About The Book
Book: The Nothing Man
Author: Catherine Ryan Howard
Standalone or Series: Standalone
Publisher: Corvus
Publication Date (UK): 6th August 2020
🔍Standout Read. Awarded to books I highly recommend.
My Review
“The time I spent at my laptop were my visiting hours.”
Nearly two decades ago, twelve-year-old Eve lost her mother, father and younger sister. The quote comes from the book-within-a-book, also titled The Nothing Man, in which Eve recounts the murders that lie at the heart of the novel.
The story kicks off with shopping centre security guard Jim. Working his monotonous shift, he radios in reports of a “possible leaking bin. Over.” While following a customer around the store, his attention is caught by the book they’ve picked up: The Nothing Man.
It’s a title that stops him in his tracks because it is “his other name. The one the newspapers had given him. The one no one knew belonged to him.“
You see, Jim has a dark secret. He is who Eve is writing about. He’s gone undetected for years and isn’t happy about her publication. Especially as he knows she’s lying about certain elements. It’s an instantly gripping premise, setting up a tense and unsettling cat-and-mouse dynamic from the outset.
We know very early on who the key players are but this doesn’t lessen the tension. It’s engrossing to watch everything unfold as Jim settles in for his clandestine reading sessions, desperate not to be caught reading it, yet equally desperate to discover exactly what Eve knows.
Smart, suspenseful and superbly constructed, The Nothing Man is a standout example of the book-within-a-book thriller at the top of its game.
Now I just need to read The Liar’s Girl and Rewind and that’s me up to date with all of Catherine Ryan Howard’s books!
Beth Reads Crime 
Leave a comment