With a tagline reading “an extreme game of hide-and-seek turns deadly in this riveting new thriller,” I knew I’d be hooked from the start. And I was right!

This story was intriguing and I loved the high-stakes element and the constantly not knowing who we could trust.

I felt for Adele constantly, especially with her kids at home and a deep desire to support them.

I had the gift of listening to this on audio, and while the narrator did a good job and I was hooked, I was confused by whose perspective we were in constantly. With shifting narrators, I truly wish this had been narrated by a full cast, just to help listeners follow along with the story without feeling lost.

For me, I had a harder time connecting with the characters since I couldn’t tell who was who while I was listening sometimes. But even with moments of confusion, I enjoyed the overall story. It was action-packed and had a great premise. This wasn’t my favorite of Lisa Unger’s—which makes me sad because I truly LOVE her books—but it was still enjoyable.

This is one wild ride. Adele has two teenagers, and a husband on the run for embezzlement. Her son tells her about a chance to play a hide and seek game for the social media company Extreme, which has had previous challenges with large cash prizes. The game will be held on a lush, gorgeous island on the grounds of a ruined, once-luxurious hotel.

However, things are not as they appear on the surface. Everyone has secrets, and the Extreme crew and the contestants might not be the only ones playing a dangerous game.

Cue a tropical storm rolling in, strong enough to flood the roads and shut down all avenues of escape..

What would you do to keep a deadly secret, especially if you knew you’d be ruined if it got out?

Thank you to NetGalley and Park Row for an advance copy. My review is entirely voluntary.

This is my first Lisa Unger book and it’s certainly not my last.
I love thrillers and more specifically mystery-who-done-it? Thrillers !

Close Your Eyes and Count to 10 originally drew me in with the catchy title. it’s about Maverick inviting a few influencers on a remote island where they must compete in a game of survival, during this huge storm. t this novel is told in a bunch of point of views. Adele, a single mom wanting to protect her children. Angeline, Alex, Tavos, and a few other members.

This book was fast paced and kept you enthralled until the end. The short chapters and suspenseful nature of wanting to know who the killer is , keeps you anticipating the next page until you realize you only have a few pages left.

I did find the multiple point of views distracting at times, especially once Adele’s children were brought in. It felt excessive. The ending seemed abrupt as well. Overall, a fun read!

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review !

This was a fast paced, fun and interesting thriller! I loved the game aspect and the social media part. I enjoyed the multiple POVs and the reasons why the contestants chose to play the game. There were twists and turns and I really loved the ending. Overall, a great thriller that I would recommend adding to your tbr!

Thank you so much for the advanced copy! Lisa Unger is an auto-buy author for me. HIGHLY recommend you check this out!

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this one in exchange for an honest review!

This book follows an extreme hide and seek game run by a famous influencer. A group of people enter the competition to win a million dollars. However, everyone had secrets and things quickly unfold.

I liked the concept of this book and I enjoyed the audiobook. I think the cover is amazing too. Adele was a great character to follow and I liked her badass attitude.

Unfortunately, this book had too much going on. I think there were so many point of views and way too many secrets and things unfolding. I wish a few things were cut out and I would have liked it more. I think this book focused on the wrong things.

Overall, this book was not bad but I don't think it focused on the right things and I wish it was a bit different.

This is an excellent book and when first starting it, I thought of Ruth Ware's book from last year, One Perfect Couple, but once in the thick of the book it became a book all its own. I enjoyed the character development, as well as the setting of the story. The main character, Adele, who is a single mom was a very strong character who had amazing character development by the end of the story.

As far as mystery, I could guess what was going to happen later in the story because there was obvious foreboding of what was coming. I enjoyed that however I believe the story would have been stronger if parts of the story were concealing what was to come better if that makes sense. Otherwise I thought it was enjoyable and I did not guess all elements of what was to come so there was still some intrigue there.

I really enjoyed this story and believe fans of Ruth Ware, Caroline Kepnes, and of course Lisa Unger will thoroughly enjoy this book.

Lisa Unger’s Close Your Eyes and Count to 10 starts with a killer premise—literally. A deadly game on a creepy island? Sign me up. But while the suspense is there, the pacing sometimes drags, and a few twists feel more forced than shocking. The whole premise is this huge game of Hide and Seek on a secluded island, but the lead up to the game starting is so long. Sometimes I thought the game started only to realize... no, it STILL hadn't. Once the game actually begins, it's over. Still, if you like survival thrillers with a reality-TV-meets-pure-terror vibe, it’s worth the ride—just maybe not a full five-star one. More like a two-star one.
Despite my lackluster review, I thank NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing | Park Row for allowing me to read an arc of this new book that is out today.

Huge thank you to HTP Books for the ARC!

I love Lisa Unger as a person and an author!

I'm sorry to say this one was a little more of a miss for me than usual and I think a lot of that is personal issues because I have read SO many stuck on an island thrillers this year alone (it really seems to be the theme of every 2025 thriller, sadly), so I just wasn't as sucked into the story as I hoped I would be.

I did enjoy a lot of the characters, especially the mother/daughter dynamic in the beginning and wished more time was spent with the two of them.

Overall, I'm sad this was a miss for me, but I will always read Lisa's new books and hope for this one's success!

This is out now!

Boasting an intriguing premise, I found this to be a quick, enjoyable read, albeit not quite the “edge-of-your-seat” thriller I was expecting. Still, it offered up some intense moments, despite some pacing issues and a parallel storyline that felt a bit disjoined and flat. That said, I remained engaged in this story from start to finish, even though there weren’t any major revelations that took me by surprise.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for allowing me to read this book.
3 Stars
Lisa Unger is one of my favorite authors.
I love Lisa's writing and can't wait for her next book!

