Remember when we thought wiping down cereal boxes with Clorox was going to save us?
I know, I know. For most people, March 2020 is a trauma block they don't want to revisit. But for me? I was in the ER, double-masked, watching the world lose its mind while I tried to keep people breathing. So when I saw a thriller set specifically during the strict Irish lockdown, I thought, "This is either going to be cathartic or a huge mistake."
Turns out, it was exactly what I needed on my drive home.
Catherine Ryan Howard captures that specific, weird anxiety of the early pandemic perfectly. The "stay within 2km of your home" rule. The fear of coughing in public. Ciara and Oliver decide to move in together just to skirt the lockdown rules after dating for like... five minutes. (Bad idea. Terrible idea. My mom would've had a heart attack just hearing the plan.)
About That Irish Accent
I saw a bunch of reviews complaining that Alana Kerr Collins was hard to understand. That her Irish accent was too thick.
Seriously?
She's Irish. The characters are Irish. The book is set in Dublin. If you need every narrator to sound like a Midwestern news anchor, this isn't for you. But honestly, as someone who spends twelve hours a night deciphering patient histories through oxygen masks and tears, I thought she was fantastic.
She nails the cadence of the banter. There's this dry, nervous energy in Ciara's voice that felt so real it made my skin itch. And Oliver—she gives him this calm, almost flat affect that screams "red flag" way before the text actually confirms it. I didn't have to slow it down, but if you aren't used to the lilt, maybe bump it down to 0.9x speed. Just don't skip it because of the accent. It adds so much flavor.
When The Timeline Gets Messy
Here's the thing about audiobooks with non-linear timelines: they demand your attention. This book jumps around—"56 Days Ago," "35 Days Ago," "Today."
Most of the time, I was fine. But there were a couple of moments on the I-10 where I had to merge across four lanes of traffic (Phoenix drivers, I swear), and when I tuned back in, I wasn't sure if Oliver was dead or just making coffee.
If you're the type to listen while doing something brain-heavy—like charting or calculating drip rates—you might get lost. This is a "highway driving" book, not a "complex task" book. The structure is clever, peeling back layers of the lie like an onion, but you have to be listening.
Who's Going to Love This (And Who Should Skip)
If you can stomach the COVID flashbacks and you like slow-burn psychological thrillers where everyone's hiding something, this one's for you. Skip it if you need constant action or if the pandemic is still too raw—this book lives in that anxiety.
Clocking Out
Is it the most fast-paced thriller I've ever heard? No. It's a slow burn. It's claustrophobic. It's mostly two people in an apartment lying to each other while the world shuts down outside.
But the ending? I actually yelled at my dashboard. I had the same reaction to In the Blood: A Thriller—another slow burn that builds to a gut-punch you don't see coming.
Carlos asked me why I looked so intense when I walked in the door this morning. I told him, "At least we didn't move in together after knowing each other for a week during a plague." He just handed me my coffee and backed away slowly.
If you can handle the COVID flashbacks, this is a solid, creepy ride. Night shift approved.
