From reading the plot, this was giving me Ready or Not vibes but it was so much more than that. Really enjoyed this one.


Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Family Game might just be my favorite thriller of 2022...this deadly cat-and-mouse story is one I won't soon forget. Steadman ingeniously walks the reader through a plot that feels like a house of cards that could fall over at any given moment. This book is a tale of family drama; however, at its core, it remains a whodunnit that intrigued me up to the final page. Pick up The Family Game, buckle your seat belt, and prepare for a wild, unpredictable ride!

Harriet "Harry" Reed is an ordinary Brit living in New York with her completely unordinary fiancé, Edward Holbeck. While Harry is a mystery writer, Ed comes from an old-money family and runs a multi-billion dollar tech company. The two's seemingly vastly different backgrounds don't stop them from getting along marvelously. In fact, their life together was fairly normal until Harry is introduced to the rest of Edward's family. The Holbecks are unimaginably rich and they hold high standards for any potential addition to their clan. When Harry meets the family, she soon discovers they have an obsession with twisted games. She's immediately sucked in when her father-in-law-to-be exposes what she believed to be a secret from her past. He holds this information over her and forces her to participate in a series of dark, terrifying family games to see if she can handle herself in the Holbeck family. While Harry isn't one to back down from a challenge, the contests she's put through threaten not only her pride but also her life.

There's not a dull chapter or moment in The Family Game. This plot is expertly crafted to make you question and second-guess everything you thought you had figured out. Each member of the Holbeck family is like a piece in a dangerous game of chess with extremely high stakes. One wrong move and you may not live to tell the tale. Harry is a dynamic, clever protagonist who you'll be rooting for the entire time. Will she or won't she be permitted to be a member of the Holbeck family? And at what cost? Read it to find out! Steadman knocked this one out of the park and I look forward to reading everything else she has and will publish!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Ballantine Books, and Catherine Steadman for this ARC of The Family Game in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of “The Family Game” in exchange for an honest review. I read Steadman’s latest in one sitting. I think it was her best yet. I enjoyed the pacing, atmosphere, and character development. I thought it was great—and well written!

Meeting your future in-laws has never been so scary

I was not ready for how enthralled I became with this novel. This is the best story I have read in a while honestly. I was engaged the entire time, there was no lagging. I did not want to put it down, I AM NOT JUST SAYING THAT.

The influential family, with all the hidden secrets. And Harriet of course has secrets of her own she’s trying to protect. Everything is unleashed upon her engagement to the next in line to the Holbeck estate. His family is aggressive and intimidating, and into the most terrifying family games. After Harriet discovers some news of her own there is so much more at stake, than just her life.

“Just don’t change your mind about me after all this, that’s all I ask,” he says, then kisses the ring on my finger lightly and grins.”

This book comes out at the perfect time to read over Christmas time. Pre-order it for yourself and for all your reader friends. They will love you for it!

Thank you #NetGalley and #RandonHouse for this Advanced Reader Copy of #TheFamilyGame by @catsteadman

What a fun ride! The pacing was a tad slow for me in the beginning, but it really started to pick up about half way through and from there I could hardly put it down. I loved the dynamic between the main character and her dysfunctional future in laws. The ending did take me by surprise, although it wasn’t super shocking. What I also enjoyed was the fact that our main character was hiding something as well and you were trying to figure out more than just the family mystery.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Randomhouse for sharing this digital copy with me!

I am extremely picky about thrillers, and out of ~70 thrillers I’ve read in the past year and a half or so, this one has been one of my favorites. If you enjoyed Ready or Not and Knives Out I do think you’ll enjoy this. In terms of comparable thrillers, In My Dreams I Hold a Knife and Not a Happy Family have a similar vibe, but I think this story is more gripping and fast-paced.

In true “thriller” fashion, the suspense and thrill never let us in this story. The mystery is compelling on its own, and it’s well supported with a likeable protagonist, atmospheric writing, and good pacing.

Our MC Harriet has a troubled past as an orphan. She has seen recent success as a thriller author, and not to mention her new billionaire fiancé. All starts to take a darker turn when she is invited to meet her fiancé’s eccentric family who lives to play games with one another.

Note this book has several different games within it, but there is a more terrifying, deadly “game” that the patriarch is playing with our main character that dominates the whole story, which I liked. Not necessarily a “shocking” ending, but I enjoyed nonetheless.

Another winning creepy thriller from author/actor Catherine Steadman!

