Books › 56 Days
56 Days
450 pages
A claustrophobic, ticking-clock thriller that turns the eerie isolation of a global lockdown into the ultimate locked-room mystery.
What it feels like
Reading this thriller feels like being trapped in a pressure cooker where the heat is slowly, deliberately turned up. The narrative thrives on a suffocating sense of claustrophobia, expertly weaponizing the eerie, quiet isolation of the early pandemic to create a modern locked-room mystery. As the dual timelines weave together, the initial spark of a new romance curdles into dread-soaked paranoia, making you question every motive and every shadow in the apartment. The prose is sharp and ruthlessly efficient, doling out secrets with clinical precision to keep the pages turning at a breakneck speed. It is a perfect match for readers who love twisty, high-stakes psychological suspense and the creeping realization that the most dangerous threat might just be the person sitting across the room.
- Mood
- claustrophobic
- dread-soaked
- paranoid
- isolated
- Tone
- ominous
- clinical
- suspenseful
- urgent
- Pace
- propulsive
- Themes
- pressure cooker of isolation · hidden identities · vulnerability of new romance · deception and secrets
- The writing
- Sharp, efficient, and tightly structured, using alternating timelines to meticulously dole out clues.
- The arc
- Moves from the tentative excitement of a new romance into a suffocating spiral of paranoia, ending in a sharp, satisfying shock.
- Who it's for
- Readers who devour twisty, locked-room psychological thrillers and appreciate the eerie, high-stakes tension of forced proximity.
Content notes
- pandemic anxiety
- murder
- decomposing body
- coercive control
About the book
No one knew they'd moved in together. Now one of them is dead. Could this be the perfect murder? 56 DAYS AGO Ciara and Oliver meet in a supermarket queue in Dublin the same week Covid-19 reaches Irish shores. 35 DAYS AGO When lockdown threatens to keep them apart, Oliver suggests that Ciara move in with him. She sees a unique opportunity for a new relationship to flourish without the pressure of scrutiny of family and friends. He sees it as an opportunity to hide who - and what - he really is. TODAY Detectives arrive at Oliver's apartment to discover a decomposing body inside. Will they be able to determine what really happened, or has lockdown provided someone with the opportunity to commit the perfect crime?
Description from Open Library.
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