This started off painfully slow for me...the first half of this book is so slow that I almost didn't finish it...but I'm glad I did. I liked that it was told in multiple POVs (one being the killers). The uneasiness and tension slowly builds and boils over in the second half, and this is when I really became intrigued and invested in the story. This is a very dark and chilling read in the topics it deals with. I liked how it handled the relevant commentary of women who go missing, and how society and the media at times blames the victims. The ending itself was a little too open ended for me and felt a bit implausible but this did not detract from the overall story.

It took me a while to read this book. I started it a few times and put it away. I recently read a review of it in the Times and decided to give it one more chance and I’m glad I did. Once you made it through the first few chapters the different voice, characters etc began to make sense. It was a bit complicated because of the different voices and the story’s construction. Lots of red herrings which is always fun in this type of tale. It’s made me want to look at some other titles by this author.

3.5 stars - I'm a huge Catherine Ryan Howard fan but this one didn't completely work for me. I appear to be an outlier on this one given how my friends seem to have felt. But, there was a sense of disjoint that I felt about it. It was a solid story but I never really connected to it for some reason. I think it was the pacing for me ... it felt like a slow burn which isn't what I usually see with Howard's novel. Some of her trademark pacing (which I LOVE) was missing with this one for me. It just never came together for me, unfortunately. I do love her work and am excited to see what comes next from her.

Special thanks to Blackstone Publishing and author Catherine Ryan Howard for advanced copy for honest review.

Several perspectives going into this story... Lucy, who is looking for her sister that disappeared a year ago and who tries and tries to relive that night and lure in the area killer A detective trying to find all girls that have gone missing. And a deranged killer who takes us through his process on how he gets the girls and the precise details that go into it. With no spoilers, this story takes us on a wild ride and an even crazier ending. I'm pretty good on figuring out who done it, but not with this one. You're 'taken' down one road with the outcome taking a different direction, a U-turn really! 5 Stars high recommend.

What can I say? I love books set in Ireland and I love thrillers. Put your hands together and we got us a pretty good time.⁣
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The Trap is the latest from 56 Days author Catherine Ryan Howard. It follows multiple perspectives including a nameless serial killer, the sister of one of his victims who was kidnapped, and a woman who volunteers with the police and receives some interesting evidence. ⁣The characters cross paths, of course, but not at all like I thought they would.
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This is a deeply unsettling, quickly paced, and addictive book with the tension I crave and an excellent twist and ending. I think the author writes contemporary Irish thrillers SO WELL. I will read whatever she writes. The characters were slightly one dimensional but the plot was to me, immaculate, so it almost didn’t matter. ⁣
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If you enjoy a thriller, give this one a shot!⁣
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Thanks to @netgalley and @blackstonepublishing for the opportunity to read this.

My goodness what a rollercoaster. There were a few good twists in this one but man did it have a sad ending.

Well, that was a disappointment. I don't know what to say. It was slow and was confusing. I had never read this author and was looking forward to this. I did like that it was set in Ireland, but the characters were meh. There was only one scene that was exciting, but the ending was terrible. There are many good reviews out there for this one so be sure to read those before making the decision to read this one. I would like to try a different one by this author sometime.

4.5 stars.

I read a lot of thrillers, and this one is pretty exceptional. It is my first Catherine Ryan Howard, and definitely will not be my last from this author.

This story revolves around three different perspectives. 1) Lucy, who is the sister of Nicki. Nicki up and vanished without a trace one night after being out to a pub with friends. 2) A police perspective from Angela, desperate to be a part of the Irish Police, who finds herself peripherally involved in the case with a bad ass female detective, Denise. 3) An unnamed dude who is extremely creepy!

I think this was such an incredibly smart story. I was connected to Lucy and Angela as characters so much, and their decisions had me legit yelling at them sometimes but that was all part of the intrigue. The creepy dude's chapters were so menacing but so good, and each one left me wanting to know more about this sick twist. I don't think the ending will be for everyone, but it was for me. I did think the story got a little slow for me in the middle third, but everything else totally makes up for it.

