This book is not like any other book I have read! The Holbeck family is disfuction with a capital DIS! This book gripped me and I could not stop reading!

It starts off at the end with our main character coming to on the floor in an entryway. And then we go back to the "beginning" to learn how she got there.

At first the book seems sweet. We meet Harriet AKA "Harry", a British author who has moved to New York to be with her boyfriend, Edward Holbeck - eldest son of a rich and prominent NY family. When he proposes, she is shocked at first then happy. It's what she's always dreamed of. Or is it?

She meets his family and they are bizarre! Especially his dad, Robert, who Edward does not always see eye to eye with. Robert slips Harry a tape supposedly of a thriller he's writing. But once she begins to listen, she thinks rather than being fiction it may be a confession. And she starts to investigate.

The Holbecks engage in odd traditions of games at the holidays, including one very bizaare Christmas game called "Krampusnacht" that really has to be read to be believed. (This part of the book was incredibly weird, but still had me riveted.)

Harry digs deeper and learns more Holbeck family secrets reveal themselves. But ... Harry has a secret of her own! The more she unravels, the deeper she gets and she has to decide if she's willing for her own secret to come out if she reveals theirs.

One more crazy Christmas Eve game takes some crazy turns, there are some intense scenes and twists, and things I never saw coming. And that ending had me like WHAT?!?!

I was totally sucked into this out there family and bizarre thriller. It was like nothing I've ever read before!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

DAMN. That was a helluva thriller — someone needs to make it into a movie ASAP. Hands down, one of the best thrillers I’ve read in a long time. I mean, it’s literally 1am because once I (finally, given I haven’t had much time recently to read) hit the halfway point in this book earlier in the night, I literally could NOT stop reading. That ending! The twist! I was truly at a loss the entire book because most of my theories just kept not making sense — I had a feeling every so often and then I’d shake it off because it didn’t seem right. Only little portions of my theories were correct, but I never saw that twist coming. And man, the last 25% of the book was just purely great storytelling and writing. So intricate, descriptive, and REALLY dark. I could vividly imagine everything I was reading and I’m not gonna lie, I was definitely freaked out. Especially during the well scene (IYKYK, but it’s not a spoiler otherwise)!! Big “Gone Girl” vibes with this book for sure! All of it — so good!!! One of my favorite books of 2022, definitely.

Thank you to Random House-Ballantine and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. So glad I was able to get this one early! Can’t wait to read more from Catherine Steadman!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for advance copy. This book really did not do it for me. Unlikable characters and way too many plot holes. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this one.

This book was very entertaining! I have to say that I did enjoy reading it. At the end, I did feel that it was a little too unrealistic and over the top. Nonetheless, enjoyed it!

I listened to The Family Game on a recent short road trip with my family. It was certainly a fun one to listen with a group, with all its bizarre twists! I also LOVE when audiobooks are read by the author. It adds such a layer to the story that ensures I'm hearing it exactly as the author intended, and it makes it all the more special. Catherine Steadman is well suited to this task, too, with her background as an actress.

This tale of an eccentric wealthy family was unlike anything else I've read recently, and I was hooked by this family's bizarre traditions. At first I didn't understand why Harriet was so put off by Krampusnacht--it's a well-known German tradition, so her reaction before attending seemed rather over the top to me. However, it all made sense when she arrived! That scene set the atmosphere perfectly for me, and drove home how eccentric this family was.

And the family games just got more bizarre from there, ending in an extremely grisly Christmas Eve!

I really enjoyed this unique story, and after being disappointed by The Disappearing Act, it has renewed my love for Catherine Steadman's thrillers. This is the perfect Christmas thriller, for when you get sick of back-to-back Christmas romances!

"From the New York Times bestselling author of Something in the Water, Mr. Nobody, and The Disappearing Act....

THE RULES
1. Listen carefully
2. Do your research
3. Trust no one
4. Run for your life

Harriet Reed, a novelist on the brink of literary stardom, is newly engaged to Edward Holbeck, the heir of an extremely powerful family. And even though Edward has long tried to severe ties with them, news of the couple's marital bliss has the Holbecks inching back into their lives.

As Harriet is drawn into their lavish world, the family seems perfectly welcoming. So when Edward's father, Robert, hands Harriet a tape of a book he's been working on, she is desperate to listen.

But as she presses play, it's clear that this isn’t just a novel. It’s a confession.

A confession to a grisly crime. A murder. And, suddenly, the game is in motion.

Feeling isolated and confused, Harriet must work out if this is part of a plan to test her loyalty. Or something far darker. What is it that Robert sees in her? Why give her the power to destroy everything?

This might be a game to the Holbeck family - but losing might still prove deadly.

READY OR NOT, HERE THEY COME..."

A dangerous new family is a delicious trope I will never get enough of.

I had a fun time with this! I thought that the characters were really well realized, and the pacing of the story was equally as engaging. I don't often find myself super engaged with new thrillers that come out, because a lot of them recycle the same tropes and emotions over and over, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this! I highly recommend to all my thriller lovers!

