Close Your Eyes and Count to 10 by Lisa Unger is a tension filled read that will keep you guessing.

Adele is struggling to raise two teens after her husband goes on the run rather than be arrested for embezzling money from his company. When her son comes to her, proposing she enter a contest that could result in her winning a million dollars, she is soon off to a remote island for an extreme game of hide and seek, but things don't turn out the way she had hoped.

I really enjoyed Close Your Eyes and Count to 10, but I felt like the story didn't really match the book description, so that was a bit disappointing.

The book is written from multiple points of view, some first person from the point of view of a character, and some in 3rd person purportedly from the game's perspective, which felt a bit odd at times. I generally enjoy a book written from multiple points of view, but I almost felt like there were too many points of view in this book.

The prologue really started on a high note and pulled me into the story immediately. Unfortunately it slowed down relatively quickly after that beginning. With so many points of view the chapters were relatively short, so this kept the story moving at a decent pace. I did feel like the story started to drag a bit in the middle, but happily not for long.

I think what made this interesting to me was that the main characters were all influencers, and not only were they competing for the prize from this game, but they were also all basically competitors in real life, competing for followers and views.

In all, my disappointments with this book were fairly minor, and I think many thriller readers will enjoy it.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This latest work by Unger is a mix of modern day suspense incorporating live feeds along with elements of an old-fashioned gothic mystery. There's an isolated island, a raging storm, an abandoned, crumbling hotel and a cast that has the reader unsure of who is the villian. There's quite a bit of back and forth from past, present to future which can leave the reader unbalanced. Cudos to Unger for being brave about using modern technology as a plot device. There are some scenes which seem out of step (weird native woman protecting the island) and at times dialogue is about ten years out of date (off the chain, you go girl). Still, it's a readable work and would be a good choice for vacation reading.

Daredevil Mav plans an elaborate game of hide and seek at an abandoned hotel on Falcao Island. Contestant and newly single mom, Adele must figure her way off the island.

This was an interesting one. The premise is really cool. I loved the idea of an extreme hide and seek. I was so ready for a nonstop action thriller. That's not really what I got. The way this book is organized I think is its biggest downfall. However, the story is still interesting. I liked Adele the best out of all of the characters. She's so strong and is really there to look out for her kids beyond everything. The other two contestants were also really interesting to me. They both had their reasons for being there that made their stories deeper. Mav and his crew were just very untrustworthy all around. I wanted to like them all more, but couldn't. However, I think that's intentional The best thing about this book was the setting and I wish there was more of it. The abandoned hotel was awesome.

All in all, an interesting thriller.

Thank you to the author and the publisher for the gifted copy!

If you're looking for a slooowww burn locked room thriller type Vibe , then Close Your Eyes and Count to 10 is for you !!

I have no doubt this book is going to be a huge hit !! The premises alone is enough to hook anyone , specially if you are a fan of reality TV game shows , such as Survivor or Alone .

When contestants sign up for the ultimate game experience of Hide and Seek hosted by the famous adventurer Maverick Dillan , the buzz it is creating on the internet for these social media influencers , is everything they need to get them that much closer to the $1 million dollar prize , but it is very clear from the get go that this island is riddled full of lies and deception. These contestants better watch their back as it looks like a deadly storm is heading towards Falcao Island and that may not be the only thing they are hiding from !!

This book was great I throughly enjoyed it! I loved the character building and how everything came together in the end .

I’m going to start with the positive. The suspense in the second half of this book was palpable. I felt like I was stuck in the storm with all of the characters. But beyond that, this book never really came together for me. There were so many characters, and chapters from so many different points of view, that nobody really came off as a main character. There were side stories that just hung in the air, without much resolution. And to be honest, I thought the blurb was misleading. I wouldn’t have chosen this book, as a person who isn’t really on much social media, if I had known more about what the story was about. Not a great read for me.

🏝️ F E A R F U L F R I D A Y review 🏝️ featuring “Close Your Eyes and Count to 10” by Lisa Unger!

BOOK REVIEW: 🖤🖤🖤🖤/5

📺 Calling all influencers! Who wants to play a game of hide and seek on a deserted island for a cash prize of one million dollars?? Hosted by extreme adventurer, social media star and daredevil extravaganza Maverick Dillan … who wouldn’t want to sign up??

