The Trap by Catherine Ryan Howard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Trap is the latest release from beloved Irish author, Catherine Ryan Howard. I was so excited for this novel and happily, ended up really enjoying it.
Admittedly, I did reread about 40% of it, due to slight confusion with perspective shifts, but I was definitely invested in the story nevertheless.
The Trap is inspired by the real-life cases of missing women in Ireland in the late 1980s-early 1990s. If you are curious about these events, prior to picking up the novel, I would recommend a google search for Ireland’s Vanishing Triangle.
Additionally, if you do decide to pick this one up, which I absolutely recommend if you are a fan of Crime Fiction, be sure to read the Author’s Note at the end where she discusses her motivations for writing this story.
The Trap is told via a few different perspectives. I enjoyed them all and felt each of the main characters brought some intrigue and feeling to the table. I particularly enjoyed that we got the perspective of the criminal. That was disturbing.
One of the perspectives is Lucy, whose sister, Nicki, has been missing for a year; disappearing after a night out with friends. I felt like Lucy really took center stage in bringing all aspects of this story together.
We also get the perspective of a woman working in a civilian capacity for the police force investigating the disappearances, and as mentioned above, the baddie.
It does shift a lot and if you aren’t paying close enough attention, to people mentioned, as well as the timeline, it can be easy for it to get a little muddled. I came to a point, about 65% of the way through, where there was a reveal and I was like, who is this person?
Needless to say, I learned my lesson and went back and reread. It certainly made that reveal much more impactful and honestly, I was enjoying it so much that I didn’t mind at all. It helped to reiterate the facts of the story for me and I am glad I took the time to do that.
This is only the second book I have read from this author, but I am excited to read more. Incidentally, the other was Run Time, which I thought was so good.
I feel like Ryan Howard has a knack for examining the darker side of humanity with her stories and that’s what I am here for when I pick up a book. I love the atmosphere she creates as well. Her stories definitely have ominous vibes.
This got me in the end. I loved how it sort of flipped the script on how I was expecting it to end. I thought it was so well-plotted, particularly in that regard.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Blackstone Publishing, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I think a lot of Thriller Readers are going to really enjoy this.
I’m definitely going to start exploring some of Catherine Ryan Howard’s backlist. I think we are going to have a long and beautiful friendship…