A group of young adults, wake up in a strange town, not knowing where they are or what happened. Trapped, they realize that someone means them harm, but, where is everyone? What do these town people want and how can they escape this place and their past?

Very fast-paced and short read! It was exciting and kept me at the edge of my seat!

I have loved every book written by this duo. You Better Watch Out takes you back to the pure 70s and early 80s horror. It isn’t comfortable. No one is ever really sure of what is happening. The deaths are strange and bloody. And the ending…the ending was everything I would have wanted it to be.

You know right away that the characters may not be the best person. When you are trying to rob an elderly couple and they turn on you, inject you with something, and then you wake up in a place that doesn’t even look real, well, ypou should make some connections. But you aren’t alone. Others are also coming back to consciousness. No one knows where they are or why. They only know they want to find a way out.
These people are all here for a reason. Why?

Not to be ignored-the town. It looks almost just like a town they know. Almost. But it not quite right. The perfect setting for this kind of creepy look at the truly dark side of people. This place is completely false. What it appears to be is not what it is. Just like all of our characters.

I’m not one to read a book just for gruesome deaths. These were pretty creative though. Every one of them had clues that we don’t get until the end. The oh so satisfying end.

You Better Watch Out or you might be next! This book was crazy had a little bit of gore in locked room style serial killer. When you get to the last few chapters, my mind was blown 🤯. I never expected the ending at all.

The epilogue also hinted back to this duos prior book The Stowaway which was a 5⭐️ read for me!

My one negative is that the description of the book says it follows Jesse who wakes up in a deserted town, but the whole book is told in Eddie’s POV.

2.5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC.

I feel really conflicted about this. It's been a while since I've speed through a thriller like I did with You Better Watch Out. When I read a thriller I expect the reveals to be shocking and unexpected. I did not really get that with the reveal of the antagonists. Eddie was drugged and kidnapped by an elderly couple but he believes that one of them is not capable of swinging a log at someone's face. It was also sus how no one jumped the couple to get inside their barn. If they were holding weapons and/or standing in a gated area, I could see why everyone let them walk leisurely away, but they were just told that the temperature would continue dropping when there's snow outside and its windy. Also serial killers very rarely have such a random array of victims, usually they have similar attributes. Then there's the elaborate nature of each death. How are they affording this setup???

This was entertaining but very surface level.

You Better Watch Out combines a slasher movie “why me?” atmosphere with a classic locked room mystery that will have fans of both cheering. Seriously, I loved it!

Greg wakes up in a strange 1950s version of a town with no memories of how he got there. He quickly finds four other people with the same issue. The group bickers about how to escape as one by one they are murdered in extremely creative ways. Were they randomly chosen to be trapped in this horrible town? Or does their own past provide a key to their captor’s motivation?

Take the constant dread and violent atmosphere of the Cube series and add a bit of the Saw series’ quirky wit and you have You Better Watch Out. The plot is just a full-on sprint to the finish line. The action never lets up! The conclusion was a perfect ending to a perfect horror thriller. Did I mention the whole sham town is celebrating Christmas? Or that there is a real mystery here to be solved? This book is perfect for both slasher movie fans and serious locked room mystery fans. 5 stars and a favorite!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an advanced review copy.

I love James Murray and this did not disappoint! A Christmas thriller is exactly what I needed as the weather gets colder! Thanks Netgalley for the ARC

This book is about a creepy, bloody Christmas-killing fiasco that I found a bit gruesome in spots, but also wildly tense and entertaining. Set in a freezing cold replica of a town, this story is a locked room mystery gone wild. Full of peril around every corner, you wonder which of the six characters trapped there will survive and who the killer is. I enjoyed the mostly unpredictable journey this book took me on. Fans of slasher horror and noir thrillers will like this book. Barrie Kreinik did an amazing job narrating the audiobook.

All six people who have been kidnapped to the deserted town have done something bad- and someone is going to make them pay. This is a fast paced and frankly gory tale of revenge and horror. You might, however, find yourself rooting for one or two of the reprobates to escape. Who and why- no spoilers from me. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A page turner.

Have you ever seen that Twilight Zone episode, “Stopover in a Quiet Town”, where a couple wakes up with hangovers, stuck in a small town that turns out to be fake? The phones were fake. The food was fake. The trees were fake, and it all turned out to be a child’s game. I kept thinking about that episode (one of my favorites) while reading this; they are not at all similar stories, but the replica of the small town of Old Forge, New York, gave me the same vibe.