British thriller writer Harriet “Harry” Reed is engaged to swoony Edward and has moved to be with him in New York. Now all she has to do is meet his family, the uber rich and powerful Holbecks. We know right from the terrific opening that things go horribly awry at Christmas and then we zip back to late November to find out what happened.

The Holbecks are a deliciously awful family, who like playing games - but not of the football or Bananagrams variety. Oh no, their “games” include the truly terrifying Krampusnacht in which a half goat half demon chases the children (and Harry) around a darkened brownstone.

The patriarch, Robert, seems to take a bit of a shine to Harry and wants to share some family secrets with her, but Harry isn’t sure she wants to know them. And Harry herself has a secret from long ago that she is convinced nobody can know, but do the Holbecks have ways of digging up information that she might want to stay buried?

The plot is niftily put together, with a few red herrings thrown in, some watertight explanations for why Harry doesn’t do everything you might want her to, and some seriously atmospheric set pieces. Highly recommended for those who like their thrillers fast-paced with a flawed protagonist with agency.

Thanks to Ballantine and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

YES!!! This reminded me of the movie Ready or Not which I loved! I love this premise and loved the MC. I felt like I was there with Harry every step of the way.

A fantastic experience about how foky cam twist and turn, and what mothers might do for their children. A page turner for sure!

3.5 stars rounding up. Spoiler: I enjoyed the story; parts of it were original but the whole evil lover disguised as a saint thing is starting to feel old. Also a lot of the protagonist’s actions felt overreached - like assumptions made were just beyond believable. The characters were fun, though, and I liked the changes in settings! Overall a fun summer read.

Harriet Reed aka Harry believes she has found her happy with New York scion Edward Holbeck. But before she officially call herself a member of the clan she’s forced to play a series of “games” that leads to a deadly prize.

This book was quite a ride. Initially, it took a couple a couple chapters before I was really hooked but once I was I could not put this book down. The chapters may seem a little long at first but they do read fairly quick once the plot picks up.

If you’re familiar with her last book “Something in the Water” then you know she can give you whiplash with the twists and turns in her books. This book is no different. There were quite a few times when I thought I had the ending figured out but it ended up not being quite what I expected (in a good way!).

Since this book reads quick it would make for a great rainy weekend or beach read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

The perfect page turner that keeps you wanting more! Loved this fast paced whodunnit about family, wealth, and secrets. Definitely recommend to any thriller fans looking for a fast paced read.

A tape recorder. A cat and mouse game. And a family whose games might not be so harmless. Are you willing to play?

Wow. Just wow. The Family Game explores how far a person is willing to go to protect their family from those who might destroy it from within. This book is genius on so many levels and keeps you guessing with every twist. Finally a thriller that isn’t just a boilerplate of all the others! I highly recommend. I promise it’s not like anything you’ve seen before!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Amazing new thriller, fast paced & with a twist I didn’t see coming. The characters were engaging & believable; the events described were vivid & kept me engaged

A weird and wild tale of a dysfunctional family that starts as a quirky romp and ends in total terror. Another page-turning "can't look away" twister by Catherine Steadman.

We begin with a sort of fairytale, where our heroine Harriet ("Harry" for short) is proposed to in a magical New York scene by her wealthy and charming boyfriend Edward. Edward, as his name hints, comes from an old and liberal Kennedyesque New York family of rich and influential old-money scions. Which is a little bit weird at first, but has to be a wonderful opportunity for a girl, right?

Well, maybe not. The family is exceedingly weird, especially Edward's dad, Robert (yes, I see you and your Kennedy winks, Ms. Steadman!). And they engage in bizarre traditions of games at the holidays, including one prolonged exceptionally strange celebratory 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.)

As Harry gets in deeper with the family, she learns that their secrets may in fact include murder, and as the genes continue, she has to decide whether she is willing to pay the apparently high price of being a part of Edward's influential family.

I love Catherine Steadman, and have yet to come upon a book of hers I don't like, but I have to say the plot of this one was incredibly weird. I was fascinated by it and totally drawn in, but it is very much not a traditional thriller mystery, even though things got more traditionally thriller-like (and also completely crazy) by the end. You'll definitely have to suspend your disbelief for this one, and I can think of a few of my book friends for whom this one will be way too wild and woolly. But if you like your mysteries weird with a little bit of historical and political satire and speculation, this one will be as fun for you as it was for me. Catherine Steadman is a total favorite of mine, and her writing style always draws me in and hooks me from the first page, making for a fun and fascinating reading experience every time. Even if I'm reading about a Krampusnacht monster.

Thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. I only just finished and yet am already eagerly awaiting Steadman's next effort.

Wow!! Did NOT see this twist coming!!! The beginning was a little slow for me and took me a minute to get into the book, but I am glad I stuck with it! The second half of the book is so good. The crazy rich family drama element is great. The setting is the right amount of creepy! Love this book!

Great book! Thank you NetGalley for the free ARC. This book kept me on my toes. A peek into the lives of the mega rich and their weird holiday traditions. I was familiar with Krampus but the way it was revealed in the book was scary.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
I was interested in this title because it reminded me of the movie “Ready Or Not”, in which a new bride marries into a family filled with secrets and strange traditions, which may just be the death of her.
This novel definitely delivered on the familial secrets and dangerous games! While I found the protagonist’s big secret somewhat contrived, the author laid an enticing series of breadcrumbs that kept my interest and had me turning pages as quickly as I could.
I enjoyed the plot twist towards the end of the book and was entertained throughout. This may not be one that sticks with me or affects my world view, but it was seriously fun reading nonetheless.

(please note the link to Goodreads in the link section- I am never able to get the API to cross post from here)

In this case I'm going to be scathingly honest. This is truly one of the worst books I've ever read.

I suppose it started kind of cool- rich family, odd secrets, all that jazz. I mean there's nothing wrong with it, but it's been done before.

Then it just goes off the rails and not in a fun surrealistic way or even in a mystery way, it's just almost nonsensical. It seems like the author just took some canned stories, borrowing heavily from fantasy and tradition, and smashed them together into a crap sandwich.

Also the prose is just boring. I never felt attached to the story or interested in it whatsoever. Even the arc with the patriarch of the family asking Harriet (our MC) to write his story- which was kind of the mystery here- was extremely boring. Totally pointless and that was probably the most intrigue this book had.

The Krampusnacht scenes were just unbelievable stupid. It's like the author wanted to make this family seem as fucked up as possible without breaking any crazy barriers.

Ultimately, I was left wondering what on earth the mystery even was here . Because I'm really not sure. The whole point of the book seems to be that "blood is thicker than water". Even with the revelations of the 3 main characters, there wasn't a huge mystery. It was just a girl figuring things out and telling the reader. To me that is extraordinarily poor mystery writing- you don't tell the reader exactly what you're discovering there has to be a sense of well.... mystery!!

I almost DNF this. It was so drab, so shallow, and so over-the-top in the most stupid ways possible. I'm sure some readers will glean pleasure from this novel- and more power to you if so! However, I couldn't stomach this poor excuse for a twisted mystery. This is exactly what I DON'T want to read. I don't even know how this got published.

I hate to go this hard on ARCs, but they do give them for honest POVs correct?

3.5 stars

Holy Downton Abby! So Catherine Steadman was Mabel in the global hit series that I may or may not have watched every single episode. LOL. And now she is a accomplished author with several popular books under her belt and "The Family Game" is her latest and it's a good one.

In this book we have Harriet aka "Harry" a accomplished author herself with her first book surging on the charts. She soon becomes engaged to Edward: The heir of the Holbeck American family fortune. Were talking crazy old money and not just some scrappy millions.............. No we are talking about the b word. Billions!
Set for life. Crashing Lambos and Ferraris because you want too. You don't have to worry about PS5 shortages with this kind of money. In other words Harry fell into a goldmine and she will do anything to make it. Including participate in the Holbeck's Christmas games.

But these games aren't pin the tail on the donkey. The penalty is six feet under ground. That means: Dead. Fortunately, Harry is as tough as they come and has a violent secret past of her own. Which may be why Robert: The King of the Holbeck heir gives her a tape confessing of several murders. So he knows what she knows who knows what he knows and both have each other by the you know what.

Badass premise, right? This could be the book of the year of executed perfectly but there are several things that didn't make me jump up and down and praise the Book Gods. Mainly there isn't much meat on the bones. Or you see the synopsis above and this book is basically 300 pages of expanding on that.... and nothing more. No real plot twists or hooks. Also the conversations and dialogue are world class and flow organically so if by the 30% mark you aren't drawn into the conversations then you may want to give this one up. Also questionable plot decisions in Harry's attempt at detective work. As in why go through all that trouble? It didn't really make much sense in the context.

But bad stuff out of the way! This is a great book overall and highly recommended. And did I say written by a Downton Abbey actress? That's bonkers!

Advance Reader Copy given free for honest review.