One by One

By: Ruth Ware

Narrated by: Imogen Church

Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER
"A claustrophobic spine-tingler." (People)
"Not only do Ware’s novels wink at [Agatha] Christie in a saucy way, but Ware herself is turning out to be as ingenious and indefatigable as the Queen of Crime." (The Washington Post)

The number one New York Times best-selling 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 start-up, 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.

©2020 Ruth Ware. All rights reserved. (P)2020 Penguin Audio. All rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"Imogen Church's extraordinary narration of Ruth Ware's newest suspense novel will keep listeners glued to their earbuds, unable to do anything else but listen wide-eyed and rapt. In an homage to Agatha Christie (AND THEN THERE WERE NONE), Ware has taken the premise of people trapped in an isolated house with an unidentified killer; cleverly adapted the who, where, and what to the 21st century; and pumped up the dread with parallel first-person narratives. Ten employees of a tech start-up meet for a retreat in an alpine chalet with two staff. Tensions abound; then an avalanche isolates the group. Church delivers a myriad of individual voices, offers telling characterizations, and transports listeners into every scene with perfect pacing of the humor, conflicts, and terror. It's witty, cunning, and addictive." (Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award, AudioFile Magazine)

Ruth Ware Regular

Let me start off by saying I am a huge Ruth Ware fan. If I was stuck on an island and could only choose 3 things to take with me, one of her books would be among those items. Take that as you will when reading my review! I really enjoyed this book. Not as much as some of her other works, but it is definitely a good “read”! I was kept guessing on who the culprit was until the end. There are numerous endings the book could have had, and I thought the one chosen was sufficient. There were many moments when I couldn’t stop listening and others when I trekked on to get to the next chapter. I would say i was on the edge of my seat for about 75% of the book. However, I will say this is some of the best character development I’ve seen in her books so far! I was truly attached to almost every character. I was worried for them as if I knew them personally, which in a way I guess I do. I believe that is the telltale sign of a good book, being able to really get invested with the characters and understand their point of views. So would I recommend this book to you? Absolutely! I finished it yesterday and am still thinking of the twist and turns and trying to think what I would do if I were point in a situation such as the one in this novel. Definitely worth the purchase!!

Spoiled for me by reader

If you like tremulous, melodramatic readings, you’ll love Church. But she ruined it for me. People differ.

Good story, but the ending fell flat

Ruth Ware is one of my favorite authors. She's great with suspense and this book was no different, My biggest complaint was the ending. The plot was moving well and I kept thinking I had it figured out, but wasn't quite sure, which is what you want with a book like this (at least that's what I want). But about 2/3 of the way through most of the mysteries had been solved and the book just kept dragging on. I didn't feel like the final revelations made up for the slow song and dance that occurred through the final chapters. Additionally, there were a few things that the characters did that just made absolutely no sense to me and led to the dragging on of the final chapters. Still worth reading, but be prepared for a slow ending.

If you are looking for Agatha - pass

Who did it? Not difficult to fathom - end of story speeded up with no real place to go - ends tied badly. The narrator had trouble with voices.
Could not determine the difference between the women- ditto men except for a cockney accent. Listened to the end because, apparently, if one doesn’t , one cannot post a review!

Great atmospheric thriller

I really enjoyed this book. The setting was perfect and I found the characters very compelling. Although the final answer wasn’t the biggest surprise, there were plenty of twists and turns along the way that made the story very engrossing. Of course, Imogen Church’s performance was outstanding.

70 GOOD chapters

only the last 2 chapters were slow and unneeded. The beginning and middle are so good!!!!

Amazing narration

Loved the story but the narrator was incredible, I could tell who each character was whether it was male or female on the Annunciation of words alone. It really helps bring you into the story and gets you drawn in so you want to finish the book faster. Small spoiler but I really appreciate that this wasn’t a partial love story and not everything was wrapped up with a bow at the end. It was a realistic ending where people don’t all live happily ever after at the end which I appreciated.

Great Suspense Story up in the Mountains!

Great listen! Makes you feel like your up in the mountains! Reminded me of Clue. Imogen Church is amazing!

Disappointment.

Based on the reviews, I thought there would be twists and a fun mystery. Instead, the villain was apparent from the beginning and I became bored by the emoting of the stock characters. I loved the setting of the story in an isolated ski chalet, but the plot was not original or unexpected.

Great Listen

I love everything I’ve read/listened to from Ruth Ware. I absolutely loved the character development and growth of Erin, definitely not disappointed.