Title: The Trap

Author: Catherine Ryan Howard

Genre: Thriller

Publisher: Bantam

Publication Date: 17th August 2023

Rating: 5/5

Cover:

Summary:

Stranded on a dark road in the middle of the night, a young woman accepts a lift from a passing stranger. It’s the nightmare scenario that every girl is warned about, and she knows the dangers all too well – but what other choice does she have?

As they drive, she alternates between fear and relief – one moment thinking he is just a good man doing a good thing, the next convinced he’s a monster. But when he delivers her safely to her destination, she realizes her fears were unfounded.

And her heart sinks. Because a monster is what she’s looking for.

She’ll try again tomorrow night. But will the man who took her sister take the bait?

–

Inspired by a series of still-unsolved disappearances, The Trap is the startlingly original new thriller from internationally bestselling author Catherine Ryan Howard.

Review:

I am a big fan of Catherine Ryan Howard’s books, which are always imbued with so much heightened atmospheric tension and clever plotting, and The Trap is just as good as her previous thrillers. The premise is instantly electrifying and the dark story unravels with expert pacing. I don’t want to give many plot details away because I think this is one that is even better if you go in blind but I will say that it is an utterly gripping read from start to finish.

What Catherine Ryan Howard does particularly well is her characters, specifically the villains. She makes them feel both entirely believable and yet almost supernaturally sinister and creepy. The Trap is a fast and ferocious thriller that will emphatically draw the reader into an unsettling and twisty story which was inspired by a real string of disappearances, giving the narrative an even more haunting ring to it. This has been a very good summer for thrillers and The Trap is up there with the very best of them.

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Thank you so much to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for inviting me on this tour and organising it. I kindly received a copy of the book from the publisher. My review is entirely my own honest opinion.

Buy the book:

Waterstones | Blackwell’s | Amazon