One by One
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4.1 • 1K Ratings
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
“The Agatha Christie of our generation.” —David Baldacci, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“Diabolically clever.” —Riley Sager, author of Final Girls
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Turn of the Key and In a Dark Dark Wood returns with another suspenseful thriller set on a snow-covered mountain.
Getting snowed in at a luxurious, rustic ski chalet high in the French Alps doesn’t sound like the worst problem in the world. Especially when there’s a breathtaking vista, a full-service chef and housekeeper, a cozy fire to keep you warm, and others to keep you company. Unless that company happens to be eight coworkers…each with something to gain, something to lose, and something to hide.
When the cofounder of Snoop, a trendy London-based tech startup, organizes a weeklong trip for the team in the French Alps, it starts out as a corporate retreat like any other: PowerPoint presentations and strategy sessions broken up by mandatory bonding on the slopes. But as soon as one shareholder upends the agenda by pushing a lucrative but contentious buyout offer, tensions simmer and loyalties are tested. The storm brewing inside the chalet is no match for the one outside, however, and a devastating avalanche leaves the group cut off from all access to the outside world. Even worse, one Snooper hadn’t made it back from the slopes when the avalanche hit.
As each hour passes without any sign of rescue, panic mounts, the chalet grows colder, and the group dwindles further…one by one.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Get cozy with a sophisticated whodunit in the grand tradition of Agatha Christie. At a resort in the remote French Alps, a hot new tech start-up’s leadership team have met to discuss business, and tensions run high from the first crunch of snow under boot. There’s conflict brewing over whether to sell the company off or go public, and it all comes to a head when an avalanche cuts the group off from the world. And that’s when the first person goes missing. We loved the way British mystery master Ruth Ware (In a Dark, Dark Wood) uses this natural disaster to remove modern technology from the situation, leaving the characters trapped in a tense scenario that we could picture in almost any decade. The revelations that unfold as everyone’s motives come to light had us gasping out loud, but Ware’s plot twists never strain logic—only the characters’ nerves.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in a remote chalet at an exclusive French Alps resort, this tempestuous locked-room mystery from Ware (The Turn of the Key) centers on the 10-person corporate retreat of social media company Snoop. Snoop's shareholders cofounders and ex-lovers Topher St. Clair-Bridges and Eva van den Berg, coder Elliot Cross, comptroller Rik Adeyemi, and former secretary Liz Owens (all millennials) bitterly disagree on whether to sell the business to investors or to seek additional funding and work toward an IPO. The group goes skiing to dispel tension, but then Eva fails to report for lunch. Before chalet employees Erin and Danny can arrange for a search, an avalanche eradicates the exit routes and knocks out power, internet, and phones. After another guest dies, the panicked survivors wonder whether there's a murderer in their midst. Liz and Erin share the narrative, which Ware rapidly cycles to accelerate pace and amplify suspense. A somewhat contrived denouement does little to diminish the thrill of this claustrophobic, adrenaline-fueled cat-and-mouse game. Agatha Christie fans take note.
Customer Reviews
Nice ending
I love Ruth Ware’s books. She really does draw you in, even if you find most of the characters (like I did in this book) to be annoying and obnoxious. I have to agree with the people who found the big “twist” of whodunnit to be predictable, but in my opinion the ending makes up for it. When something ends up as, “ok, so it’s exactly who I thought would be the culprit”, I tend to lose interest, but the author did a great job of hooking you in to see what happens afterwards & how it ends, regardless. She has a great writing style. Almost a 5-star for me.
Read it now!
So insanely good! I couldn’t put it down!!
Perfect diversion...
... from deep, pandemic reading. No spoilers but just know it is never who or what you think. The plot pulls you down a steep mountain so to speak.