This novel by Lisa Unger wraps betrayal, suspense, competitiveness, scandal, and the social media/online world into a crazy, suspenseful ride. Maverick has always been used to being the center of the action. His world unravels when he takes his Extreme team to a small island. Adele is a single mom who had come to compete in Maverick's most recent Hide and Seek challenge for a million dollars on the island. Although Adele doesn't get to compete, she finds the strength in herself to face her past and help her children move on. Super suspenseful and surprising!

What a muddle of a thriller! It feels like an abandoned knitting project with random loose ends, dropped stitches, holes, and a lumpy shape. I assume some of it will be corrected before publication but as it stands, this is a bit of a mess, albeit one that kept me gripped for a lot of the way.

First muddle is - what is the main thread? We start off thinking it’s going to be about Adele - her husband disappeared five years ago leaving a wake of financial and social destruction. Since then, Adele has reinvented herself as a tough and resilient fighter and she is now a contestant in an Extreme Hide and Seek - first prize a million dollars. Ok, we think, this is going to be a survival thriller in the setting of a deserted and crumbling resort on an island. But we’d be wrong.

Because the game never really gets going and instead the focus turns to Maverick Dillon and his Extreme game company. They’ve been dogged by bad vibes since a contestant in a previous hide and seek disappeared. They really need this game to go well to shore up their finances, but someone is haunting Mav’s social media feeds, threatening to expose the truth.

If you’re ok with that shift in focus, there’s a decent amount to enjoy with a murder and, of course, a terrible storm which threatens to flatten the hotel. But the whole thing sags a lot in the middle with way too much backstory, accusations, and explanations. It picks up towards the end but the denouement doesn’t stick the landing at all with no explanation of what actually happens and why. But against my better judgement - it’s pretty obvious who’s behind it all - I was riveted even if I was just racing to get to the end.

If you can put aside that a lot of the plot doesn’t make sense, the timeline is inconsistent, and some apparent lapses in authorial concentration, you might enjoy this but, honestly, there’s enough good thrillers around on a similar theme (Ruth Ware’s One Perfect Couple or Blair Braverman’s Small Game to name the two that came to mind) that I wouldn’t bother.

Thanks to Harlequin and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

This had me captivated from the blurb alone. The storyline itself did not disappoint. It was a fresh idea with lots of suspense and twists and turns.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Park Row Books for allowing me to read an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Close Your Eyes and Count to 10 is the latest thriller from Lisa Unger and it doesn’t disappoint! It features an extreme but deadly game of hide-and-seek on a gorgeous island paradise.

Maverick Dillan is Extreme, both figuratively and literally, known for his high-octane stunts and games like hide-and-seek in haunted and dilapidated locations. He has invited 3 players — including struggling single mother Adele — to Enchantments on Falcao Island, for a chance to win one million dollars. But a bad storm is approaching the island, and someone is stalking the players and staff making the game more deadly. Plus everyone seems to be harboring dark secrets that the stalker and the storm seems intent on bringing to light, one way or another. It is a battle for both survival and money that blurs the lines between our virtual lives and our real ones.

This book was SO GOOD! I loved that you didn’t know who you should trust, if anyone. I really liked Adele and the Girl Power message. I will definitely be recommending this book for my book club read for February!

I love a book that makes me wish they would make this into a movie. I could picture it as I read.

I loved the reality show type of feel and the names of the social media used.

I read this all day. I could NOT put this one down. I give this a definite 5⭐
Im gonna use my own rating system.
5📕📕📕📕📕

My favorite line....We're worthy of life and love because of who we are, not because of what we do. You are enough, Malinka. I wish someone had told me that when I was younger.

This is my last attempt with this author. She is just not for me. I was not intrigued. I was mostly annoyed. And. I’m over it.

thank you so much for the early eARC of this one! lisa unger is such a talented author. unfortunately i just couldn't get into this one. i DNF'd around 20% -- i just wasn't enjoying it and felt the premise and how it all was drawn up, was a bit far-fetched. the characters were all getting on my nerves too and i just couldn't push through. i appreciate the early copy so much and i will still read from this author in the future!!

I’m not a big fan of “survivor style” plots but I did like the storyline to this one. I loved the characters and enjoyed the ending.

Lisa Unger's latest does not disappoint! It was an edge of your seat page turner that gained momentum as the story unfolded. A game of hide and seek ensues on a stormy island, and the surviving influencer wins the big cash prize. Who can be trusted? Will alliances be formed? We learn more about each character and what brought them to the island as well as the creators of the reality show and their backstories. I enjoyed how the plot progressed and the pace of the storyline. The ending of the story tied up loose ends and brought resolution to the novel. I really enjoyed this book! Thank you to NetGalley and Park Row for the ARC!

It breaks my heart to give a Lisa Unger novel a poor review, but this one just did not work for me. It felt terribly disjointed; to the point that I felt I was reading two different books. I definitely was not invested in any of the characters, and it seemed to drag on. I have read several reality series type island books in the past year; some of which were amazing and set the bar very high. This one just didn't reach that.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC but I could not finish this book. The characters were uninteresting and terribly underdeveloped to me. I found I didn’t care what happened to any of them. I lumbered through about half of the book but alas I had to give up. A terrible read for me.

Thank you Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this ARC! Lisa Unger has again provided a fast paced hard to put down book! Adele is a mom of two teenage kids trying to make ends meet after her husband goes on the run after embezzling from his company. When the chance comes to go on the hugely popular Extreme Challenge to win a million dollars how can she say no? Maverick Dillon is the charismatic online influencer always pushing the limits both physically and mentally in his challenges. Times have been tough with one influencer missing from Maverick’s prior challenge and anonymous threats, he just needs one more success to make things good. Loved the premise and how the weather incorporated what was going on with the story. Thanx again Lisa!!!!

