Title: One by One
Author: Ruth Ware
Publisher: Vintage Publishing
Synopsis:
A luxury mountaintop chalet
The opportunity of a lifetime
Until guests start to disappear…Snow is falling in the exclusive alpine ski resort of Saint Antoine, as the shareholders and directors of Snoop, the hottest new music app, gather for a make or break corporate retreat to decide the future of the company. At stake is a billion-dollar dot com buyout that could make them all millionaires, or leave some of them out in the cold.
The clock is ticking on the offer, and with the group irrevocably split, tensions are running high. When an avalanche cuts the chalet off from help, and one board member goes missing in the snow, the group is forced to ask – would someone resort to murder, to get what they want?
My review:
One by One is an entertaining, slow building thriller. We join Erin and Danny, the staff at a luxury skiing chalet in France. They have a corporate party coming to stay – the inventors and staff of hip startup Snoop – and the party consists of quite a mix of characters, almost all staff – apart from one, Liz. Why is she there?
As disaster strikes, the tension rises and we learn about secrets and surprises that suddenly make things feel very dangerous…
I have to say, the book starts a little slowly. I find this with a few of Ruth Ware’s novels, so sort of expected it. We get a slow build up of tension and are introduced to the many characters – not only Erin and Danny, who are relatively easy to remember as they’re the two staff members, but also the Snoop staff – all nine of them! I think there were nine, anyway – there were a lot of people to remember, and I found that at times I had to flick back through the book to remind myself of some of the supporting cast members. However, once I’d got to grips with who was who, I found myself drawn into the mystery and rooting for Erin and Danny to be OK – all the time wondering if everyone is quite as they seem…
The tale is told from two different perspectives – staff member Erin and guest Liz. I liked this dual narrative and as the book continues, it builds in momentum. There are plenty of twists to keep readers on their toes throughout. Some parts are a little predictable and some are a bit unbelievable, but it didn’t hamper my enjoyment. I wish some of the characters were a little more developed, as there are so many of them and some feel surplus to requirements, but overall this is a solid release from Ms Ware.
Rating: 3.5/5
Many thanks to Vintage for providing a copy of this novel on which I chose to write an honest and unbiased review.
great review ????