I would definitely recommend reading the author's note at the end as her inspiration was loosely based on a string of real abductions that occurred in Ireland back in the 1990s. I definitely felt the impact that had on them writing this story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for an ARC of this in exchange for my honest review!

4-4.5 stars

This was a really suspenseful psychological thriller!

I thought Lucy was such a great character and I admired her determination to find her sister. A year earlier, Nicki had gone missing after a night out with friends at the pub — the third Irish woman to vanish in the past few years — and not knowing what happened to her consumed Lucy’s life to the point of obsession.

I have to admit, I started to question Lucy’s sanity because she purposely put herself in harms way night after night to seek out the truth. But I really enjoyed how the beginning of the story tied into the end; I hadn’t put that together earlier on. And I was so surprised when we finally got some answers because they came straight from the monster himself! It was actually quite unnerving how forthcoming he was, and definitely upped the creep factor.

Overall, I thought this was a great book and definitely recommend it!

*Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for providing a copy of this book to review.*

Overall I enjoyed this read; it was easy to flip through chapters easy and it kept me interested enough to rush to the end. Read this book over the course of two days, which says something for me as I am usually a slow reader.

Although this book is focused around four missing women, it follows four main narrators: Angela and Denise both Garda connected, the 'kidnapper', and Lucy- a sister of a woman kidnapped. I would not say there was a lot of growth or 'development' from each of the characters, but there was depth and an understanding of how/why they do the things they do, which can be hard to achieve in such a short amount of time.

There are also things Catherine Ryan Howard does well, which is leave easter eggs of things she is interested (i.e. Jurassic Park) and making the reader invested in ~the most annoying characters~. Also the opening chapter of this book already had me screaming!!

Lastly, I enjoyed the underlying theme that the Garda could have utilized their influence for own personal gain, and not necessarily to help the missing women & their families. The way it was done in this book gave it a unique twist and made me critically think if this could/is currently happening across the globe. I am not here to give my opinion on political topics, nor do I necessarily think that was Catherine's purpose, but it was written in a way to entice critical thinking on a topic that is discussed often in the news/around the water cooler.

This book could be hard for some to read, and the trigger warnings are definitely worth reviewing before, but I enjoyed the pace and the overall concept of the book. A great fast read for the Halloween season.

Just as many have said, please read the author's note at the end- it provides so much context to this read!! I am just not knowledgeable enough to even attempt to summarize it here.

*****Spoilers ahead*****
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There were some holes in the plot, like what ever happened to the Caroline/Roland/Tara plot??? That was an interesting change, but it would have been nice to get a paragraph at the end about what happened there!

I will say the plot twist with Nikki was phenomenal!! Who doesn't love a cult "farm"!!!!

What was the point of many Angela fail the PCT, and appearing 'weak'? Hated that.

So do we think Denise catches the bad guy????

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Thank you to Netgallery and Blackstone Publishing for this ARC.

Thank you Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for an eARC in return for an honest review

This is a thriller about Lucy's relentless efforts to fund out what happened to her missing sister Nicki. She will stop at nothing to find the truth.

Are you f'ing kidding me??? The twist of the year has arrived by way of The Trap by Catherine Ryan Howard!!! It's easily a 5 star book for me!!

I've read all of her books and have loved them. Thanks for The Nothing Man reference in the book!!! I look forward to the next one.

This book was thoroughly enjoyable. Lucy O’Sullivan is a woman who suspects her sister is one of a few who have been kidnapped. There are lots of twists and turns in this, and I wasn’t expecting the ending at all! I wish there had been a little more information about some of the characters at the end, but overall I really liked this one a lot.

First, thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the ARC copy of this one!

I have to say that while this wasn't my favorite book, it was still somewhat enjoyable but on the lower end of the scale.
I just found it to be confusing for the most part. There seems to be multiple stories intertwined that didn't really feel like they connected?
I also felt so bad for the main character, because she searched for so long only for it to be a completely different outcome that you'd expect. Almost like a believability component is missing from this story.

