Cork author's crime novel to be made into TV series by Amazon
Catherine Ryan Howard's pandemic novel is being adapted for TV. Picture: BrĂd O'Donovan
Cork author Catherine Ryan Howard's novel 56 days is to be made into a TV series by Amazon Studios.
The best-selling novel will be adapted for TV by Lisa Zwerling (ER, When We Rise) and Karyn Usher (Bones, Prison Break) with James Wan’s Atomic Monster Productions producing along with Amazon.
Ryan Howard told the the news was "exciting and surreal".
"It’s very hard to believe that the novel I thought was going to be my biggest career mistake has led me here. It’s all very exciting and surreal and my guilt at having had quite a good 2020, actually, is obviously worse than ever!"
The psychological thriller, which Ryan Howard wrote during successive lockdowns in 2020, tells the story of an intense romance between two young professionals who start dating the same week covid-19 reaches Irish shores.
When lockdown threatens to keep them apart, the couple decide to move in together... but 56 days after that first meeting, gardaĂ arrive at Oliver's apartment to discover a decomposing body inside.
The novel was named An Post's Crime Fiction Book of the Year for 2021, and was also given A Book of the Year accolade by the New York Times that same year.
Ryan Howard, who grew up in Grange, County Cork, will co-executive produce on the project.
Reacting to the news on Twitter, the author said it was "absolutely no contest for the most surreal Wednesday afternoon of my life".
Her latest novel, The Trap, is available for pre-order now.
