Title:
RUN TIME
Author:
Catherine Ryan Howard
ISBN:
9781838951672
Publisher:
Corvus
Pages:
433
Source:
Private Copy
Movie-making can be murder…
The project:
Final Draft, a psychological horror. Promising Young Thing Steve Dade will direct.
The tagline:
‘Based on a terrifying true story. That hasn’t happened – yet.’
The location:
A cottage deep in a forest, miles from anywhere in the wintry wilds of West Cork.
The lead:
Former soap star Adele Rafferty has stepped in to replace the original actress at the very last minute. She can’t help but hope that this will be her big break.
The problem:
Something isn’t quite right on the set of Final Draft.
Adele is about to discover that the real horror lies off the page…
Official Summary
23 September 2025
I went into Run Time expecting a creepy, atmospheric thriller, and Catherine Ryan Howard delivered exactly that—but with an extra clever twist. The story centres on Adele Rafferty, a former soap star who gets a last-minute opportunity to star in a psychological horror film. Desperate to reboot her career, she takes the role without hesitation. The catch? The movie is being filmed in an isolated cabin in the woods, and the script—supposedly based on a true story—starts to feel disturbingly close to Adele’s own reality.
What I really enjoyed was the layered storytelling. The way the screenplay of Final Draft bleeds into Adele’s real-life experiences adds a metafictional quality that blurs the line between fiction and reality. It’s unsettling in the best possible way, especially as the tension ramps up and you start to wonder what’s real, what’s performance, and who can actually be trusted.
The remote, forested setting is atmospheric and claustrophobic—perfect for a psychological horror that thrives on paranoia. I could almost feel the cold seeping through the pages. Adele herself is a sympathetic lead; she’s vulnerable, determined, and caught in a situation that spirals out of her control. I found myself both rooting for her and questioning her reliability, which kept me hooked.
Catherine Ryan Howard has a knack for building slow-burn suspense and then dropping unexpected twists. While I did find the pacing a little drawn out in places, the originality of the setup and the eerie execution more than made up for it.
Run Time is a clever, atmospheric thriller that plays with structure in a way I really appreciated. It’s perfect for readers who enjoy stories about unreliable narrators, creepy isolation settings, and the unnerving sense that life is starting to imitate art. A chilling and immersive read.
Also by Catherine Ryan Howard
THE LIAR’S GIRL
Her first love confessed to five murders. But the truth was so much worse. Dublin’s notorious Canal Killer, Will Hurley, is ten years into his life sentence when the body of a young woman is fished out of the Grand Canal. Though detectives suspect they are dealing with a copycat, they turn to Will for help. He claims he has the information the police need, but will only give it to one person – the girl he was dating when he committed his horrific crimes. Alison Smith has spent the last decade abroad, putting her shattered life in Ireland far behind her. But when she gets a request from Dublin imploring her to help prevent another senseless murder, she is pulled back to face the past – and the man – she’s worked so hard to forget.
About the Author
Author bio from the author’s site
Catherine Ryan Howard is an internationally bestselling crime writer from Cork, Ireland. Her debut novel, DISTRESS SIGNALS, was shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey/New Blood Dagger. THE LIAR’S GIRL (2018) was shortlisted for the Edgar Award for Best Novel. REWIND (2019) was shortlisted for Irish Crime Novel of the Year and is currently being developed for screen by Clerkenwell Films (Misfits, Lovesick, The End of the F***ing World). THE NOTHING MAN was a no. 1 Irish Times bestseller and a no. 1 Kindle bestseller (UK) and was shortlisted for Irish Crime Novel of the Year. Her latest novel, 56 DAYS, was published in August 2021. It is a thriller set in lockdown that Catherine wrote while she was in lockdown.
Prior to writing full-time, Catherine worked as a campsite courier in France and a front desk agent in Walt Disney World, Florida. She still wants to be an astronaut when she grows up.
Thank you for visiting to read my review. While this was an enjoyable read, it was not my favourite. I generally love Catherine Ryan Howard’s work, but this book just didn’t hit the spot for me. While there is nothing specific that bugged me, this one just didn’t feel right. Perhaps I am just being difficult. I would love your thoughts on this book. Leave a comment below. Until next time…. Happy Reading.
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