A tense corporate retreat gets even icier when the group gets snowed in and people start turning up dead. If you’re looking for a great fall thriller, check out my review of One by One! If you’re looking for spoilers, a link to my spoiler post is below.
One by One by Ruth Ware. To be published on September 8, 2020 by Simon & Schuster. Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance copy for review.
Synopsis: Getting snowed in at a beautiful, rustic mountain chalet doesn’t sound like the worst problem in the world, especially when there’s a breathtaking vista, a cozy fire, and company to keep you warm. But what happens when that company is eight of your coworkers…and you can’t trust any of them? When an off-site company retreat meant to promote mindfulness and collaboration goes utterly wrong when an avalanche hits, the corporate food chain becomes irrelevant and survival trumps togetherness. Come Monday morning, how many members short will the team be?
Review of One by One
Wow – One by One had more twists and turns than a black diamond ski run. More chills than the iciest winter day.
Ruth Ware excels at writing creepy stories about people trapped in small quarters and hey, these kind of stories have even more visceral impact now that we’ve all experienced quarantine.
Snoop is an app that lets you peek in on what any other subscriber is listening to. Its founders, Topher and Eva, built it from the ground up, assisted by a small, loyal group of employees.
Now they’ve all gathered at a remote chalet in the French Alps for a little skiing and group bonding. Or have they? First, one of the founders drops a bombshell that makes the mood turn icy. Then someone turns up dead.
Then, an avalanche traps all of them, along with their chalet host and chef, inside without power or internet.
I was trying to figure out what this book reminded me of and finally realized it was:
Have you seen the show? I only watched a season or two, but both this show and the book feature a group of spoiled and squabbling guests trapped in small quarters with staff members. Imagine if, one by one, the guests and crew suddenly started dying…
I loved the snowy setting if One by One and the growing dread I felt as I figured out who the killer was (I had my suspicions right off and I was correct, but the end was a cat and mouse game that was still SO suspenseful!)
READ THIS BOOK AND WANT SPOILERS? Come over to my spoiler review of One by One!
Want to know What is the Best Book by Ruth Ware? I’ve crunched the Goodreads numbers, read them myself, and have a report here!
Here’s my review of Turn of the Key
I’ve only read her book In a Dark, Dark Wood, and liked it well enough but wasn’t blown away. I’ve heard such good things about her writing overall, though, so I’ll have to give this one a try!
This one felt similar to In a Dark Dark Wood. Her latest before this was Turn of the Key which was a kind of updated gothic with the governess (now live-in nanny) in the creepy house.