The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard. No Advance Reader Copy included. No affiliate links used. Read my full disclosure policy here.
When she was 12, Eve Black's family were murdered by The Nothing Man. Eve was the sole survivor. Now, almost twenty years later, Eve has written a book about that night and her search for the killer.
Jim Doyle is reading Eve Black's book. He, like everyone else, is hooked on this true crime investigation into a serial killer who has evaded capture. As he reads, Jim realises just how close Eve is to solving the murders. Which is a problem. Because Jim is The Nothing Man (we know this from the blurb, so it's not a spoiler!)
Alternating between the book Eve has written and Jim as he is reading it, The Nothing Man is a well-paced thriller that takes the popularity of true crime and turns it back into fiction. A concept we are going to see more of, I think.
Catherine Ryan Howard has taken inspiration from I'll Be Gone In The Dark by Michelle McNamara and ratcheted up the tension leaving her reader wondering where the story will take them next.
And here is where reviewing crime fiction gets complicated. There was an aspect of the story that I did not like. I would have enjoyed the novel more without it. I can see other people loving it though, so I am possibly in a minority here. Yet to talk about it would give too much away.
That said, The Nothing Man is a gripping read. Catherine Ryan Howard deftly switches points of view in a manner that ensures that Eve and Jim are fully developed characters.
The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard is published by Corvus, an imprint of Atlantic Books, and is available in hardback, paperback, ebook, and audiobook format.