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Table of Contents
About The Book
A weekend away deep in the English countryside takes a sinister turn in this suspenseful and compulsive debut psychological thriller.
Sometimes the only thing to fear...is yourself.
Leonora (Lee to some, Nora to others) is a reclusive writer, but when an old friend unexpectedly invites her to a weekend away in an eerie glass house, she reluctantly agrees to make the trip. But a haunting realization creeps in to the party: they are not alone in the woods.
Forty-eight hours later, Nora wakes up in a hospital bed with the knowledge that someone is dead. Wondering not “what happened?” but “what have I done?” she tries to piece together the events of the past weekend. In order to uncover secrets and reveal motives, Nora must revisit parts of herself that she’d rather leave buried where they belong: in the past.
In the vein of The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl, this gripping thriller will have readers on the edge of their seats until the very last page.
Sometimes the only thing to fear...is yourself.
Leonora (Lee to some, Nora to others) is a reclusive writer, but when an old friend unexpectedly invites her to a weekend away in an eerie glass house, she reluctantly agrees to make the trip. But a haunting realization creeps in to the party: they are not alone in the woods.
Forty-eight hours later, Nora wakes up in a hospital bed with the knowledge that someone is dead. Wondering not “what happened?” but “what have I done?” she tries to piece together the events of the past weekend. In order to uncover secrets and reveal motives, Nora must revisit parts of herself that she’d rather leave buried where they belong: in the past.
In the vein of The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl, this gripping thriller will have readers on the edge of their seats until the very last page.
Excerpt
In a Dark, Dark Wood
chapter 1
It hurts. Everything hurts. The light in my eyes, the pain in my head. There’s a stench of blood in my nostrils, and my hands are sticky with it.
“Leonora?”
The voice comes dim through a fog of pain. I try to shake my head; my lips won’t form the word.
“Leonora, you’re safe—you’re at the hospital. We’re taking you to have a scan.”
It’s a woman, speaking clearly and loudly. Her voice hurts.
“Is there anyone we should be calling?”
I try again to shake my head.
“Don’t move your head,” she says. “You’ve had a head injury.”
“Nora,” I whisper.
“You want us to call Nora? Who’s Nora?”
“Me . . . my name.”
“All right, Nora. Just try to relax. This won’t hurt.”
But it does. Everything hurts.
What has happened?
What have I done?
chapter 1
It hurts. Everything hurts. The light in my eyes, the pain in my head. There’s a stench of blood in my nostrils, and my hands are sticky with it.
“Leonora?”
The voice comes dim through a fog of pain. I try to shake my head; my lips won’t form the word.
“Leonora, you’re safe—you’re at the hospital. We’re taking you to have a scan.”
It’s a woman, speaking clearly and loudly. Her voice hurts.
“Is there anyone we should be calling?”
I try again to shake my head.
“Don’t move your head,” she says. “You’ve had a head injury.”
“Nora,” I whisper.
“You want us to call Nora? Who’s Nora?”
“Me . . . my name.”
“All right, Nora. Just try to relax. This won’t hurt.”
But it does. Everything hurts.
What has happened?
What have I done?
About The Author
© Gemma Day Photography
Ruth Ware worked as a waitress, a bookseller, a teacher of English as a foreign language, and a press officer before settling down as a full-time writer. She now lives with her family in Sussex, on the south coast of England. She is the #1 New York Times and Globe and Mail (Toronto) bestselling author of In a Dark, Dark Wood; The Woman in Cabin 10; The Lying Game; The Death of Mrs. Westaway; The Turn of the Key; One by One; The It Girl; Zero Days; and One Perfect Couple. Visit her at RuthWare.com or follow her on socials @RuthWareWriter.
Product Details
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster (July 12, 2016)
- Length: 352 pages
- ISBN13: 9781501151750
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Raves and Reviews
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY, AND LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER
SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE
An Amazon “Best Book of the Month” Pick • An Entertainment Weekly Top Ten Summer Read • A Buzzfeed “31 Perfect Books to Get Excited About This Summer” Pick • A Publishers Weekly “Top Ten Mysteries and Thrillers” Pick • A Bookreporter Summer Reading Pick • A New York Post “Best Novels to Read This Summer” Pick • A Shelf Awareness “Book Expo America 2015 Buzz Book” Pick
“Prepare to be scared . . . Really scared! When I read this page-turning book about a bachelorette party gone wrong, I almost bit all my fingernails off!”
– Reese Witherspoon
“Who pulls a gun at a bachelorette party? The answers are unveiled with Gillian Flynn–style trickery.”
– O, The Oprah Magazine
“Reese Witherspoon’s making it into a movie, so read the book now. Before bed at your own risk.”
– theSkimm
“Just try to guess how sinister this plot can get (hint: VERY).”
– Marie Claire
“[It] packs a noirish punch that would make the Queen of Crime herself proud.”
– Bustle
“Ware hews [close] to the new genre of twisty-mystery women’s books.”
– Vulture
“Ruth Ware has written an exciting and amazing book that never stops circling the reader and clapping its cold hands over her eyes.”
– Peter Straub, New York Times bestselling author
“The pulse-quickening plot will keep you up until the small hours.”
– Good Housekeeping, UK
“Read it on a dark and stormy night—with all the lights on.”
– Kirkus Reviews
“An enchantingly unsettling thriller with mysterious characters and a classically spooky setting.”
– Shelf Awareness
“[It] will appeal to fans of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl and Paula Hawkins’s The Girl on the Train.”
– Publishers Weekly
“You’ll find it almost impossible to put this twisting, electrifying debut down . . . [The] foggy atmosphere and chilling revelations will leave you breathless.”
– Entertainment Weekly
“A sinister mood lurks in [In a Dark, Dark Wood].”
– ELLE, UK
“Ware writes with verve and energy, building up the suspense and keeping the pages flying.”
– Library Journal
“Ware’s debut novel sets the stage for her to become a household name . . . Engaging, suspenseful and mysterious.”
– RT Book Reviews
“Haunting.”
– styleboston
“WARNING: This book is hot. Do not pick it up late at night or if you are in a dark, dark wood . . . Ruth Ware has a gift. This British author’s first foray into fiction is a hit . . . it delivers a punch and keeps you guessing—an ideal August psychodrama that reminds us why mysteries remain such fun—except at night.”
– New York Journal of Books
“I raced through this, totally unable to put it down . . . Dark, smart, and compulsive.”
– Nicci Cloke, author of Lay Me Down
“So gripping. So glad my hen days are behind me. It’s going to be huge.”
– Tamar Cohen, author of Dying for Christmas and The Broken
“Likely to be the next Gone Girl.”
– Surrounded by Books
“If the premise might be the sort that Agatha Christie would have toyed with had she been a twenty-first-century graduate, Ware’s analysis of the power games some women revel in—and the toxicity in the undertow of some female friendships—is more reminiscent of Sophie Hannah, Christobel Kent, or even Gillian Flynn and Harriet Lane.”
– Independent
“The best thing about In A Dark, Dark Wood is the eerie atmosphere it creates for this ill-fated weekend, never overwrought, just ominous enough, the glass house where the guests are trapped ‘dark and silent, blending into the trees, almost invisible.’”
– USAToday.com
Awards and Honors
- Paul's Pick
- Shoppers Drug Mart Book Lover's Pick of the Month
Resources and Downloads
High Resolution Images
- Book Cover Image (jpg): In a Dark, Dark Wood eBook 9781501151750
- Author Photo (jpg): Ruth Ware © Gemma Day Photography(0.1 MB)
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