Picture yourself as a member of a thriving tech startup, venturing to the French Alps for a luxury winter getaway in a posh chateau with your Type-A colleagues. Upon your arrival, tensions emerge, arguments erupt, and the fate of the company hinges on the decision-making power of a few self-serving members of the group. Still, these issues pale in comparison to what comes next: a deadly avalanche cuts the chateau off from the rest of the world, and a murderer begins eliminating members of the group one by one…
Alas, it is the time of year for the esteemed winter thriller. One by One falls into this category with its snowy setting and “survival on the ski slopes” concept. I settled on my living room sofa next to a pine-scented candle and prepared to join the eight unlucky protagonists (plus the two chateau staff members) in a fight for survival against both a visible threat (a natural disaster) and an menacing, invisible threat (a cold-blooded killer).
Fire and Ice
I ought to begin with the aspects of the book I found exciting and immersive. Ruth Ware applies the ‘locked room’ mystery—a plot originating with the late author Agatha Christie, in which an elusive murderer kills under mysterious and seemingly impossible circumstances — to a contemporary setting, with members of a toxic tech team at the center. The employees of this startup, who have names such as ‘Tiger’ and ‘Topher’ and personalities ranging from ‘blustering lawyer’ to ‘yoga-obsessed marketer,’ are the types of snobbish characters whom readers love to hate. Watching their petty disagreements play out within the walls of the luxury chateau is highly entertaining, particularly given the looming possibility of a company buyout that gives certain characters more motive to murder than others. When the bodies turn up and tempers flare in the ice-covered chateau, readers are left wondering which of these many corrupt individuals has the exact motive and opportunity to kill off their colleagues.
The “Downstairs”
In keeping with the ‘upstairs/downstairs’ dichotomy presented in classic television shows like Downton Abbey, part of the book is presented through the point of view of the chateau’s housekeeper, Erin. Together with her coworker, chef Danny, Erin offers a level-headed and relatively objective take on the disturbing events unfolding inside and outside the chateau. Erin and Danny are easy to support as they team up to dig into the tech company’s secrets and keep the killer from striking again.
Plot & Character Development: A Frozen Wasteland
While the intriguing setting and brutal workplace politics make One by One unique relative to other thrillers, I was ultimately disappointed with several aspects of the story. The two narrators (Erin, mentioned above, and Liz, the disgruntled former employee who is invited on the trip as a shareholder of the company), have traumatic pasts that are either too cookie cutter to be interesting or not fleshed out enough to be a believable part of the character’s backstory. I also feel strongly that if a thriller author is going to portray characters as behaving in ways that are inconsistent with their usual personalities under duress, this needs to be executed with utmost precision so that the characters’ suffering is believable. I was not satisfied with the behavioral changes of the tech startup employees, many of whom demonstrated a level of empathy and survivalism that did not seem to reflect their personalities prior to the avalanche catastrophe at all.
Additionally, the plot continued to limp along for several pages after the book’s climax, lingering on a secret about one of the characters that had previously been disclosed and did not need to be revisited. The tension leading up to the killer’s official unmasking was quite interesting to follow, and I did not feel it was necessary for the author to continue adding extraneous details afterwards.
Snowed In? Try It Out
I opine that One by One did not quite meet my expectations for a spine-tingling, pulse-pounding thriller, but its premise is somewhat unique and it contains enough action to satiate anyone looking to solve a mystery on a snowy evening. I do feel inclined to try Ruth Ware’s other novels this winter, many of which are held in very high regard by the literary community.
