One by One

By Ruth Ware

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Release date: Sep 8, 2020
• ISBN: 9781501192388

Ruth Ware

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.

Reviews for One by One

[ladyoflorien_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Quick, fun read with lots of twists and perfect reading for the holiday season.

[silversurfer_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Very disappointed. Not up to her previous novels.Skip this one. Read her other great books.

[bookworm12_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I’ve loved some of Ware’s other books, but this one was a miss for me. Hipster start-up execs are trapped in a ski chalet when an avalanche hits. They start dying. You would expect to not be able to put this down, but I found myself getting bored & rolling my eyes. The plot wasn’t believable and it always felt like it was trying too hard. I was never worried about any of the characters, which is definitely missing the boat when it comes to a book like this.“I am forced to remind myself of what Danny was trying to get at - these people are strangers to us. Whatever of intimacy this situation has created, it’s illusory.”

[rebreitz · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Reminded me why I hate mysteries. So boring and repetitive. Why this book is a bestseller is a mystery!

[karenodden · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A contemporary take on the Agatha Christie classic AND THEN THERE WERE NONE (1939) in which eight people arrive on a desert island and are met by the butler and housekeeper, after which they are murdered one by one. In Ware's version, ten people on a company retreat arrive at a luxurious ski chalet in the French alps and are met by the cook and housekeeper; shortly afterward an avalanche cuts off all communication, rendering the place a virtual island. One by one, the guests disappear and/or die. Like Ware's other books, this hits its target of being a quick, easy-to-read thriller. I must confess, I guessed the killer about half-way through, partly because the story is told in chapters with alternating narrators. The fact that the company is a tech startup aimed at connecting people through music was a nice touch, when the murders depend upon people becoming separated.

[nyiper · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I don't ski so I could happily absorb all the skiing details with belief! Another GREAT book by Ruth Ware! I have only one book of hers left that I missed so I hope she is just writing constantly so there will be more soon!!

[sensory-376444 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very quick read. Just the kind of mystery I like with the right amount of creepiness, corporate intrigue and setting. The one thing I didn't like was some that some of the descriptions were hard to follow, especially if one isn't a skier. Still a good quick read.

[amkitty-511462 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None meets The Shining meets Catwoman. Only a lot lighter with fewer insights and a gay guy. It was an okay read - light, fast. Unfortunately, it was predictable with characters who sometimes behave like intelligent young adults and sometimes like ridiculously clueless children. It brushes against the social issue of privilege but shies away from making any serious statement about a non-existent construct of malcontents. Summer beach reading, but not much more.

[rmarcin-630843 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Cleverly crafted thriller in the genre of Agatha Christie’s masterpiece “And Then There Were None”. In this novel members of an Internet start up company are on a retreat in the Alps to discuss the future of their company. People start dying, an avalanche strands them, and everyone is a suspect.I felt it was obvious who the killer was, but there were plenty of red herrings to throw you off track. I also wasn’t completely sure of their motive, but did have some idea. There are a very tense few chapters at the end where you feel like you are the person being chased. I enjoyed how Ruth Ware ratcheted up the tension in the final chapters. I thought the book was a little long, but I definitely enjoyed it. Thanks to Edelweiss+ for the ARC. I will be recommending this book!#OneByOne #RuthWare #Edelweiss

[amyghilton · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

After Turn of the Key, this was a little disappointing. It was a little too similar to In a Dark Dark Wood in characters, setting, and plot. Very much like Agatha Christie as well, which isn't always a bad thing. It was also very predictable, but still a good story, especially if this is the first Ruth Ware someone reads.

[sbenne3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A good thriller . . . somewhat predictable about half way in and a few plot holes, but engaging and an overall good read - especially if you just need an escape!

[ethel55_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I finished this a bit ago and have had time to think it through. I can't decide if it was purposeful that I knew the perpetrator so quickly, or I just read a lot of mysteries. This didn't impede my enjoyment of this twisty tale told in alternating chapters by Erin, a host at the chalet and Liz, one of the guests. With a nod to Agatha Christie, this group of co-workers wind up being completely isolated at a remote chalet due to an avalanche. I did wonder how the crime may have still gone forward without the avalanche.

[zhoud2005 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

pretty good

[japaul22 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really needed something light and compulsive to read, and I've been reaching for Ruth Ware when that's my mood. [One by One] is her take on [[Agatha Christie]]'s [And Then there were None]. A business group with a decision to make about agreeing to a buyout for their popular music app arrives in the Alps on a skiing trip. The 8 of them and the two chalet caretakers get snowed in after an avalanche and there are murders, missing people, and lots of secrets. It was lots of fun and definitely fit what I was looking for.