The family game is being promoted on a couple of the blogs that I follow. Harry is about to get married to Edward. In comes Edward's family who he had been shielding her from. Harry gets a cassette and down the rabbit hole we go.

Harry was so darn naïve at times that it became frustrating!!! I love the cat and mouse game and the twist, while expected was still satisfying.

Family Games are a timeless tradition for the wealthy Holbeck family. Now engaged to Edward Holbeck, Harriet wants to be welcomed into the glamorous world of her future family…BUT she wasn’t expecting a game of survival. Then again, she’s been hiding a detrimental secret of her own. At their first meeting, Robert (the patriarch of the eminent family) slips Harriet a cassette tape, revealing a shocking confession that sets the inevitable game in motion.

I’m just going to call this a SAVAGE THRILLER 👏🏽 that had me on the edge of my seat. The Holbecks are NOT the family to F with! Their sinister holiday games were downright frightening but Harriet proved she came to PLAY. I can’t say I’d pass their tests. I definitely googled images of Krampusnacht and HOLY HELL, it’s creepy! Little Billy, I’d pee my pants too. 😳🫣

The cassette tapes were shocking and I was trying to connect the dots along with Harriet like her life depended on it, because IT DID. Towards the end, I started to predict the twist but it didn’t take away from the plot; I was fully invested! It was fresh and unique and I highly recommend it!

Read if you loved the movie Ready or Not.

Rating: 4.5 ⭐️

Thank you @netgalley @ballantinebooks for my #gifted advanced copy!

Catherine Steadman has done it again! I loved her last book The Disappearing Act, so I was excited to get the advance copy of The Family Game. She writes in such a compelling way which makes me want to keep reading. This novel is about a British mystery author (Harry) who is newly engaged to a thirty-something American man (Edward) who is part of a storied, wealthy family akin to the Carnegies or Rockefellers. Though they have been together for about a year, Harry has never met her fiance's family. She is introduced to them along with ominous games put forth by the family and the patriarch, Edward's father. He gives her a tape filled with terrifying confessions. I found the story so intriguing and I wanted to know what would happen. I started to put the pieces together, but some parts left me dumbfounded. It starts off a little slow, but the ending is action-packed. I listened to the audiobook, which was perfectly narrated by the author.

Thank you Random House / Ballantine Books /PRH Audio and NetGalley for providing this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

What a thriller! Think Succession with more death. This was a thoroughly enjoyable mystery. Each of the characters were complex, flawed to the point of writing them off but endearing enough that you still root for them. If only Harry listened to the whole tape at once, would have saved her some trouble. But I understand the purpose of breaking it up into four parts as a literary device. This book makes me glad to be part of a normal, not uber-wealthy family. No sick Christmas themed games for us. Highly recommend to all my mystery and thriller readers.

Harriet has met her prince. Edward is everything all rolled up in one gorgeous package – he is kind, considerate, hard-working, and encourages her to be all she can be. So, when he tells her his business in England is finished and he wants her to go to the States with him, she packs up her things and moves to America to be with him. That is the nice thing about being a novelist, she can do that anywhere.
Edward told Harriet his family was rich but he didn’t tell her they were Rockefeller rich. Harry isn’t sure she is ready to meet his family yet but it seems they have ideas of their own. The first to reach out is Edward’s sister, Matilda. Although Harry is pretty tight with time – the first draft of her new book is due soon, Matilda insists they meet for lunch and even contacts Harriet’s publisher to free up some of her time constraints. The audacity of the move infuriates Harry but when she meets Matilda she likes her so much she forgives her and even accepts an invite to a family dinner the next day.
Edward feels maybe she is moving too fast. The Holbeck family is imposing and he laughs when he realizes Harry didn’t know the invite was for Thanksgiving dinner as it is not a holiday they celebrate in England. Everything goes well with Thanksgiving dinner. The Christmas holiday is coming up and Harry is sure there will be more get-togethers with the Holbecks.
But the more time she spends with his family, the more Harriet feels confused and unsafe.

This was a fast read and a smart thriller – I gobbled it up. This is my third book of Catherine Steadman’s and I’ve loved them all but I think this one is the best. Her character, Harriet is intelligent, no pushover, and I liked her a lot. Keep them coming, Catherine, you’ve got a fan here. This book is for readers of B.A. Paris and Lucy Foley.

Harry is newly in love, engaged, and now pregnant and meeting her in-laws to be for the first time. Eccentric rich people is an understatement in a family that requires you to prove you are worthy and tests are around every corner. Parts of this book were a solid 5 and parts were a solid 3, but because of a huge hole in the story, I ended up rating it a 3 (or 3.5 but rounded down to a 3 for Goodreads since they don't offer partial stars). I really struggled accepting some of Harry's choices throughout the book. It was obvious this was done solely to build suspense, despite what a person would really have done. This feeling of a forced narrative kept me from being fully engaged in the story. And, the way everything was resolved was a bit over the top, even for a wild suspense.