Single mom Adele is interested in joining the game as she is strapped for cash after her fugitive husband deceived her and fled leaving her drowning in debt. A couple days on a tropical island playing a simple game isn’t too much to ask is it?? Until the game turns into one of SURVIVAL as a threatening storm hits the island and sinister intentions become clear. Can Adele battle for survival and get home to her kids?? Or will she get caught up in the lies, manipulation and deception of those on the island??

🍿 I love a locked room thriller that is based on reality tv! This one centers around the greed for money and fame which makes each character unreliable and untrustworthy. The curse of the island looms over them at all times as the storm becomes more dangerous. There is a blurred line between what is a stunt for viewers/ratings and what reality actually is on the island. This creates a fast paced, action packed and gripping thriller that you can easily binge in one day!

Thank you kindly to @launger @parkrowbooks @harpercollinsca @netgalley for my #gifted advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review! This book releases on February 25, 2025!

I could not put down "Close Your Eyes and Count to 10." I loved the story idea and could definitely see it as something that could happen in our modern day TikTok obsessed world, at least the reality show version. I loved the main character and was rooting for her to win. The twist at the end was kind of obvious to me but I still liked the book overall.

This is a fast paced thriller. A group of internet stars arrive on Falco Island to take part in an extreme game of Hide and Seek. They are all taking part for different reasons. Adele is a single mother whose husband stole money from his company and disappeared. She is hoping the prize money will help pay the bills. The group running the game have secrets of their own. And there is a dangerous storm heading for the island. The author does a great job with setting the scene and developing the characters who will do anything for views and likes. The book is fast paced and the story kept me turning the pages. Unfortunately at the end they were a lot of plot holes. Enjoy this spooky thriller.

I overall enjoyed this one by Lisa. She is one of my favorite authors so I always enjoy reading her books. This story is about influencers who are invited to an island to play the ultimate game of hide-and-seek for a cash prize - all of this hosted by extreme adventurer Maverick. What is suppose to be a fun game, quickly turns into the fight to survive. Not only is there a tropical storm on the way - there seems to be an uninvited extra on the island and on top of that, the viewers online are angry because at the last hide-and-seek event, a girl went missing and she was never found.

I loved this story - I loved the pacing of it, the different characters we get to meet, and the depth each one held. They are all fighting their own personal demons, while also trying to survive this fun game gone wrong. I liked that there was a lot going on not only on the island but outside of the island as well - so many secrets, so many twists & turns. While I had a general idea of what was to come, I was still surprised with how it all played out. I personally connected with Adele, as she's a fellow who has recently had a life changing event happen. She just wants to be able to provide a good life for her kids, and I felt that. Overall, another great book by Lisa and I highly recommend this one - it's a gripping story from start to finish and overall shows just how far a mother will go to protect her children.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lisa Unger, and Harlequin Trade for the advanced ebook copy of this in exchange for my honest review.

"Be brave, be wild."

Lisa Unger has us tapping into the world of influencers, followers, and how far people will go to receive any type of reaction in Close Your Eyes and Count to 10. Adele has had a hard go of it lately - her husband has been a fugitive on the run for over 5 years and she is now a single mother to two teenagers. As a new influencer, and badly needing the million-dollar prize (and with the push of her son Blake), Adele decides to enter an Extreme Hide and Seek competition hosted by Extreme Maverick and his team in Falcao Island. At the site of a crumbling, abandoned hotel, Enchantments, three influencers will compete for the prize – hoping to be found last by Maverick. But Adele, Wild Cody, and Malinka soon realize things are not what they seem, tensions are high, and this “game” about survival has turned very real.

Wow! What a punch this story delivers about the “behind-the-scenes” of Reality TV and how desperate people can be for attention. The highs and lows of this industry are splattered onto the pages with all of the ugly truths of what it takes to stay on top for views and sponsorships.

I did feel like this novel was unrealistic though (yes, I know it’s fiction) – but you go to a remote location for an extreme event, that is only supposed to last for a couple of hours with more staff members onsite than competitors, for a large cash prize. More than 3 contestants were needed, but I understand with all of the differing POVs that that would have been impossible throwing more characters into this storyline. Also, it was unclear to me for the longest time if the contestants were playing hide and go seek, or if Maverick was the one who was supposed to find them all one by one, and how people could assume that the game was rigged.

At times, I felt like I was trapped watching my sons play Fortnite and worrying more about their communications with strangers through the games. I absolutely love Unger, especially her novel Last Girl Ghosted, but this book didn’t quite hit the mark for me. While the plotline and scenery were spot on and had great potential, there was too much going on and at times it was too scattered for my liking (even all of the Miller parts I felt were unnecessary). I wanted the game! Not just the buildup for it.

