative of those dark and fearful situations had the reader wondering why anyone would step out into the night …alone….as she did. This is one not to be read on a cold and stormy night.

Wow. This book was an absolute whirlwind!! It’s a story inside a story inside a story, which is truly mind blowing throughout the whole novel - just like the author wants it to be.

There were many times throughout that my heart was RACING and I had to keep reading through the chaos. I tried to figure it out the entire time, but I never could. The story comes around full circle at the end, but it’s not what I expected at all. Actually, I had no idea what to expect. I felt just as lost as Adele (the main character).

Overall, this thriller started off slow for me, but then had me hooked!! I audibly gasped and said “WHAT IN THE WORLD?” multiple times. I would recommend reading, but if you do, buckle up for a wild ride!!

Run Time is about a struggling actress, Adele, who is trying to make a comeback in her failed acting career. Jumping on what she thinks is a fresh start, Adele accepts a main character role in a horror movie. Shooting in the Ireland countryside, things start to go wrong. Adele starts to question not only her sanity but how much of this film is acting versus real life.

I really loved the formatting of this book and how you got to not only read the story but the screenplay as well! I’ve never seen that done before so I really enjoyed it! I’d recommend this book to anyone who likes psychological thrillers with horror vibes!

(Thank you, Netgalley, for the advance copy.)

When struggling actress Adele leaps at a mysterious leading role, she quickly realizes she may have been a little too eager for this increasingly dangerous job...

<u>Run Time</u>another page-turning thriller from Catherine Ryan Howard. The twists (or "reveals", as Howard would prefer us to say, because they are not one and the same) were quite fun and entertaining. While some were more expected than others, this book within a movie within a book plot was absolutely mind boggling in the most fun way possible. I thought Adele was a great character and cared for her immediately. The only thing that could have possibly made this a little more interesting or entertaining was maybe throwing in a smattering of chapters from Donal's perspective. I was kind of disappointed to find that only the prologue was told from his point of view. Otherwise, <u>Run Time</u> absolutely delivers on all it promises.

Holy Inception!! This is my first Catherine Ryan Howard book and I really enjoyed it! It was so atmospheric and spooky. The experience was a little meta—a movie based off a screenplay based off a book. This really added to the creepiness and it all really just worked for me. I flew through it and thought about it when I had to put it down. I will definitely be reading more from this author!

Thank you NetGalley, Blackstone Publishing, and Catherine Ryan Howard for the early copy!

I love when there's a book within the book, so believe me when I tell you I wanted to love this one! Run Time has the main character starring in a horror movie (with script chapters!) where she's reading a book that mimics what's happening in the movie-- which is also happening to the actor irl.
A bit convoluted here and there, but I was invested and kept turning pages long into the night. I did have to go back every so often to make sense of what was going on, but I still throughly enjoyed this twist on an unreliable narrator/something's in the woods trope.

{3.5 stars}

Last year's 56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard was one of my favorite mystery/thrillers of the year so I was super excited to try another story from her. Run Time gives us a familiar thriller story trope, the horror movie set. Adele is an Irish actress who grew up acting on an Irish soap opera and bungled her transition to movies. So she relocated to LA hoping to restart her career. When she gets an offer to do a small budget, hush-hush movie back in Ireland she jumps on it before she knows all the details... mistake number one. She gets a mysterious text before she arrives warning her off and she plows forward anyway... mistake number two. And the bad choices just pile up from there.

This one goes at quite the frenetic pace and much of it occurs in Adele's anxiety-ridden, over active brain. When she's awake, she's worrying, even before she really needs to be. That was a bit frustrating to read because you're not really sure for a good portion of the book if she's an unreliable narrator. There are lots of clues along the way to what's really going on but it's hard to tell the real clues from Adele's imaginary ones. It does all come together with an answer and while I guessed part of it, the other surprised me a little. Nothing super original here but it's a solid thriller to keep you entertained.

Thanks to Netgalley for advanced access to this novel. All opinions above are my own.

I was hooked from the beginning and had a hard time putting this one down. I love a story that takes place on a film set and act one was the perfect set up. However, I found act two to be a bit rushed which is why I'm making this only a four star read, I would have liked to see the events take place over a longer period as the whole novel really only takes place over a couple days. The foreshadowing was a bit too obvious making the ending predictable, but overall a fun read.

Adele Rafferty was once the star of a hit soap opera but now she is working in a low budget hotel and quickly realizing her dream of acting may be at an end. When she receives an opportunity to step in for lead role in a horror film, Final Cut, she thinks this could be her big break. Adel must return to Ireland, where the movie is being filmed, the place that haunts her and people know who she is. When she arrives at the remote cabin in west Cork she quickly realizes that something isn't right. Strange things begin happening on set that parallel the script and Adele quickly realizes she might be in danger.

