INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY, AND LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER
SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE
An NPR Best Book of the Year, 2015
A ShelfAwareness Best Book of the Year, 2015
An Entertainment Weekly Summer Books Pick
A Buzzfeed “31 Books to Get Excited About this Summer” Pick
A Publishers Weekly “Top Ten Mysteries and Thrillers” Pick
A BookReporter Summer Reading Pick
A New York … Pick
A Publishers Weekly “Top Ten Mysteries and Thrillers” Pick
A BookReporter Summer Reading Pick
A New York Post “Best Novels to Read this Summer” Pick
A Shelf Awareness “Book Expo America 2015 Buzz Book” Pick
What should be a cozy and fun-filled weekend deep in the English countryside takes a sinister turn in Ruth Ware’s suspenseful, compulsive, and darkly twisted psychological thriller.
Leonora, known to some as Lee and others as Nora, is a reclusive crime writer, unwilling to leave her “nest” of an apartment unless it is absolutely necessary. When a friend she hasn’t seen or spoken to in years unexpectedly invites Nora (Lee?) to a weekend away in an eerie glass house deep in the English countryside, she reluctantly agrees to make the trip. Forty-eight hours later, she wakes up in a hospital bed injured but alive, with the knowledge that someone is dead. Wondering not “what happened?” but “what have I done?”, Nora (Lee?) tries to piece together the events of the past weekend. Working to uncover secrets, reveal motives, and find answers, Nora (Lee?) must revisit parts of herself that she would much rather leave buried where they belong: in the past.
In the tradition of Paula Hawkins’s instant New York Times bestseller The Girl On the Train and S. J. Watson’s riveting national sensation Before I Go To Sleep, this gripping literary debut from UK novelist Ruth Ware will leave you on the edge of your seat through the very last page.
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I enjoyed reading the book. It has mystery and suspense. I would have given it five stars, but the superpowers held by the protagonist are unrealistic. I understand she grew up blind and an operation gave her sight, but her abilities to use her other senses to such extreme degrees boggles my mind. My mother was blind. Her other senses worked to compensate for her lack of vision. However, she didn’t have super sensitive powers over and over other human beings. Otherwise, the story held my interest.
Not nearly as thrilling as the reviews would have you believe. You’ll figure out pretty early on who the killer is. Would not recommend.
I read this book almost a year ago but just got around to reviewing it, this was a very fast paced read. Finished in two sittings, love Ruth Ware’s writing, very mysterious and unpredictable. Great book to pass the time.
What a story, her first book, can’t wait to ready the next!!
Great read. Could not put it down.
I love stories where the awful and tragic events unfolding are gradually revealed to have long roots leading back to something in the past. Guessing what happened to spark the whole mess, and who’s responsible for they mayhem, is always fun.
Great, compelling read.
I didn’t like this one as much as The Woman in Cabin 10. The level of neurosis of each character was realistic although the plot was a bit out there.
A simple get-together with friends turns mysterious. No one could have predicted one of their friends……, well, I liked the story. I think you will like it, too.
I just love reading Ruth Ware!
At least I was able to finish it…
ByBabbi-Dan on May 18, 2018
Format: Paperback
For some strange reason, I began this book with the impression that the people in the house were going to be attacked by someone or something hiding in woods. At the beginning of the book, there are descriptions of how the trees look closer and how the occupants of the house feel like they are on stage and playing their parts for an audience. I was confused when the story line switched away from the woods and creepiness of being in a glass house to just defining the characters at the “hen” party. I kept waiting and wanting something to happen that involved the woods. Instead, an accident (or was it actually a murder?) becomes the focus for the remainder of the novel. There was enough mystery to keep me reading to the end, but I found myself saying, “Really?”…”Seriously?”…”You’ve got to be kidding me!”…and “How can you be so stupid to accept a cup of bitter tea from someone you know came to kill you and is even wearing gloves? Give me a break!” I gave this book two stars because there was enough mystery to allow me to finish it. This is my first Ruth Ware book. I am not sure if I will read anything else by this author. It just wasn’t my “cup of tea”!
I purchased this at a beach Goodwill on a whim. It was so amazing. I read it in 2 days. You think you have it figured out and then there is a change! Awesome writing.
Ruth Ware rocks. Looking forward to reading her new release.
Ruth Ware is being called a contemporary Agatha Christie, and for good reason. She has Christie’s flair for crafting tense scenarios between characters and clever end-of-chapter cliffhangers that keep you turning pages. But even beyond that, she has a knack for storytelling that puts you right in the heart of the story, living and breathing the experiences of the characters.
Leonora, once known as Lee and now going by Nora, is a crime writer who has made the trek out to a spectacular, if creepy, house in the English countryside to celebrate an old friend’s impending nuptials. Nora hasn’t seen Clare in a decade, so Nora has no clue why she’s been invited to the hen weekend (Brit-speak for bachelorette party). But she goes along with another old friend, driven by the bonds of that old friendship, and meets up with Clare and a few of her other friends.
Ware goes back and forth from the events of the hen weekend to Nora in the hospital two days after arriving at the house in the country, trying to figure out what happened to her. It seems someone is dead– but who, and how? This is where Ware’s talents lie– in keeping us on the edge of our seat, slowly revealing the events of the weekend. In a Dark, Dark Wood is Ruth Ware’s debut thriller and she has become a must-read author for me.