Close your Eyes and Count to 10
Lisa Unger

I have an interesting relationship with Lisa Unger books. There have been times I have loved them and there have been other times. CLOSE YOUR EYES is one of the latter. I feel like her most of her writing happens in the dark and I have appreciated it more when she steps into the light.

CLOSE YOUR EYES is about a mother, left to fend for herself and her family by her husband. She has made it through some of the tougher times alone. She is an influencer with more debt than support. More debits than credits.

One day her son tells her about a reality game based on the childhood game of hide and seek. The prize for winning it all is more money than she'll ever see in her lifetime. He thinks she can win it all. She realizes she does too.

What she doesn't know is that the game is set up with the odds stacked against the players. And to win, she'll have to find the parts of herself long hidden, and lose the part of herself she has long held onto.

Books based on games don't always work for me. And when this book was put together in the blender parts of it stayed separated like oil and water. It felt clunky and rocky, not smooth and it didn't allow for an entertaining and enjoyable reading experience. It felt like work, and far more than it was worth.

I'm sorry this one didn't quite work for me. I will continue to read Unger's book and I'm hoping for a better connection next time!

Thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing | Park Row for the advanced copy!

CLOSE YOUR EYES AND COUNT TO 10...⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you @htp_hive for the gifted arc!
🫣Isolation
🫣Influencers
🫣Remote Island
🫣Multiple POVs
🫣Missing Girl
🫣Angry Locals
Adele is trying to survive with her two teenagers after her husband left her in debt and is on the run. Her son convinces her to sign up for a game of Extreme Hide and Seek for influencers and a chance of a million dollars.
Maverick is a popular adventurer influencer and does extreme challenges. Him and his team also run the Extreme Hide and Seek. After a girl goes missing in the last game and their business on the line, they need this challenge to go well.
And then the storm rolls in…. And then things get wild!
Even though I guessed some of the twists, I enjoyed this one. I love a good isolation/ locked room mystery.

This was classic Lisa Unger. I absolutely enjoy every single one of her book. The thrilling ride with twists that keep you guessing. This one was just as epic as the rest. I highly recommend this book to the thriller readers out there. You will not be disappointed. I can't wait to read more from her. She really is a fantastic writer.

Thank you Net Galley ARC, Harlequin Trade Publishing/Park Row, and Lisa Unger

Another good edition from Lisa Unger, tho I was worried about the plot from the beginning. Why would a mother risk so much, and how could she let her children follow someone with so many skeptical doubters? That aside, classic whodunit in a bit of a locked room mystery. Mysterious isolated island. Only a few people invited. Storm. Dangerous building collapsing near the ocean. The drama was high, but it didn't go the path I thought it would. Was expecting each contestant in the game to die, one by one. Instead, there were less contestants and more corporate workers running the game. Always enjoy Unger's writing style tho!

I loved this book! Fast-paced and action packed, this book is about a group of contestants that go to an island to play an extreme game of hide and seek. It really show cases the modern day world of online gaming. Definitely worth the read.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. A big thank you goes to @launger and @netgalley for my advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review! This book releases on February 25, 2025!

I ended up DNF Around 30%. The whole extreme game of survival concept has been popular and overdone in the last year, and I just didn’t find myself wanting to read this or enjoying it. I’m sure tons of people will love it, it just wasn’t for me.

This was a fast-paced thriller that I breezed through in a few sittings.
-Extreme game competition, live streamed by infamous vloggers
-Last extreme game, a contestant disappeared
-Island location; decrepit abandoned resort
-Angry locals; impending storm

You might say to yourself “what the heck is extreme hide and seek?? And who the heck would sign up for that??”- (my initial thoughts) but somehow I couldn’t look away and found myself rooting for single mom, Adele, as she tries to outlast her competitors and win the $1 million prize.
The Extreme team (vlogger hosts) were *messy*- rife with disagreements, in-fighting, secrets, and unlikeable personalities, but the drama was fun and made the game full of tension. Unger does a great job with the descriptive location, the chapter breaks with foreshadowing, and bringing claustrophobic suspense as the stakes get higher! I think long-time Unger fans who are not as familiar with, or comfortable with reality streaming shows, YouTuber culture, and gaming might find this book to be outside of their comfort zone, or to have a different feel than some of her previous books. However, I found the focus on our culture’s obsession with ‘likes, views, shares’ as an excellent context for exploring how and why some people are willing to go to extreme actions, including murder.

3.5🌟
The ultimate game of hide and seek. Are you ready?

Here’s the backdrop:
An eccentric online adventure-seeker known to take stunts to the extreme.
A girl missing from the last online event.
A remote island
A crumbling, condemned building
And a huge storm approaching.

I mean seriously, what could go wrong?‍💁🏼‍♀️

This was a quick read from one of my go-to authors. Though the premise isn’t all together original, with influencers doing anything for followers. Ultimately leading to the old adage, who's to blame?
Those seeking the attention...or the viewers desperate to see how far things will go? Maybe both?

At any rate, Lisa Unger still delivered a captivating read that I quickly breezed through over the weekend. Lots of characters and side-stories, but still very easy to follow along.

I’ve been reading books from Lisa Unger for years. And this latest may not be one of my top favorites but it is a good solid thriller and I look forward to her next.

Thank you to NatGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing