Catherine Steadman gives new meaning to family secrets in this psychological thriller. Harry has a secret that haunts her but she thinks no one could possibly know what it is. Then she meets her fiancé’s family. Family secrets are sinister and can literally destroy Harry and her unborn baby along with the uber-rich Holbeck family. Well written, The Family Game will keep you wondering until all secrets are finally revealed.

Harry’s life seems to be going perfect. She’s a new novelist who’s first book sold millions and has put her on the edge of stardom. She’s newly engaged to her seemingly perfect boyfriend, Edward. He is a wealthy man and owner of his own startup company who has been estranged from his family but with his new fiancé he hopes they can mend fences. His family happens to be the Holbecks and they are incredibly wealthy however, they are an eccentric and weird family with weird traditions and games they like to play. When Harry’s future father-in-law slips her a cassette with a confession of sorts she is pulled into a cat and mouse game that she’s got to finish before she ends up hurt or worse.

The Family Game is a edge of your seat, action packed thriller that will definitely keep you guessing right up to the last page. Y’all this book was crazy. I feel so bad for Harry even though she’s not perfect and has done some morally wrong things she’s a lovable kick ass strong female and I actually loved her character. Oh the plot twists! I didn’t see them coming. If you haven’t read this one you definitely should. Thanks to @netgalley and Random House publishing for the arc.

Read if you like
💪🏻 strong female lead
🤪 dysfunctional family drama
✨ fast paced reads

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for this Arc!!

This thriller had everything I wanted; family secrets, a dangerous game and major twists!

Harry, or Harriet, has moved to NYC from London with her boyfriend. The holidays are just starting, and he proposes in the middle of the skating rink at Rockefeller Center. Harry thinks she's in for a wild ride already this holiday season with the prospect of meeting the Holbeck family, but she has no idea.

When Harry meets the whole family at Thanksgiving she learns that she will have to prove herself if she wants to keep her secrets. And, this "old money" family's idea of that comes in the way of games that some may say are a bit cruel.

This thriller had me the whole way through and I definitely recommend it! Also, it's a great holiday thriller!

Out October 18, 2022!

I struggled to finish this book, and struggled even more to connect with the main character, "Harry". What could have been a fun and fast-paced thriller (which is what I was expecting from that synopsis) was bogged down by a fairly sluggish stride in storytelling that took far longer than necessary to get to any juicy bits. It wasn't until the halfway mark that the book began to pick up, and by then I was already fairly disinterested in what was to come.

It's a shame, especially with this being my first novel read by Ms. Steadman.

Harry (Harriet) is feeling so blessed. She’s writing a novel that’s sure to be a success and is in love with, Edward, a handsome and very wealthy man. She’s been carrying a secret from 20 years ago and believes its her secret alone. The winter holidays are near and it’s time for Harry to meet Edward’s family. The family is very unusual and have a tradition of playing games. These games are psychologically revealing and can be deadly. Someone knows Harry’s secret and trusts her with their own personal secrets.
This novel was a twisted psychological thriller.

I love this authors work so much. I think I've read almost everything she has written. This book was amazing. I thought it was was well written. It had a lot of twists and turns which is always lovely.

Oh no! I finished this book too quickly! I love locked room/scavenger hunt games and I wanted the games in this book to keep on going!

It was so much fun to see how an outsider with secrets of her own would discern the secrets of the wealthy and powerful family she hopes to marry into. And we are right alongside Harriet as she tries to figure out why her soon to be father-in-law handed her a tape that implicates so many people.

The only flaw in this book was that I thought the consequences of Harriet's secret coming out were overblown. But as I've learned from other books, sometimes a person's guilt is all the punishment needed. The only way out is to play the game, and the only way to play the game...is to agree to the rules of engagement...

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books for another great Catherine Steadman thriller!

For those thriller readers looking for something less “hallmark” for the month December this just might be what you’re looking for! This book gripped me from the first harrowing chapter and kept me intrigued as our main character, Harry, gets sucked into a life or death game for the holidays with her fiancé’s rich, eccentric family.

Thank you NetGalley, Random House Publishing-Ballantine, and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book is available for purchase on October 18, 2022.

This was a can't put downer! Loved it! Very different from tradional thrillers but very fast paced and attention grabbing.

READ THIS BOOK! Loved the premise, the chapters were fast paced and kept my attention. One of my new fave authors!

This so completely hooked me, I absolutely loved it. The super creepy family, the main character's secret past, the entire atmosphere of the climax. This was absolutely one of those "just one more chapter" books.
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Quick synopsis: Harriet is newly engaged to Edward, the oldest son of a super-rich family, when she meets the future in-laws for the first time. The patriarch shares a dark secret, while also revealing that he knows Harriet's dark secret as well, making Harriet wonder if she'll survive the holiday games the family plays
*
This was a bit of a slow build, and I did think the final twist was pretty obvious from the start, and there was one fairly major plot hole in Harriet's decision-making, but the ending was just set up so well that it completely made up for those minor issues. It was so dark and atmospheric, and I really enjoyed how it all came together.
*
(My only minor nit...Harriet receives a tape with explosive secrets...and it takes her the entire book to listen to the whole thing. What?! How do you not finish that right away!)
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This is such a great winter thriller, and I whole-heartedly recommend it! Thanks to @netgalley and @penguinrandomhouse for the early copy!

