Really enjoyed the style of this book, it was similar to the UK drama Luther which I really enjoyed.

This isn't my usual genre but in the last few years I've read more and more books of this genre. I was not disappointed, this book is gripping and I've always liked watched detective dramas on TV and have more recently gained a love of reading the detective style books too.

If you like a detective vs murdered style of book that's well written this is for you.

This book had me hooked from the start. Be warned it is incredibly dark and quite shocking how twisted somebody's mind could be completely enthralling.
I loved how the game was played out and the twists and traps in it making me think I knew how it was going to end or who it was going to be but ultimately kept me guessing to the end.
A fantastic book but not something I would ever want to experience for real!

Wow, what a captivating book that was to read once I got into it. A bit confusing initially until you managed to work the plot out but loved the various twists and turns the book took you until you'd finished reading it. Highly recommended!

An action packed thriller full of twists to keep you guessing, well constructed and a little different.
DI Norris and DS Rose are investigating the murder of a young women. Unbelievably it becomes apparent that she was part of a game that was enacted in real life. Not only that it appears the perpetrator has moved on to the next level - can they be stopped before more people are killed? With little to go on it becomes a race against time.

I had such a high hopes for this one, but unfortunately this book promises more it delivers.
The writing is a bit off and unnatural at times which made it hard for me to really engage with the plot and the characters. It's not like they're unlikable, they're fine enough, they're just very band.
The parts about Lucy Rose and her father, which I just assume was supposed to make us like her? sympathise with her? Make her character more deep and interesting? Idk... but this parts were unnecessary age made nothing for the plot. And you know what we do when something does nothing for the plot? WE KILL IT.
The intrigue itself was interesting at the beginning and I liked it up until like half of the book when it became painfully obvious who the killer is.

I loved this book, you could tell it was written by an experianced officer, loved the characters, the twists the way the story ended. A very good read

I really enjoyed this. Fast paced and really kept me guessing. Great characters with a few twists and a brilliant ending. Highly recommended.

Well, I tried; I really did, but 46% into this book I’m afraid I just had to give up. I recognise that I appear to be at odds with many reviewers, and - to be fair - there were some hints at the themes the book explored in the publisher’s jacket blurb. Perhaps I’m just getting too old for books with a heavy dose of seriously gratuitous and gory violence, but the explicit detail and scope of the violence and terror experienced by the victims in this bizarre murder mystery - for this reader at least - lent a grim soundtrack to what, in other respects, was a promising thriller.
I think the above comments cover most of the negative features; in fairness, I should acknowledge the author’s pacy writing style and the ability to enable the reader to identify with genuine three dimensional characters as the plot develops, although the seeming statutory requirement these days for all cops to have complex backstories is certainly present in full measure. So, it’s not all bad, by any means.
If my reservations don’t put you off, you are likely to enjoy a clever thriller, but if excessive and gratuitous violence is a turn off, consider yourself warned! Just a thought for the author - there is much to be said in hinting at the detail, rather than describing each gory injury.

Imagine that someone knows everything about you, your work, your routine, your friends, your family. Imagine that they invite you to play a game, if you refuse your family dies, and if you lose you die...
A good tale, a little too long winded in places, and too much detail in places. An entertaining read for a cold winters night.

Two young women are chained up, then released to replay a race game, with the result that one dies and one lives. DI Joel Norris and DS Lucy Rose are then drawn in to discover who the is the puppet master and what other games he has devised and why. The first half of the book was gripping, the second half lost a little pace for me as we began to discover what was going on in the killer's twisted mind. Joel and Rose are sympathetic characters, and although I hadn't read the first book, it was easy to follow their back stories.

Overall an exciting and gripping read, I'll certainly look out for more in this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Someone is playing a sick game, literally. A computer game has been transferred from screen to real life, with real people racing against each other and against death to save themselves and their loved ones. Detectives Joel Norris and Lucy Rose are tasked with catching the psychopathic killer before yet another casualty is found dead and someone else is too traumatised to talk to them.
Lethal Game is a very solid police procedural./suspense thriller. I found the investigation element of it authentic and convincing, full of inside knowledge about policing and full of credible detail. Only when I got to the author's bio at the end of the book did I learn that he used to be a police detective. I wasn't in the least surprised.
The plot comprises parallel developments in the investigation and the first-hand experiences of the victims; it is a skilfully handled., with visceral descriptions.
As reader, I found myself drawn into the lives of the detectives, particularly DS Rose. Her rocky, unstable relationships with her father were brilliantly conveyed - a highlight of the book.
Lethal Game is the second book in a series, but I didn't feel disadvantaged in any way reading it without having read the first one.
A really good read.

I am grateful to Avon Books UK for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it. The storyline grips from start to finish and has enough twists and turns to leave you feeling dizzy.

The villain of the piece is dark, devious and chilling, making for an unpredictable roller-coaster read. However, it also demonstrates very effectively how difficult something like this can be for our police forces.

I had not read a Charlie Gallagher book before, but now I am a huge fan!

Fast paced and tense it is the story of a strategic board game played out in real life. Full of twists and turns this book is a real page turner that kept me up late into the night so that I could finish it. Hope to read more books involving DI Joel Norris.