[grandmacootie · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another chilling, exceptional story by Ruth Ware. Keeps you guessing. You think you've figured it out, then there's another twist and you change your mind. But ultimately it doesn't matter if you figure it out before the end or not, because just taking the ride is fantastic.

[opheliedepoortere · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

So I really loved the first 3 quarters of the book. I had my murder suspect, albeit you could argue it was pretty obvious, but I was having fun adding all the pieces together.However, once it was established in the story who done it, it got a little bit boring. The moment when I thougt the real suspense was coming, was when it all kind of got 'uninteresting'. It defenitily should not have dragged on for 100 pages.I did however love the story up until that point, and I was feeling a 4 star fibe, but it was not meant to be. 3,5 is where I land.

[charlie68_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A bunch of quirky character gather for a business retreat in the French Alps. Disaster strikes and they are trapped on the mountainside and there's a murderer. Told from the perspective of two narrators it manages to keep the suspense increasing nicely. One conceit in the story, withholding information.

[katehonig · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is my first Ruth Ware book, but it will not be my last. This book was fast paced and thrilling. I enjoy a Locked Room mystery, and the fact that this was set in a French Ski Chalet after an avalanche made it that much more tense.

The chalet has been rented out for the week by a music/networking app company called Snoop, and from the moment everyone shows up on the first day tempers flare and friendships are tested.

[juju2cat · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I loved the suspense, especially toward the end where it went from LIZ to ERIN back and forth. That worked really well. Good book!

[Sashurna Caesar · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

(2.5)

You can honestly just look at the chapters and get a gist of who the killer is. I knew from the beginning, I kept reading because I thought there would be a plot twists and I’d be proven wrong (I would’ve loved that). I also kept reading because I wanted to know who was next. This was anticlimactic an okay read.

[maggieflo_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Pretty good murder mystery that takes place in a rental chalet in the French Alps.Two chalet employees, Erin the housekeeper and Danny the chef are waiting the arrival of guests for a week long stay.The 8 guests arrive and they are all employees of a company called Snoop which is music app. It allows members to check what music is being played at this time by celebrities and others. Snoop employees are an assortment of big egos, loners, misfits etc. they are there for a week of meetings and skiing.Lots of snow, some skiing, personality clashes and an avalanche that isolates the chalet from the village, the electricity goes out and then the murders start….Took me a while to figure out the killer.

[moosenoose · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

“Behind him is a girl with fluffy yellow hair that cannot possibly be her real shade. It’s the colour of buttercups and the texture of dandelion fluff”A fast read with easy and short chapters, but not particularly gripping or engaging. There were a lot of characters to get to know, with very little character development. There were no big surprises in respect of the plot or outcome and slightly too many skiing references for my liking. I guess I just can’t stand reading about arrogant, entitled pricks.

[mookie86 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One of Ruth Ware’s better works...makes for a good winter read.

[jthierer_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One by One is a clearly Agatha Christie inspired thriller that tells the story of a corporate retreat gone horribly wrong. Told in the dual POV of Liz, a former employee of the central tech company being pressured to cast a deciding vote on whether the company should accept a buyout, and Erin, the ski resort employee with some trauma in her past, One by One introduces us to a cast of tech bros (yes, even the women are kind of bro-y), one of whom is a murderer. While this is clearly nowhere near the quality of a Christie original, I really enjoyed the story. The suspects felt realistic to me (I can literally picture some of them) and the solution felt surprising enough without being completely out of the blue. Definitely worth a read.

[mojomomma_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Erin and Danny are the host and cook of a ski chalet in the Alps. A corporate group from Snoop, a music app company, books their chalet for a retreat and to discuss a buy-out proposal. Included with the group is Liz, who hasn't worked at Snoop for some time, but who is a shareholder. Then people start to disappear and suffer fatal accidents. An avalanche isolates the chalet, so someone is the group is clearly responsible, but who? Chapters are told from Erin's and Liz's point of view.

[brangwinn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I’ve read so many mysteries that you’d think I could learn no more, but until I read the previews of this book, I had no idea of what a “locked door mystery” was. Its just what it says, the mystery takes place in a secluded place with a finite number of participates. This one taking place in a French Alps chalet during a blizzard with no way to get in or out limits the number of suspects. A tech company that has developed a wildly popular music app has come to spend a secluded week while they discuss what the future holds as they seek to issue an IPO. Two different ways forward have developed and each of the ideas has strong supporters and opponents. Being told from two different viewpoints, only heightens the widening of the cracks that start to appear. Ruth Ware up to the task of keeping readers confused up to the end in a very believable story.