Burn After Reading: The gripping and addictive new thriller from the number one bestselling author
Catherine Ryan Howard
THE INSTANT #1 BESTSELLER
A ghostwriter is locked in an interview room with a man who might be a murderer, in this gripping new mystery thriller from the bestselling author of 56 Days and The Trap.
'A masterclass in suspense, utterly addictive, intelligently crafted, and impossible to put down' --Clémence Michallon, internationally bestselling author of The Quiet Tenant
'The perfect thriller' -- L. V. Matthews, author of the Richard and Judy Book Club pick The Twins
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 . . .
'This is one red hot thriller that boasts a vivid, true-crime authenticity at its molten core' --Janice Hallett, bestselling author of The Appeal
'A craftily constructed and genuinely sinister thriller' --Mail on Sunday
Rated five stars by readers!
'I love novels about authors writing and there’s just the right level of detail . . . A very compelling, original and entertaining thriller'
'Captivating, original and perfectly plotted. Another brilliant book from this first class author'
'This story is compelling and haunting in places and kept me gripped to the page'
Praise for Catherine Ryan Howard
'Dark, creepy and very clever . . . Catherine Ryan Howard is the Queen of the Unguessable Twist!' - C L TAYLOR, author of The Guilty Couple
Whip smart, utterly absorbing, and unputdownable. – ANDREA MARA, author of Someone in the Attic
'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
** Don't miss Catherine Ryan Howard's 56 DAYS, coming soon to Amazon Prime Video! **
BURN AFTER READING was an instant #1 Irish Times bestseller on 20/4/2025
Product Details
About Catherine Ryan Howard
Reviews for Burn After Reading: The gripping and addictive new thriller from the number one bestselling author
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
Ryan Tubridy, Irish Mail on Sunday
Tense, atmospheric . . . A couldn't-put-it-down psychological thriller
Andrea Carter, author of DEATH WRITES
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 addictive, twisty read
Irish Country Magazine
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
Mary Watson, author of THE CLEANER
A clever set-up . . . Catherine Ryan Howard's chilling novel has parallels with the case of OJ Simpson
Sunday Times
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
Mail on Sunday
A pulse-pounding read
Woman's Own
A gripping read and addictive thriller
That’s Life
Shocks and twists loom
Peterborough Telegraph
Twisty, suspenseful and gripping
Edel Coffey, The Gloss
[Catherine Ryan Howard] excels in twisty-turny thrillers that you're willing to relinquish sleep for
Irish Examiner