This is a highly original thriller that includes cozy mystery elements, which is another favorite genre of mine. The main character is newly engages and as she is brought into the fold of her fiancés mysterious family, she understands that there is a lot that may have happened behind closed doors and she might be next… Loved it!

Thank you to Ballantine and NetGalley for the gifted ebook of The Family Game. All opinions in this review are my own.

I am 50 pages into The Family Game and I am giving up. I like thrillers because they usually grab my attention right from the beginning and I can't put them down until the end. Unfortunately, this didn't happen with The Family Game. I love the cover and the opening chapter, but then not enough happened to keep me invested. I heard it does pick up at about 40%, but I'm only at 15% and I don't want to skim read to get there. Also, the *SPOILER* accidental pregnancy was the official stopping point for me. I don't like it in romance books, and I don't want it in thrillers.

Oh I love a dysfunctional family book and this one checked ALL the boxes! Harriet meets the love of her life, Edward, who comes from a legendary filthy rich family. Harriet can finally leave her own troubled past behind and is intrigued by getting to know Edward's family. But that is a door she absolutely should have kept shut as the fascination quickly turns to horror. The vivid imagery in this book added to the creepiness and the final twist was a shocker.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Ballantine for the ARC.

What a kickass book! I did not expect the ending - no spoilers, but the scene of the actual family game...CHILLS. Although I have read (or watched) this trope a few times about a weird rich family, a cool woman buying in, then all hell breaking loose, this book still felt unique.

Another impressive book by this author! I loved her debut novel, Something in the Water, and I loved Disappearing Act but I think this one is even better. Each novel continues her growth as a writer with tighter writing and pacing that hooks you. Each story is very different but at its heart is a heroine you want to tag along with. I was shocked when I realized I was halfway through this novel and really no closer to where it was going because I was so enjoying what I was reading which didn’t feel like the description. I don’t mean that in a bad way, just in that’s how great the writing is, that I was completely caught up in the story about well nothing really. It takes awhile before the book barrels forward more towards the description and when it dos it’s at breakneck speed. I loved the reveal but I was sorry the book was ending because it’s such a great read. The beginning started off slowly for me which had me nervous about this book but very quickly I was happily immersed in Harry’s life so don’t worry if it doesn’t grab you right away. There’s a blackmail revealed that sets up the story and my only complaint about this novel is how unrealistic the repercussions hanging over her head were but it’s very easy to overlook for the sake of this story. I do wish there was more clarification at the end but again that’s a minor quibble. I’m excited that I missed the author’s other book, Mr. Nobody, since I’m bummed to be done with this one. If you haven’t read her books yet I recommend you start at the beginning because they are all worth reading. I can’t wait to read her next one! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I wanted to enjoy this mystery but I found it hard to follow. I felt myself wanting the book to be over halfway through, and skimmed until the end, where I was met with a rather unfulfilling conclusion.

Ooh, this was twisty and disturbing! I love reading about dysfunctional families, in a can't-look-away kind of way. I did suspect the end twist, but I was actually really happy with the way it played out--a lot of hope, which I don't look for in a thriller but really appreciated as we roll into fall 2022. It also gave me really cozy vibes, despite the f-ed up holiday stuff! I saw everything so clearly in my mind--would make a great mini-series.

Review published on Goodreads, 5 July 2022:

As with Steadman's previous psychological thrillers, I was drawn to this one—her newest—because of its intriguing premise. There's just so much juicy potential in the idea of the newest member of a powerful, wealthy family being given a tape with what appears to be a murder confession on it. Even though the story got less appealing to me as it spun on, I still kept reading THE FAMILY GAME to see what in the world was going to happen. I could tell where the plot was going from the get-go, but I definitely wanted to see how it was going to play out.

That being said, there was a lot about the plot that didn't make sense to me, including the purpose of the confession tape. I also found the characters (Harry included) to be cliché and unlikable, with some of them being downright reprehensible. The whole idea of Harry being attracted to her father-in-law turned me off completely, especially since I didn't see him as "charming" in the least. Ick. Even though the plot of THE FAMILY GAME goes from illogical to bizarre PDQ (pretty darn quick), I did find myself racing through the pages. I didn't really care about the characters, but I did want to know what was going to happen to them. The ending (at least Harry's resulting relationship with the Holbeck family) made no sense to me either, so...I'm calling this an average read. There was plenty that rubbed me the wrong way about the story, but it kept my attention throughout and kept me turning pages.

I went into this, as I'm sure others did as well, expecting it to be something like the movie Ready or Not. There's kind of the same vibe, especially when they play the game with everyone's favorite malevolent Christmas sprite (outside of the Elf on the Shelf). But overall, this is a different kind of story altogether and I liked it. Yeah, maybe it's not the most plausible tale in the world, but it's a good time.