Jessica was out for a hike, then was attacked and knocked out. Eddie and Tank were up to no good when they were both injected with something and knocked out. Trinity was asleep in bed when a wet cloth covered her face and she was knocked out. Greg was leaving his house for a meeting when he was assaulted and knocked out, and one last man was found by the group, frozen to death (or was it the log smashed into his face that killed him?). It’s two days before Christmas, and now these six are stuck in Old Forge. Only, this isn’t the town they know - this is a deserted town, covered in dust, with facades and fakery. It’s decorated like a Norman Rockwell Christmas wonderland, but this is not a happy place…

Soon, these people realize that the town is full of traps, and that they are all there because of their past transgressions. Oh, and they are being watched. This replica of the town they know is terrifying, and they are being picked off one by one. But why, and by who? Where are they? What is the end game? Will any of them make it out alive?

This was a really fun story - I wish it was coming out closer to Christmas, the characters weren’t very developed, and I’m not sure if I liked the ending. HOWEVER, this was a highly entertaining, very quick read. It was creepy and atmospheric, while retaining its campy and Christmasy feel. 3.5 stars, rounded up!

(Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, James S. Murray, Darren Wearmouth and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be released on October 15, 2024.)

You Better Watch Out is your typical slasher vibe horror. I love Impractical Jokers so jumped on the chance to read a book by Murr.
That being said I wish this had more of his humor.
I did enjoy it though, if you are looking for something to scratch that 90's slasher film itch this is a good one for that!

Ooh if you like slashers, you’ll love this fun gory read!! I loved the locked-room type of setting too!! 🙌

This one did have some great twists as well!! One I saw coming but it was still such a fun read! Definitely recommend to fans of slashers and locked room stories!! 👏

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read the eARC in exchange for my honest review! ❤️

You Better Watch Out written by James S Murray and Darren Wearmouth. I listen to the audiobook and the Ebook. The book is about Eddie Parker, he’s on his way home for Christmas when he stops in a small town called Old Forge to get some snacks. This is when he sees an elderly couple who look like they’re wealthy and decides to rob them. At least when he wakes up that is the last thing he remembers. It seems he has woken up in a past version of old Forge, Not because he time traveled because he got kidnapped by the elderly couple. As he tries to get the lay of the land he hears a scream in the back room of the old saloon this is when he meets Trinity who is just woke up and Jesse who has yet too. Together they will try to navigate this strange place with Christmas decorations old Timey stores and you better watch out playing on the speakers throughout the little town and though yes the whole time trying to dodge a killer. They soon learn they all have something in common and that is all of them except Jesse has a police record but Jesse thinks she is there due to her addiction. The main three will find others and to learn it’s not just the person haunting them they need to watch out for. I’m going to stop the review here because there is so much to this book and it was so good. Some of these murders are so inventive and original I was amazed. I do want to say the part of the book where everything is revealed I felt a little letdown but once it got to the epalogue and it seems there may possibly be a second book I was so excited. This is a great isolated location mystery that I think most people will find hard to figure out. I want to say the narrator Barry Kreinik did an awesome job narrating the book setting the tone and had great character distinction. I have never read a book narrated by him but would definitely listen to another. This is a book any Thriller/Mystery/Horror fan will love, I know I certainly did! #NetGalley, #McMillanAudio,#Saint Martin’s press,#JamesSMurray, #DarrenWearmouth,#BarryKreinik,#YouBetterWatchOut,

Title: You Better Watch Out by James S. Murray, Darren Wearmouth
Publication Date- 10/15/24
Publisher- St. Martins Press
Overall Rating- New Favorite

Review copy given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Review: OMG this was so good. This is such a unique and creative take on the survival horror/ thriller genre. If you like the SAW franchise I think you would enjoy this, though it is much less gorey. Speaking of which, the kills in this book are interesting and creative (I know such a crazy thing to say). Because this book takes place right before Christmas, the town that the group is stranded in has Christmas decorations up and let me tell yall, that really added the creep factor.

