From award winning and internationally bestselling crime writer Catherine Ryan Howard comes Burn After Reading, an addictive and twisty new thriller about a man who may have committed murder and the ghostwriter charged with helping him protest his innocence.
A year ago, former professional cyclist Jack Smyth lost his wife in a fire at their home. But the nation’s sympathy turned to anger when it emerged that she had died before the fire started, in a violent attack. Although Jack has never been charged in connection to her death, a suffocating cloud of suspicion hangs over him and he’s become convinced that the only way out is to tell his side of the story.
When Emily Joyce is offered the gig as his ghostwriter, her main motivation for saying yes is the payday. She flies out to the eerie, empty, master-planned town of Sanctuary, Florida, to hole up with Jack for a week, getting his story down.
But the story Jack tells isn’t the one she expected, and soon Emily is thrown into a dangerous plot twist that she may not be able to write her way out of …
Book Info: 388 pages. Publisher: Transworld Digital. Publication date: 10 April 2025
My Thoughts:
Burn After Reading is Catherine Ryan Howard’s latest standalone thriller and this one was inspired by the OJ Simpson case.
A dead wife in suspicious circumstances, the husband, Jack Smyth, is a professional athlete and all the evidence seems to point at his guilt, but he’s determined to prove his innocence.
The main character is Emily. She is struggling to write her second novel after the huge success of her debut book. As she’s already spent the advance and her publishers are losing patience she has no option other than to fly out to Florida to be the ghost writer for Jack Smyth. This means spending time with a suspected murderer in an isolated and deserted new town.
There are a couple of storylines running throughout this book. Emily has a secret that could destroy her career which she is determined to keep hidden at any cost. Jack may also be guilty of murdering his wife, so why would he choose to publicly reveal his secrets. Is he dangerous and is Emily risking her life to write this book?
The story has dual timelines so the reader slowly learns more about the events that led up to the wife’s death.
Overall I found this a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining book. If you enjoy books with twists and turns then you should love this too.
