One by One

Ruth Ware

Sep 2020 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

This instant New York Times bestseller and “claustrophobic spine-tingler” (People) from Ruth Ware follows a group of employees trapped 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: 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.

Ratings and reviews

And Then There Were None + The Guest List 10 current/former employees of a booming UK music app startup (for those of you from the States, think Silicon Valley yuppies) decide to take a holiday at a French chalet to make the biggest decision of their lives. When an avalanche hits, they and the two workers start to see what lies in the heart of (wo)men.. I enjoyed this book. It’s my first Ruth Ware (and won’t be my last). What would have made it a 5-star for me was structuring the book a bit differently so that it wasn’t obvious from before the halfway point “whodunit.” I don’t want to say much more than that for spoilers, but I think you’ll see when you get there. I did love the way she fleshed out the characters, and the way she opened each chapters. Buy this for yourself or someone looking for a no -so-cozy mystery. If you’re twisted, get it for someone about to go on their first ski trip.

The first 30% of the book was very slow and boring and made me contemplate DNFing, the middle and the ending were fine; although one can't help but to think the last 7 to 8 chapters were quite unnecessary. I really didn't care about any of the characters, which added to my boredom, also choosing 10 characters to make the plot look like "and then there were none" was good as a concept, but there were too many characters, I really couldn't differentiate between many of them. So, I guess 12 characters wre too much for the author to build their characteristics properly. In short, this book is not as good as the "turn of the key", but it was a good read. I found out who it was by the 40% mark, so it wasn't that shocking.

My favorite female author

About the author

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; and Zero Days. Visit her at RuthWare.com or follow her on Twitter @RuthWareWriter.