In You Better Watch Out, we get to know a cast of characters that have all done something wrong, shameful, or an action to cause guilt. I found fascination in each character and enjoyed hearing their stories while watching them survive this f’d up game.

The pacing is on point. It moves quickly but not too fast such that you don’t get to know and understand the characters. I literally don’t have a complaint about this book. I was going to give it 5 stars until the ending made me gasp out loud, not joking. Please go read this book, it’s so fucking good.

I had so much fun reading this holiday slasher! The characters are abducted and wake up in a remote faux town with no idea why and where they are. There’s no escape and gruesome traps are set up everywhere.
You can expect
🔪Locked Room
🔪Gory Slasher
🔪Fast Paced
🔪Twists
That twist at the end though??? So good. Be prepared for gore and gruesome scenes!

First I expected this book to be a lot longer than it was. And I think it would have helped considering that I would have like to know the charaters more in order to care about the situation that they were in. Honestly, the twist was good but I really wanted to be more invested in these characters. If you like slashery books, this is a good one for the holidays.

I loved this book. I have been in the biggest slump for reading the last few months and I DEVOURED this is 2 days. I predicted the ending in a few ways, but I was still very surprised by the ending. The twists were good, and I look forward to reading more by these authors. My biggest complaint is that they could not keep the way that characters died correct, or would kill one off and then refer to them as the incorrect name. I also noticed that the book often changed up the weapons people were carrying randomly with no notice which caused me to be confused.

Stars: 4/5

This one will be out in time for Christmas, and I think some fans of "B" horror movies will find it fun. If a plotline is sort of over-used, but the characters win me over, I'm pretty forgiving. Unfortunately, and this is subjective as all reviews are, I didn't find a single character to care about in this one. The premise is pretty out there to start with, and the interaction of the protagonists (there are a bunch of them) didn't mesh for me.

I felt that it read more like an outline of an idea for a film (that I would absolutely watch) and less like a book where all the images have to be created with words. It was a fast-paced story, and I got through it quickly. Might work better for others than it did for me.

As a huge fan of locked-room mysteries, this one grabbed me right away. Jessica Kane wakes up, injured and confused, in a deserted town with five strangers who have all been attacked. Soon, they realize someone is methodically killing them off, and the tension doesn’t let up from there.

The setup is creepy, and the suspense builds beautifully. Murray and Wearmouth do a fantastic job creating an eerie atmosphere that had me hooked. The characters are well-developed, and the way secrets slowly unravel adds to the tension. When the killer’s identity and motives are revealed, I was genuinely shocked—I didn’t see that twist coming at all!

That said, I did feel like the book was a bit too short. I wanted more time with the characters and the story, especially since the setup was so intriguing. Still, it delivered exactly what I needed in a thriller: fast-paced, full of twists, and a satisfying mystery.

If you’re into thrillers with dark, suspenseful vibes and love a good plot twist, this one’s for you. Just be prepared for some gruesome moments—it’s not for the faint of heart, but it’s a fun, gripping read!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

You Better Watch Out is a line from a Christmas song signifying that Santa Claus is coming to town. But the book You Better Watch Out is anything but a feel-good Christmas story. It might take place right before Christmas, but it seems more like a Halloween slasher story. You will be hooked from the beginning as this very creepy, scary, non-jolly horror story takes place. It was definitely creative in its gory content, and I was totally surprised by the ending and then even more surprised when I realized it wasn’t actually the end. It definitely left an opening for a sequel which I would love to see.

Thanks to St. Martin's and Netgalley for the pre-release copy of You Better Watch Out. Below is my honest review.

If you weren't sure before, this novel would have sealed your understanding that these two authors are movie and television writers, because this book felt like a fun, cheesy, gruesome horror slasher flick. The pacing, the deaths, the reveals... all felt very reminiscent of what you'd find in a Hollywood blockbuster, but on the page instead.

The deaths are quite gruesome, but you knew they would be going on, so don't pick this one up if that's a trigger for you. There's a lot of fun reveals along the way as well.

My biggest gripe? The blurb makes it seem like Jessica Kane is the protagonist, but really we spend the majority of the book inside the head of a character named Eddie. Just a weird little quirk that threw me off kilter a bit.

If you're a horror movie fan, give this one a shot. It's not breaking a ton of new ground, but it's fast-paced and a lot of fun for what it is, and I'd definitely recommend it.