The Trap

A gripping, chilling new thriller and instant number one bestseller

The instant bestseller and Sunday Times Thriller of the Year

'Dark, creepy and very clever, The Trap will lure you in and keep you captive until the very last page' - C L TAYLOR 
 
‘Elegant and twisty, it lingers in the memory’ – Daily Mail 
'Topical, twisty, and with a real heart stopper of a moment halfway in that'll make you turn the lights back on' - GILLIAN MCALLISTER 
 
 
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. 
 
 
‘As brain-teasing as it is gripping . . . [a] psychologically dazzling novel' - Sunday Times Thriller of the Month and chosen as one of the 12 best thrillers of 2023 by The Times 
 
'Dark and witty and clever. An original and highly gripping read, I couldn't turn the pages fast enough' - Alice Feeney 
 
'Howard has a sly gift for misdirection . . . Again and again, you'll blithely follow her down the wrong path' - New York Times 
 
'A breakneck thriller with so many twists and turns that your head will spin. I absolutely tore through The Trap ' - Holly Seddon 
 
 
The Trap was an instant Irish Times bestseller and a Sunday Times Thriller of the Year 
 
** Don't miss Catherine Ryan Howard's 56 DAYS, coming soon to Amazon Prime Video! **

Topical, twisty, and with a real heart stopper of a moment halfway in that'll make you turn the lights back on.

Gillian McAllister, author of WRONG PLACE WRONG TIME

Everything a thriller should be: clever, page-tearing, devastating. Catherine Ryan Howard makes you feel for her characters so much, whether you love them or absolutely loathe them. It's impossible to stop reading - or to stop thinking about THE TRAP, long after you're done

Dark, creepy and very clever, The Trap will lure you in and keep you captive until the very last page. Catherine Ryan Howard is the Queen of the Unguessable Twist

As brain-teasing as it is gripping . . . [a] psychologically dazzling novel

The Trap is everything you want in a book - breathless pace, clever plot, addictive characters, and very pertinent social commentary on how victims are judged. Whip smart, utterly absorbing, and unputdownable

Elegant and twisty, it lingers in the memory

Dark and witty and clever. An original and highly gripping read, I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. Catherine Ryan Howard has a deliciously dark imagination and always tells a good tale.

A propulsive thriller about a sister desperately trying to find her missing sibling. Twist after twist - left me simultaneously reeling and wanting more!

Howard has a sly gift for misdirection . . . Again and again, you'll blithely follow her down the wrong path

I was absolutely blown sideways by the twist . . . A white-knuckle ride of a serial killer thriller. A corker of a read.

A heart-in-your-mouth, punch-you-in-the-gut, gripping thriller. Everything you'd expect from a Ryan-Howard read. Chilling, page-turning and shocking! This book will leave you breathless, terrified, and desperate for more.

Add it to your must-buy lists, because it is fantastic . . . Howard's books really stand out as some of the absolute best, with clever plotting, interesting and often funny characters, and excellent twists. A real treat for anyone who loves an atmospheric thriller.

A breakneck thriller with so many twists and turns that your head will spin. I absolutely tore through THE TRAP

Holly Seddon, internationally bestselling author of THE WOMAN ON THE BRIDGE

Intelligent, terse and propulsive, The Trap is a headlock of a book that refuses to let you go until you find out what happened. And when you do, it will blow your socks off. Prepare to be ensnared in Catherine Ryan Howard's very clever (but equally sinister) net.

A taut, gripping page-turner. Catherine Ryan Howard at her dark and disturbing best.

Sam Blake, bestselling author of REMEMBER MY NAME

Catherine Ryan Howard is a gifted storyteller and The Trap is her best book yet. From the dramatic opening chapter right the way through the twists and turns of this cleverly-plotted novel, the tension never lets up. Sinister, compelling, utterly addictive, this is heart-in-mouth stuff. Crime writing at its very best.

Karen Perry, author of YOUR CLOSEST FRIEND

Compelling, intriguing, brilliantly written, and a complete page turner.

A really smart, witty thriller which grabs you from the start and won't let go until its terrifying ending

Dark, gripping and terrifying with a killer final twist in the blistering, head-spinning final pages. Utterly brilliant!

A skilful, compelling read, I absolutely loved it.

The Trap is an irresistibly suspenseful, heart-pounding read, full of perfectly executed twists. I never wanted to stop turning the pages. It has everything anyone could possibly want in a thriller.