I do think that I preferred the detective in the story to the other characters, but even then it wasn't enough for me to thoroughly enjoy this read :(

Very meh for me, but I hope others enjoy it more!!

Thanks to Blackstone Publishing, the author, Libro.fm, and NetGalley for the free gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was lucky enough to read The Trap on both Kindle and Libro.fm which are audiobooks.

This is one of the more unique thrillers that I have read, and I definitely enjoyed that on audiobook because we got different voice actors for the different characters which is my favorite.

This isn’t a spoiler because it starts off right away but one of the points of view is from the “killer”. Which made the book even creepier and full of suspense.

The ending definitely took me by surprise which means it's an enjoyable thriller, but I wasn’t always dying to repack this book up, so the audiobook helped me finish it.

Ohhh weee, this book is told by three narrators - a sister who is looking for her missing sister, a wanna be detective that works in the police station as a paper pusher and the serial killer himself. 😳 A perfect amount of crazy twist to make Catherine Ryan Howard one of my new favorites. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Set in Ireland, we learn of missing girls. These young ladies are of different backgrounds and as a result there is disparity in the interest of locating their whereabouts by the Garda and people in general. But one of the less notables has something in her favor, a sister who is bent on finding out what happened to her. It has become her obsession with or without the help of the Garda, thus the title. The Trap.
   The Garda are, indeed, involved in the search of these ladies. It includes an odd couple: a family liaison officer and a Garda wannabe who has sharp instincts and thus becomes part of the team.  The wannabe’s main job is to keep her mouth shut which she fails at miserably but often it's to the heart of the matter. She’s a keeper.
Their relationship is a pleasant distraction in the intense storyline.
   The points well made are the sad facts of status: how you present to others and assumptive behavior influences how people both of authority and the everyday soul presuppose how much attention or response you will receive.  In the end the reader also discovers they have made an incorrect assumption as well.
   An excellent mystery with a moral controversy imbedded in it.

The Trap is another smart, compelling thriller from Irish crime writer Catherine Ryan Howard. Inspired by true events, CRH expertly unfolds the story of three missing women, the family and friends desperately searching for them, and the dangerous man who is out hunting for his next victim. It’s a creepy story that kept me guessing until the very end and had me starting back over as soon as I was finished to see the clues I’d missed along the way.

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for a digital advanced reader copy of this book to review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the eARC! I’ve never read any of Catherine Ryan Howard’s previous and this was such a captivating read that I cannot wait to read more!

The multiple POVs are excellent, particularly the POV of the killer - the dry humor and overall creepy tone are perfection.

The twist left me shocked - I should have seen it coming but it hit me like a truck. I would have liked some more development of the characters and a different ending, but the plot is great and this was such a fun ride!

I thought the opening of this book was SO good! But then it slowed down until about the halfway point before picking back up. I thought it was great that Nicki was so dedicated to finding her sister, but I didn't find her to be a very likable character. I did like Denise and Angela and thought they brought a bit of comic relief in at times.

The POVs from the killer were interesting and, at times, creepy, but I felt like something was missing. Then came the greatest twist, which I never expected! I thought it was brilliantly done! But then came the ending, which left so many unanswered questions.

This is another one that has really good ratings on Goodreads, so I definitely recommend picking it up!

Thank you, @netgalley and @blackstonepublishing for the gifted e-arc of this book.

3.5 rounded

After her sister goes missing, Lucy recklessly wanders the streets where she was last seen hoping to trap whoever has taken Nicki. With others missing as well, the Gardai has set up Operation Tide linking the three missing women, is there a chance they are still alive? Not everything is being told to the missing women’s families and when they learn some breaking information from the news, they are greatly disturbed. What else don’t they know. In a live interview, Lucy takes her recklessness a step further baiting the perp, but has she gone too far this time? This book was cleverly written with some great twists and had me hooked from the first breath taking chapter! Thank you to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC of this book,