Run Time is a new mystery/thriller in which a struggling actress takes a lead role in a horror film only to realize she may have made a deadly mistake taking the role. I have read a few books from this author so I was excited when I read the premise for Run Time which seemed like a fun slasher thriller. Despite being about a horror film/book this novel is more of a mystery/thriller. As much as I wanted to love this one it just didn't resonate with me and I had a hard time getting through it. The novel is written to incorporate the script from Final Cut, the movie being filmed, and I didn't really enjoy reading the sections that were in script format. The film is centered on a couple in the woods who begin experiencing similar occurrences that happen in a horror book they find in the cabin. Similar occurrences begin to happen to Adel on the set and she quickly realizes something isn't right. Although this novel was a bit underwhelming for me, I still enjoyed it and I think many readers will appreciate it more than I did.

This is the second book I've read of Catherine Ryan Howard so I came in with high expectations and I wasn't disappointed! I absolutely loved this book! It had elements of horror, mystery and thriller and a very capable and intelligent protagonist. No hiding behind the chain saws for her. I highly recommend this title and I can't wait to read her next book!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this digital ARC.

What a visceral experience! Reading Run Time by Catherine Ryan Howard should count as your daily cardio workout, thanks to the rapid page turning and pulse-pounding fear.

Unless you’re soothed by heavily wooded isolation, banshees and the threat of grievous bodily harm, that is. If so, consider this a bucolic romp in the Irish forest.

Everyone else should strap in for a tension-filled stay in the cold, dark, wet woods of West Cork, where actress-cum-motel receptionist Adele Rafferty has gone to film a low-budget, indie horror film. The conditions aren’t ideal, but beggars can’t be choosers. And professionally speaking? Adele is clearly in the beggars category. Even the warning texts she receives from an anonymous source can’t dissuade her from trying to jump-start her career with this starring role in Steven Dade’s new film.

Things quickly take a turn for the ominous when she finds herself the only female on the remote set, populated with a male crew who are, at best, ineffectual and at worst? Well, the worst could be very bad, indeed. Because scenes from the script are starting to play out in real life, which could be coincidental. Or an attempt at cinema verite. Or something much more sinister.

The author really excels at naturalistic dialogue and has created an imperfect but believable and sympathetic main character in Adele. The atmosphere is suitably claustrophobic and spooky. The plot moves forward steadily, interspersed with pages from the script that keep momentum flowing. For film fans, the details of life on a movie set add another layer of interest.

Grab this title if:
- you wonder about the things that go “bump” in the night
- you’re a cinemaphile who likes a peek behind the scenes
- you enjoy a good slasher flick and still wonder if Blair Witch might have been real
- you like a heroine that’s flawed but fierce

⭐️: 4/5

Former soap opera star Adele, now living in LA and struggling to find work and make ends meet, agrees to a last minute role in a low budget horror movie after the original actress drops out. The movie, Final Draft, centers around a couple staying in a remote cabin who find a book in the cabin that seems to foreshadow the events that happen to them. When strange things start happening on set that coincide with both the events in the film and book within the film, Adele realized all is not what it seems.

This was a wild ride of a book. It somehow works as a psychological thriller while also poking fun at the “meta”-ness of the book within a screenplay within a book, and the derivative nature of the themes and plot overall. The reveals toward the end of the book started to get confusing, but ultimately the conclusion was satisfying. Adele didn’t fall into too many of the annoying “final girl” characteristics, most notably making nonsensically bad decisions, which I appreciated, but I’m still not sure how much I actually liked her as a character. Additionally, the descriptions of scenery and location were a little overboard, and I found myself skimming whole pages devoted to painting a picture of the darkness of the trees. Overall, I enjoyed this read and will certainly be reading some of the author’s previous books now.

Thank you to @netgalley and @blackstonepublishing for this eARC for review!

When I finished Run Time by Catherine Ryan Howard, I felt like I was in a psychological thriller. The book was twisty and made me question what had happened in the book for better or for worse.

The plot surrounding a movie hooked me and the idea that the book that was in the movie paralleled the events affecting the shoot was fascinating but I feel like Run Time sometimes feels like it is leaning too hard on that idea and doesn’t give genuine fright or scares throughout.

I felt that the main character was great but the surrounding characters felt basic archetypes that never seemed like actual people.

Overall Run Time is a fun fast thriller to enjoy and finish quickly but doesn’t stay long after finished

I so enjoyed this book! Extremely clever and downright chilling at times, I reveled in solving the mystery of everything happening! Thank you!

Thank you NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing.

I had high hopes for this one as I am a fan of Howard's writing. It started off great, but then I struggled with keeping up with it. Not the book for me, but I could see why others may other like it!

Thank you @blackstonepublishing and @netgalley for the eARC of Run Time by Catherine Ryan Howard. This is y first book I've read by this author and I will add her to my auto buy author list. At over 500 pages, this is a quick atmospheric thriller that I quickly read. I didn't want to put it down and that in my opinion is the touchstone of a good thriller!

Adele is an actress who is looking to reignite her career. She gets offered a job in a secluded setting on the set of a horror set. The movie is actually based on a book (this whole story is like a book within a book).......wild but clever for sure. But soon, things start happening to Adele in real life that mirrors the screenplay. What the heck is going on!

I can't tell you....you're gonna have to read to find out!

I quite liked this book and thought the plot was very well executed. It's like nothing I've ever read before.

Mark your calendars. This one will be published on August 16, 2022