I was very excited to read The Family Game. I enjoyed it very much. I felt like there were a few inconsistencies in some characters but not enough to ruin the book. There were twists and surprises. A good book.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book & I am leaving my honest review. Incredible thriller with some twists that were completely unexpected. This thriller strays from the “norm” which made it much more exciting to read in my opinion! Have already recommended it to others before I was even finished…yes it’s that good!!!

One thing I can start off by saying is this was a super entertaining read! Overall I would give this a solid 3.5 star rating.

This was a major slow burn- once I hit about 65% the action started, along with all my crazy theories. I was constantly guessing how it would end and what wild thing would happen next……because some wild stuff happened that I could have never seen coming.
The unexpected events made things really fun & unpredictable, keeping me on my toes!
Was the majority of this book unrealistic? Absolutely....but like I said before, it made for an entertaining read!

I overall enjoyed it, but itwas missing some things to make it great….the main thing being answers.
There were too many plot holes I couldn’t look past. I can’t go into too much detail without giving anything away, but I had so many questions when the book ended. I didn’t understand how certain things could have happened and why they kept happening.

So about the characters…this was a super bizarre family…I didn’t really love any of them (which is totally fine because I never expect to like most of the characters in thrillers). I didn’t know too much about them to really route for anyone to come out on top. I was constantly questioning their motives and confused by their actions. It also frustrated me that they weren’t really questioning anything that was going on.

I kept shaking my head at Harry for pretty much everything she did- like how it took her days and days to listen to the cassette tape that was loaded with shocking info.

I was close to guessing the final twist, but there were some things that went along with it that surprised me. Guessing the twist early doesn’t ever make me enjoy a book less, because I can pretty easily convince myself something different is going on.

I would say this is worth a read if you just want some pure fun and an unexpected ride!

A very fast paced read that kept me interested. The plot was a bit thin, but the reader is treated to a nicely fleshed out story. Lots of creepy things happening, possibly unreliable narrator, strange traditions. Perfect for a fall read.

This was my first Steadman novel, though some of her others have been on my TBR list for a while, and it did not disappoint! I was quickly sucked into the main character's life, as she is a novelist with ONE huge secret, who is about to marry into an extremely wealthy family with too many secrets to count. The pages flew by for me as I raced to discover more and more secrets, and then near the very end a giant bombshell of a twist, that I did not entirely see coming! This was a fun, twisty thriller, and I look forward to reading more by Steadman in the future!

The Family Game was propulsive and addicting. I could not put it down and was doing random chores just to keep listening to the audiobook, that's when I know it was a good book! I didn't read the synopsis before diving in so I had no idea what to expect. It started off as a love origin story and quickly changed pace to a pulse-pounding edge of your seat thriller. Harry was a strong willed character who has been through a lot in her life and is hiding a big secret. For the first part of the book, you are led to believe she did one thing but when you find out what she actually is hiding, you will be shocked. I sort of had an idea of what the big twist was going to be, but that didn't change the fact that the execution was addicting and thoroughly twisty. I got a copy of the audiobook from Penguin Random House. I highly recommend you listen to this because Catherine Steadman (the author) is the narrator and does a phenomenal job! Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for a gifted advanced review copy of The Family Game!


See below for the Goodreads synopsis:

"Harry is a novelist on the brink of stardom; Edward, her husband-to-be, is seemingly perfect. In love and freshly engaged, their bliss is interrupted by the reemergence of the Holbecks, Edward's eminent family and the embodiment of American old money. For years, they've dominated headlines and pulled society's strings, and Edward left them all behind to forge his own path. But there are eyes and ears everywhere. It was only a matter of time before they were pulled back in . . .

After all, even though he's long severed ties with his family, Edward is set to inherit it all. Harriet is drawn to the glamour and sophistication of the Holbecks, who seem to welcome her with open arms, but everything changes when she meets Robert, the inescapably magnetic head of the family. At their first meeting, Robert slips Harry a cassette tape, revealing a shocking confession which sets the inevitable game in motion.

What is it about Harry that made him give her that tape? A thing that has the power to destroy everything? As she ramps up her quest for the truth, she must endure the Holbecks' savage Christmas traditions all the while knowing that losing this game could be deadly."

Yes, the beginning of this page turner might remind you of a movie you've seen or a book you've read but keep going because it's totally different and well, really hard to review without spoilers. Harry, a novelist, upended her life and moved from the UK to the US for Edward, the man she loves. One problem- he's the scion of an unfathomably wealthy and powerful family that he's tried to distance himself from. And now she's pregnant and they're engaged, which means she's meeting them at Thanksgiving, and then participating in an unusual family game, then going to the family home for Christmas. Edward's sister and sister in laws seem ok but his father, oh his father. There are big secrets in this family and Edward's father spills them to Harry, whose rising concern is well done. This all comes to a climax that's over the top, for sure, but also a surprise. Thanks to Netgalley for the ArC. This is one to experience for yourself- and you'll gulp it down.