Clémence Michallon, author of THE QUIET TENANT

This one will chill you to the bone! The Trap is a taut police procedural, psychological thriller, and family drama crafted into one brilliant, breathless thrill ride. This might be my favourite Catherine Ryan Howard novel yet.

Wendy Walker, author of DON'T LOOK FOR ME

Catherine Ryan Howard is an absolute master of suspense and her latest thriller, The Trap, is an utter triumph! Pulse-pounding, heart-wrenching, with razor-sharp commentary and twist after ingenious twist, I raced through this suspense, desperate to find out what was going to happen next. And my mind was blown when I did! A must-read for summer.

Catherine Ryan Howard always delivers, and The Trap might be her most electrifying thriller yet. It takes a classic crime story and twists it into something vast, emotional, and absolutely terrifying.

A twisty, pacey thriller with a brilliant premise. This one kept me guessing right until the end.

Katie Bishop, author of THE GIRLS OF SUMMER

Cracking with menace and with a killer twist, it's a propulsive and petrifying read

You're in for a night of reading into the early hours

Heart-stopping . . . this gripping new read will have you turning the pages in no time!

Catherine Ryan Howard is the author of eight novels including the no. 1 bestsellers The Nothing Man, 56 Days and The Trap. Her work has been shortlisted for the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best Novel, the Crime Writers Association New Blood and Steel Daggers, and Irish Crime Fiction Book of the Year multiple times. The screen adaptation of her lockdown thriller, 56 Days, is currently in production and will debut on Amazon Prime Video this year. She lives in Dublin.

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?

Catherine Ryan Howard

Once again, CRH has upped her game and come up with the most devious plot yet. The relationship between a ghost writer and her subject is separated by the thinnest of veils, especially when he is a murder subject, in this ingeniously twisted, intriguing and entertaining mystery. Bravo!

Liz Nugent, bestselling author of Strange Sally Diamond

Catherine Ryan Howard will glue your eyes to the page with Burn After Reading! This is one red hot thriller that boasts a vivid, true-crime authenticity at its molten core. A psychological cat-and-mouse game between a potential wife-killer and his reluctant ghost-writer is played out with a host of brilliant twists, all delivered in Ryan Howard’s lively, effortless style. Five sizzling stars.

Janice Hallett, bestselling author of The Appeal

Catherine Ryan Howard has once again delivered the perfect thriller. Superbly paced, effortlessly elegant writing, and complex characters who keep you on your toes throughout the narrative. I loved it!

L. V. Matthews, author of the Richard and Judy Book Club pick The Twins

Claustrophobic and menacing, Burn After Reading is a taut thriller that makes for breathless reading as Ryan Howard masterfully takes us from the picture postcard Sanctuary into an ever-tightening knot of scorching hot lies. From the first page to the last satisfying twist, don't pick this book up if you have an early start the next morning!

Sam Blake, bestselling author of Little Bones

In Burn After Reading, Catherine Ryan Howard delivers yet another pulse-racing, nerve-jangling masterpiece that grips tight and never lets go. Ingeniously plotted, daring and darkly original

Amanda Cassidy, Irish Times Bestselling author of The Perfect Place 

Burn After Reading is a scorcher . . . It. Has. Everything. The setting, the characters, the inside-publishing chit-chat, the echoes of real-life cases, the athlete mentality and most of all the heart-stopping tension. I will always drop everything to read a new Catherine Ryan Howard novel and you should too

Jane Casey, bestselling author of A STRANGER IN THE FAMILY

Catherine Ryan Howard is one of the most exciting writers working today. In Burn After Reading, she delivers another fascinating, thrilling and truly unputdownable book. I devoured it in a single sitting

Catherine Kirwan, author of A LESSON IN MALICE

I’ve been turning the pages like mad on Catherine Ryan Howard’s book Burn After Reading, which will be out in the new year. It’s a cracking story… I was lucky to get a preview copy and it was perfect for the morning train journey

Tense, atmospheric . . . A couldn't-put-it-down psychological thriller

In Burn After Reading, Catherine Ryan Howard uses her mastery of perspective to craft a brilliant jigsaw puzzle of a story. Sea-soaked and eerily perfect, small-town Florida never felt more claustrophobic

Ande Pliego, author of You Are Fatally Invited

Burn After Reading is scary and surprising, a tightly-plotted thriller with an unstinting sense for guilt and complicity. Catherine Ryan Howard is brilliant

