Book Review: Rewind by Catherine Ryan Howard

Publish Date: September 3, 2019

“In a room of shadows, a woman sleeps… unaware that she isn’t alone.” – Rewind

PLAY
Andrew, the manager of Shanamore Holiday Cottages, watches his only guest via a hidden camera in her room. One night the unthinkable happens: a shadowy figure emerges onscreen, kills her and destroys the camera. But who is the murderer? How did they know about the camera? And how will Andrew live with himself?

PAUSE
Natalie wishes she’d stayed at home as soon as she arrives in the wintry isolation of Shanamore. There’s something creepy about the manager. She wants to leave, but she can’t – not until she’s found what she’s looking for…

REWIND
Psycho meets Fatal Attraction in this explosive story about a murder caught on camera. You’ve already missed the start. To get the full picture you must rewind the tape and play it through to the end, no matter how shocking…

This book plays with the reader’s mind. It’s is written in an unusual and refreshing format, and jumps around. There are chapters set in the past and present with alternating multiple viewpoints. This story is twisty and sprinkled with surprises, and it made me question everything. Is what is seen on the video real, or fake news?

The characters are well developed, complicated, disturbed and written vividly so that you can picture each of them. They are also very unreliable and any of them could have been the murderer. I didn’t know who to trust and it was unsettling.

This is a thought-provoking story about technology, social media, stalking, and how someone is always watching and listening. You can’t do anything without being recorded anymore…. or potentially going viral. There are cameras everywhere in this book, and it’s just like real life!

I loved the atmospheric setting. The author creates a creepy, foreboding vibe with this atmospheric environment of isolated cottages, their walls of glass and rail-free dangerous, accident-inducing staircases. Why anyone stays there is beyond me! The description of the isolated Shanamore area remind me of the setting that Shari LaPena creates her book An Unwanted Guest (my review here) or any of Ruth Ware’s books.

My favorite quotes:

“Worry doesn’t take away tomorrow’s problems, it only steals today’s peace.”

“This felt like something that she should be doing. And also something that she shouldn’t be doing.”

“There had to be something that joined all of the dots.”

“He was gaslighting her. Isn’t that what they called it?”

This book is about secrets, manipulation, voyeurism, lies, obsession, betrayal, abuse, and blackmail. It’s a captivating, edgy thriller with a unique approach. I was surprised and the ending was nothing as I expected. It makes me want to go back and reread it to see if I can catch more of the clues. This is my first read of Catherine Ryan Howard’s, but it’s definitely not my last. I’m going to seek out The Liar’s Girl next because that book has a lot of buzz, too.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Note: I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.