I think that what I wanted from this story and what I got didn't quite align. I was hoping that this story would be sort of an over-the-top thriller, with a fun not overly serious cast of characters, with a compelling thriller/mystery aspect. And the story largely delivered, however, I think that it just took itself so seriously that some of the potential fun and interest was lost. I never really connected to the story, or the characters, but that could have just been a me problem. There was some interesting social commentary, but it was a bit wasted on me at that point, and it wasn't saying anything that other thrillers with similar themes haven't already beaten to death.
This was okay.

As soon as I saw Lisa Unger had a new book I knew I had to read it. I've really enjoyed most of the books I've read by her, so I was happy to grab this one.

Description:
Charismatic daredevil and extreme adventurer Maverick Dillan invites you to the ultimate game of hide-and-seek. But as the players gather on Falcao Island, the event quickly spirals into a chilling test of survival. A storm rages as a deadly threat stalks the contestants, turning the challenge into something far more sinister than the social media stunt it was intended to be.

Enter Adele, a single mother with a fierce determination to protect her children at all costs. When she begins the game, she unwittingly enters a twisted web of deception and intrigue. Can she maneuver through the treacherous storm and the relentless competition and get home to her family? In a ruthless battle for survival where the stakes are higher than ever, the blurry line between the virtual and the real proves that the only person we can trust is ourselves.

My thoughts:
Lately it seems many authors are writing about extreme games for television that go bad. This is a good one that was exciting and tense. I liked Adele, the single mother who just wanted to take care of her kids. She made a good character. The setting on an island and the deserted hotel lent great atmosphere to the story. The storm was scary. The locals warning of the island's curse made everyone uneasy. The plot was fast-paced and tense and I just wanted to keep reading until the end. I think anyone who enjoys a good thriller will enjoy this one.

Thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing | Park Row through Netgalley for an advance copy.

Close Your Eyes and Count to Ten by Lisa Unger is a thriller that follows a family in turmoil after their father and husband disappears—on the run from the feds. Struggling to keep things together, Adele enters a high-stakes hide-and-seek competition on a deserted island, only to realize that this game is far deadlier than she expected. Here, being found means death.

This was a quick, entertaining read. If you’re in the mood for a simple thriller, this one is easy to dive into. That said, I think it took itself a little too seriously. It had the potential to be a really fun, over-the-top thriller but never fully leaned into that. There were some great moments of social commentary, especially on influencers and social media, but I wish the book had either pushed those themes further or stripped them back altogether. The ideas were there, but there wasn’t quite enough depth to make them land in a meaningful way.

Thank you @htpbooks and @htp_hive for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

I love a locked room thriller. It's my favorite genre. I also love Lisa Unger, and so I went into Close Your Eyes and Count to 10 with high hopes, but, ultimately, I wasn't able to develop a connection with it. It's totally possible that it's me and not the book, and there definitely an audience for this new release, and I will recommend it to thriller lovers, especially lovers of reality extreme games.

A fun and exciting premise that didn't quite hold up to my expectations. With a Reality TV show premise in an isolated setting, there was a lot of hope here. We were led with a slow burn and multiple POV's trying to take a stab against social media influencers. Overall, it just fell a bit flat. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC!

What starts as a game of extreme hide-and-seek quickly turns into a terrifying fight for survival on a storm-ravaged island. One of the things I loved most about this book was that it wasn’t just a straight-shot plot. There were multiple storylines weaving through, giving depth to both the game itself and the personal stakes involved. Adele, our protagonist, is a single mother who isn't your typical thriller heroine—she’s older, fierce, and often just faking it till she makes it. And honestly? That made her so relatable. We need more protagonists that are 30+.

The reality show aspect was immersive. If you’ve ever watched "Celebrity Bear Hunt with Bear Grylls" or any reality survival competition, you’ll get that same edge-of-your-seat feeling. But what really stood out was how the book tied in social media’s influence—not just in the game but in Adele’s real life. From the pressure her teenagers face to fit in, to the unrealistic expectations placed on mothers to "have it all," this book smartly explores how reality rarely matches the curated version we see online.

If you love island survival stories, reality-show thrillers, or books that dive into the messy, unspoken parts of being a mother, this one is for you. A gripping, fast-paced read that’s just as much about identity and resilience as it is about the game itself.

I did not enjoy this book at all- so much so that i had to put it down at 50% and do not plan on picking it back up. For a thriller, nothing thrilling has happened at all. I have absolutely no interest in the characters or the plot; and I believe this could have been prevented with a better paced and more streamlined beginning of the book. It should not take the first half of the book to even get to the main event described in the synopsis. Characters were all over the place and ynlikable.

2.5⭐️ this had a very interesting setup with a very flat execution 😭

i thought this was gonna be high stakes, adventure game show gone wrong vibes. the premise of “tough survivalist influencers get invited to an Extreme game of hide & seek on a creepy island and everything goes wrong” sounded VERY fun

the buildup was good, with introducing all the main “players” in the “game” and starting to show the cracks early on…

but then it just lost sight of the premise completely. no exciting twists, my adrenaline never rushed, and the ending was so lackluster

This book captured my attention from start to finish! I looked forward to my reading time each evening. The characters include a team of influencers that put together a hide and seek challenge for a handful of influencers with a big cash prize. All of the characters are flawed, but mostly likable. I liked the pace that the author revealed key details throughout the story.

Thanks to Harlequin and NetGalley for this ARC!