Flynn Berry, author of Northern Spy and Under the Harrow

A cat and mouse game of the most intricate nature, this is a novel which spins you around and back again. You don't know who to trust until right at the end, when all the answers cleverly fall in to place. So gripping the pages turn themselves

Araminta Hall, author of One of the Good Guys

Opening with the most nail-biting scene I’ve ever read, Burn After Reading rollercoasters its way through beautifully unexpected twists and turns right to the blistering finale. Sharp, clever and wonderfully tense – an outstanding one-sitting read, I adored it

Andrea Mara, bestselling author of Someone in the Attic

Tense, chilling and extremely well-plotted

Sarah Turner, 'The Unmumsy Mum', bestselling author of Stepping Up

Ryan Howard, a master of twisty tales (56 Days, The Trap) may pin us to the mat again with this yarn

RTE, 'The best new Irish fiction coming in 2025'

Queen of the plot twist Catherine Ryan Howard always guarantees her reader a great time. In her latest book, a ghostwriter is tasked with writing the memoirs of a celebrity widely suspected of murder, but it turns out she has a guilty secret of her own… you’re in great hands here as Ryan Howard takes you on another twisty-turny journey into human behaviour.

The Journal, '22 Irish books to look out for in 2025'

An utterly gripping read. Burn after Reading gets its hooks in right from that memorable first scene, not letting go as it builds an exquisite tension

A clever set-up . . . Catherine Ryan Howard's chilling novel has parallels with the case of OJ Simpson

Burn After Reading is a masterclass in suspense, utterly addictive, intelligently crafted, and impossible to put down. Catherine Ryan Howard somehow channels both Stephen King and Mary Higgins Clark. This is a triumph

Clémence Michallon, internationally bestselling author of The Quiet Tenant

A craftily constructed and genuinely sinister thriller

[Catherine Ryan Howard] excels in twisty-turny thrillers that you're willing to relinquish sleep for

One of the joys of Catherine Ryan Howard's books is her high-concept plotting . . . [A] twisty read

The night Jack Smyth ran into flames in a desperate attempt to save his wife from their burning home, he was, tragically, too late - but hailed a hero. Until it emerged that Kate was dead long before the fire began. 
 
Suspicion has stalked him ever since. After all, there's no smoke without fire. 
 
A year on, he's signed a book deal. He wants to tell his side of the story, to prove his own innocence in print. He just needs someone to help him write it. 
 
Emily has never ghostwritten anything before, but she knows what it’s like to live with a guilty secret. And she's about to learn that there are some stories that should never be told...

Catherine Ryan Howard

Praise for Burn After Reading

Once again, CRH has upped her game and come up with the most devious plot yet. The relationship between a ghost writer and her subject is separated by the thinnest of veils, especially when he is a murder subject, i ...

Catherine Ryan Howard will glue your eyes to the page with Burn After Reading! This is one red hot thriller that boasts a vivid, true-crime authenticity at its molten core. A psychological cat-and-mouse game ...

Catherine Ryan Howard has once again delivered the perfect thriller. Superbly paced, effortlessly elegant writing, and complex characters who keep you on your toes throughout the narrative. I loved it!

Once again, CRH has upped her game and come up with the most devious plot yet. The relationship between a ghost writer and her subject is separated by the thinnest of veils, especially when he is a murder subject, i ...

Catherine Ryan Howard will glue your eyes to the page with Burn After Reading! This is one red hot thriller that boasts a vivid, true-crime authenticity at its molten core. A psychological cat-and-mouse game ...

Catherine Ryan Howard has once again delivered the perfect thriller. Superbly paced, effortlessly elegant writing, and complex characters who keep you on your toes throughout the narrative. I loved it!

Once again, CRH has upped her game and come up with the most devious plot yet. The relationship between a ghost writer and her subject is separated by the thinnest of veils, especially when he is a murder subject, i ...

Catherine Ryan Howard will glue your eyes to the page with Burn After Reading! This is one red hot thriller that boasts a vivid, true-crime authenticity at its molten core. A psychological cat-and-mouse game ...

Catherine Ryan Howard has once again delivered the perfect thriller. Superbly paced, effortlessly elegant writing, and complex characters who keep you on your toes throughout the narrative. I loved it!

Books by Catherine Ryan Howard

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