A dark roller-coaster of a crime novel, with a truly horrifying theme of treating people as real life pawns in a boardgame - leading inexorably to either a haunted life or a terrifying death for the victims of this twisted killer.

The story begins with two women racing against each other to save their lives knowing only one can win. An opening narrative that hooked me in immediately. When the police find the body and trace the surviving female they quickly realise it's a race against time to prevent further deaths taking place. Even more horrifying is when they realise the deaths are linked to the format of a game which means even more grisly deaths are on the cards. A brilliantly woven take that had me reading into the early hours. A definite winner

A horrific game is being played but who is the games master? A gruesome story of revenge and madness which had me guessing until the very end.

Great book, by an author I will read more of! Thrilling plot, great writing and brilliant characters. Highly recommend to others.

This was a good police procedural. There's plenty going on to keep you interested and reading on. The characters are believable and the story is well written.

I didn't realise when I requested this ARC that this was the second in a series about DI Joel Norris. I do not think you need to know that, but it might help give a better sense of understanding to some of the characters.

I'll be honest with you, I found the book pacey, but I wasn't wild about the storyline - a murderer pitting others against each other in a big human version of a very brutal boardgame. It just had a vibe I wasn't really buying into.

I'd definitely not be opposed to reading more from Charlie, as I think the writing style was great.

Thanks for this ARC!

This book pulled me in from the start and I was recommending it to a friend before I’d even finished it. The murders had an essence of the ‘Saw’ movies about them in terms of it being pitched as a game for the victims to play, but the investigation and gradual piecing together of motive and was brilliant with some twists and turns that I didn’t see coming. I hadn’t read the first book in this series but that didn’t hinder my enjoyment, and I bought The Friend immediately after finishing.

Lethal Game by Charlie Gallagher was another brilliant book by Charlie. This is the second book in the DI Joel Norris Series. I was gripped from the very first few pages. then, again I am with all his books, they are all very addictive! Charlie always has ways of bringing you into his books and you will hooked from the very beginning!. This latest book was full of twists and turns and very hard to put down and defiantly a great page turner

Another brilliant book I love this book!

I highly recommend this book and all of his book. They have all been great reads!

Big thank you to Netgalley and Avon Books for supplying me a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review

The second book in the Joel Norris series just grips you from the beginning and the tense pace increases
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Charlie Gallagher just gets better and better with more original fast twisting plots
Highly recommended

Congratulations! Your review for Lethal Game, captioned below,
has been published. Visit
<https://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=76067> to view your
published review.

Please share your review via Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest,
Instagram and other social media venues. Include the #FFreview
hashtag or @FreshFiction in your posts.

Lethal Game is a detective thriller telling of a plot to murder people as part of a dangerous reality game. I was intrigued by the premise and read some very positive reviews before I chose to read the book.

Initially I felt that the two main detectives didn’t really gel well and this affected my enjoyment at first. However, as the story progresses we get some of the background of the two characters and there’s some promising developments that would indicate an improved partnership. That being said, the plot didn’t live up to my expectations and I was tempted to give up at the half way mark. I persevered and am glad I did because the last third of the book is pacy, tense and action packed.

I’m not sure if I’d read another book by Charlie Gallagher but I believe the author is very popular.

My thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins for the complimentary digital copy.

A clever suspenseful novel full of twists that keep you engaged and wanting to find out more. The story gripped and intrigued me right from the first chapter. The plot builds, the suspense is tense and the ending is definitely not one you see coming.
I would definitely recommend this book to friends.

It was quite a suspenseful read!
This is the second book of the DI Joel series and my first book by Charlie Gallagher. I enjoyed the plot and writing which built the tension throughout the story.

DI Joel and DS Lucy start to investigate a brutal death of a woman and they discover her death seems to involve a million seller game. As the deadly game continues, they have to untangle the mystery and lies before more innocence gets murdered.

The story has multiple twists and surprises. I love crime stories written by the author's experience in the police force. I couldn't put it down.
I haven't read the first book, so I felt I'm lacking some characters' information, but I had no problem experiencing the characters' emotions.

I highly recommend this book. If you like police procedural thrillers, you don't want to miss this one!
I need to read the first one and I can't wait to read the sequel!!

Lethal game by Charlie Gallagher.
He knows your name. Where you live. The car you drive. If you don’t play, your family will die. If you lose, you will. When DI Joel Norris and DS Lucy Rose begin investigating the death of a young woman, murdered on a quiet country lane, they can’t imagine what lies ahead.
I really really enjoyed this book. I love Charlie books. Great story plot and characters. 5*.

I was sent a copy of this book for an honest review.

I love books of this type, and it didn’t disappoint! Great story, well written and I thought the characters were all believable. It was definitely very gripping and I wanted to get back to it all the time. Thanks.

#Netgalley #LethalGame

A body is found, a phone call has been made and a game is being played.

It is down to DI Joel Norris and DS Lucy Rose to find out what is going on. But this game has rules and they are changing, and the police force needs to keep up.

Such a unique intense narrative by Gallagher; I was caught out by the twist and bluff and I loved every minute!

The characters had background and depth but not too much to interfere with the main storyline, but enough for us to connect with the characters.

Bits of the first novel are mentioned in this however, not enough to put you off.

It's another 5 stars from me. This is part of a series and I can't wait to go back and read the first and to wait for the next. If you're into gripping crime fiction this novel is definitely for you.

If you like the “Saw” franchise, this book is for you! Surprisingly imaginative and original, this thriller keeps you wondering, guessing and then baffled. I was genuinely surprised at the carefully crafted plot and enjoyed the story as much as a good movie. Definitely recommend!

4.5 stars

A board game comes horrifically to life as 2 women are pitched against each other in a race for survival. Only one can escape but who are they and why were they chosen?

This fantastic opening sets the pace and keeps you hooked throughout the novel. The tension is maintained throughout as DI Joel Norris and DS Lucy Rose battle to understand the case before there are other victims. Nice touches are added by the addition of Eileen, the be-slippered mastermind and the underused DCI Jim Kemp.

This has the makings of a series with great appeal and not having read the opening book (this is #2) didn’t impact on my enjoyment. The author is a former policeman and it shows, with a feeling of authenticity and knowledge of procedure that’s often lacking in detective novels.

Overall, a highly recommended read.

BUT - PLEASE - will someone edit more thoroughly. There are so many grammatical mistakes and it really spoilt my enjoyment at times. There seems to be a particular problem with the verb to sit with everyone ’sat’, regardless of the actual tense being used. This is just about excusable if it’s dialogue and can be chalked up to local accents but not otherwise.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Avon for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This started off quite well but by about halfway I started to get a bit bored I'm afraid. A psychotic killer, incompetent police and characters I couldn't really care about.
I'm sure that it will be popular but it just wasnt for me.

Well I certainly enjoyed reading this book! What a great plot beginning with two people forced into playing a game where they have to be the first to reach a phone box. Lots of action, suspense and surprises along the way, what's not to love!