One by One

De: Ruth Ware

Narrado por: Imogen Church

From Ruth Ware, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of In a Dark, Dark Wood, The Woman in Cabin 10, The Lying Game, The Death of Mrs. Westaway, and The Turn of the Key, comes her highly anticipated sixth novel.

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.

A locked room full of idiots

Ruth Ware seems to be hit or miss for a lot of people. This one is a miss.

Just couldn't suspend the disbelief. Too many things happen that are simply not believable, even for a thriller.

If you were stuck in a chalet and members of your group were gradually being murdered, would you really be discussing the deaths and pointing fingers so flippantly? Yet, when characters know key pieces of information, they withhold these secrets resulting in even more chaos and deaths.

The police don't arrive right away (for reasons that are later explained). The group struggles to contact the police from the chalet. But why is this left completely on the group's shoulders? Apparently the company who owns the chalet, which is pretty much cut off from the world, has no contingency plan for emergencies?

"Kate is the area rep, and is in charge of coordinating all the bookings and logistics for all six of the company’s chalets. She likes us to greet the clients by their names right from day one."

Couldn't Kate help to get things moving on that rescue if she cares about the clients so much? Especially when she can't get through to the employees.

Because there is no cell service... except sometimes there is. With no power they have no way to charge their phones - except when they FORGET about one working charger and one phone with juice.

The narration wasn't bad. But the two female perspectives sounded too similar at times.

Ware tries to pull out some character growth out at the end, but it feels like a last-ditch attempt to add some depth to the story. This could have been a quite creepy and tension-filled read, but it misses the mark.