I didn't realise this was the second book in the series but not having read the first, I don't think that was a problem - this book stands alone well. It's a really interesting read with good characters and a clever storyline.. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would definitely go back and read the first in the series. Recommended.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow-what a ride-this This has to be one of the best books I have read all year. Fast paced full of suspense, scary, sad. Fabulous. Recommended Five Stars.

I really enjoyed this book and was hooked from the first chapter. The story is told from the point of view of both the victims, who have been forced into playing a board game for real and from the lead Detective DI Joel Norris.

Two women are forced by a psychopath into taking part in a race for their lives as part of a board game and they are followed by two men forced into the same situation. The victim’s families are threatened so that they don’t call the police and the killer seems to know a lot about their families ensuring they comply.

DI Joel Norris and DS Lucy Rose are assigned the case and together with analyst Eileen quickly realise they have a serial killer to track down but the killer always seems to be one step ahead. I expected the new Detective Chief Inspector, Jim Kemp to play more of a part in the story but I’m guessing he will be more involved in the next book

A fast-paced page turner with a good ending.

Oh my goodness, that was absolutely brilliant!! What a fantastic story!!!!
I wish there were more than 5 stars to give!!!
Extremely captivating, and quite scary too!!
Someone is playing a real 'Escape' game with real people, but not in a nice way at all!!!
So very real, and a very clever person who sets it all up!!
It scared the living daylights out of me, but I absolutely, thoroughly enjoyed it!!!!
Such a super way of writing, it certainly makes you think what people could be capable of!! Especially, if an author gets an idea in their head, and puts it in writing!!!!! Wow!!!!! Brilliant!!!!
Can't wait for the next one!!!!! That's if my heart can take it!!!!!!

Thank you to @Gloriouscharlie and @AvonBooksUK for this advanced copy of Lethal Game in return for an honest review.

Description 🔖

DI Joel Norris and DS Lucy Rose are assigned to investigate the murder of a young woman. She has been found in a phone box on a quiet country road. DI Norris and DS Rose aren’t in the least bit prepared for what is to follow.

This killer has decided to play a game of strategy and escape with real people, putting lives at stake. He has made the rules and has already decided how the game should end. He is now using DI Norris and DS Rose as pawns in his twisted game. Can they beat this killer and save the people chosen for the next round before more innocent lives are taken?

General Thoughts 🤔

I had no idea what this book was going to be about before I started reading it, I just knew that I would likely enjoy it given the fantastic reviews and publicity it was receiving. I was not wrong. This was such a good read and I was hooked from the very first page. I was awfully confused when I read the first couple of chapters and there is nothing that I like more than when a book catches me off guard and makes me work right from the get go.

I’ve done it before and I will no doubt do it again; I read this book not knowing that it was the second in a series. I am a nightmare for doing this. I appreciate a lot of people wouldn’t be bothered, but I love a good series and I like to follow the characters from the start. However it cannot be helped and I only have myself to blame. The good news is that Lethal Game can definitely be read standalone without any confusion and after having read it, I definitely want to go back and read the first.

Characters 👭👬👫

The two investigators; DI Norris and DS Rose were the main characters in the book and it was obvious to me that they had some kind of relationship problem during the first book. However I felt like I jumped in at a point where the two were trying to learn to work together successfully. It was a really interesting dynamic between the two of them.

I really liked DS Rose. She was strong minded to the point of being a little stubborn but determined to do her job and do it well. She had her own personal problems but I got the impression that she was keen to draw a very clear line between that and her work. I did like DI Norris too, however I wanted him to learn how to share the workload a little more and realise that he didn’t have to carry the whole investigation on his own shoulders.

Writing Style ✍️

I was a little blown away by the way this story was crafted and put together. Just when I thought I had it all sussed out and thought I’d be waiting for it to unravel, a curveball would fly in from nowhere and destroy everything that I thought to be true. I quickly learnt that this writer was not going to allow me to feel complacent and settled in for the rollercoaster.

With a storyline with as many twists and turns as this one, I was happy that the structure of the book was linear and simple to follow. The story was split into days and I loved that they weren’t short. Every time a new day started I was reminded of how much had happened within the previous day and how fast this case was moving.

Conclusion & Scoring 🎖️

After a short reading hiatus, Lethal Game was the perfect way to throw myself back into books. It had everything that I love about a thriller and kept me racing through each page looking for answers. I will definitely be going back to read the first book in this DI Joel Norris series in anticipation of a third being in the pipeline. I highly recommend this book and the good thing is, I’m late reviewing so you can already buy it for yourself!

I was drawn into this tale from the first page and the tension remained throughout. Running alongside this twisty plot which takes place over just a few days there is the interesting back story of DI Joel Norris and DS Lucy Rose and add to that their different attitudes as to how the case should proceed this is a fast-moving story. A very definite page turner and I will certainly search out and read the first story in this series.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Charlie Gallagher/Avon Books for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

I really enjoyed this book! My first outing with Charlie Gallagher, and this has definitely whetted my appetite with his books.
Great characters, who I supported from the start. Not reading the earlier book in the series did not hamper my enjoyment of this one, and it was easy to follow the background stories that I had missed.
The plot of the 'game' was excellent, and so unique! One of the things I love about thrillers is wondering where the authors get their plot ideas from, and this did give me the same thoughts.
There's not many thrillers that can hold my attention in the entirety of the novel, and this did falter a little, but not for long! Within a couple of chapters, the author grabbed me straight back into the story.
I can't wait to read more of Gallagher's work.

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