However, you will find yourself rooting for Adele, and I did enjoy the ending, so I am glad I stuck with it. After reading this, maybe you will think twice about who you follow on social media – and what really is happening behind the scenes!

3 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley for this “influencing” arc; all opinions are my own.

"Ready or not . . . here we come."

Great concept and great story representing the world in which we live. The story is about influencers competing on a deserted island for a grand prize of one million dollars. Add in a tropical storm, a murder mystery, angry weird town folks, a podcaster setting out to expose and viewers with a sensational appetite, and you've got yourself a show.

While I enjoyed this story, I felt taken away from the central theme it at times. There were multiple Pov, which I didn't have an issue with but sometimes I was jointed off the island to listen to the children's tale or catapulted to another time and space through someone's thought or recollection of an earlier time. I understand that a story has to build up and there may be necessary connecting parts, but when it happens every other chapter, it is hard to really connect with the island life. It seemed to be new characters popping up at even given time. Some character's name was similar such as Malinka and Miranda (Chloe and Peter's last name), then there was Gustavo and Tavo. I had to make sure they were one and the same. I am not a fan when a writer uses multiple names for the same character, such as sometimes using their last name and then in the next few chapters use their first name and then go back and forth doing this. This was the case for Gustavo. If he is called Tavo, then let's just stick with that.

Also, I didn't really feel the dangerous atmosphere of the island. Although it was said, I didn't feel it. Perhaps that could be because we were not exactly in the heads of these characters to actually feel the unsettling nature. Perhaps if we were given more of a first-person point of view, it might have fair out differently. I did enjoy reading this story and waiting to find out what would happen. My favorite characters were Maverick and Angeline. I really love their relationship and how they stuck together. They are the heart of this story for me and deserve their happy ending. I would have like to hear more about the father and his story. Was there some reasoning behind it all? I don't know why, but I feel like with him there was something behind it besides greed. At least that's how I want to think of him lol. I would love to know more about the dynamics of him and Adele. I feel like she was too quick move on. Did she really love him? If so, why would she give the police information so quickly while also benefitting from him. Not sure how I feel about Adele, but great story. I would actually rate this a 3.5

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this arc for my honest review

I enjoyed this book. It is more of a slow burn till about 60% thru then picks up and is a rush to get thru it. Influencers are offered a chance to win a ton of money competing in a hide and seek challenge. What they don’t know is how much their lives really are at stake. I would love to see this turned into a movie. The details of the island make it sound amazing. A pretty easy to follow story line. There is a lot of characters but it’s easy to follow and understand each of them. A book if you’re interested in something that you won’t wanna put down.

I went into this thinking it would be more of a fast-paced escape room thriller. The locked room element was solid but this was definitely more of a slow burn mystery. I think I would have loved it more if my expectations were a little different. There were a lot of characters to keep track of which was slightly daunting but this was an easy read. I would read more of her work in the future. 3.5⭐️

Lisa Unger has written some very creative and entertaining thrillers. I always look forward to reading her latest novels. Unfortunately, this one fell a bit short for me. The premise seemed promising, but the writing just didn’t deliver. I found the pace of the entire novel slow and cumbersome, and was disengaged from the characters.

An original storyline, a unique selection of POVs makes this a hard to put town adventure thriller . If you like a locked room style mystery on a remote island , gaming ( both online and extreme ) , and some adventure pick this one up when it comes out in Feb

Not the Twistiest thriller I’ve read but still was good.

This was my second read by Lisa Unger and she did not disappoint. I feel like she was the same writing style as Ruth Ware which leaves a very enjoyed read.

This book was fast paced. We got different POVs from not only the contestants but also the kids and police officers the FMC left at home for the contest.

I will definitely be reading Lisa Ungers backlist.
Genre: Thriller
APK: Ebook
Pages: 373
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Series or Standalone: Stand-alone

Social media stunt turns deadly!

I couldn't put the book down!

Adele enters an online live adult hide and seek competition. The winner receives one million dollars and she can really use it for her family after her husband left them when he embezzled funds and ran away. Her son Blake and daughter Violet support Adele completely and want her to be safe and win too. The game site is a decrepit, condemned hotel on an island and all seems fine until the game begins and a storm heads their way!

First off thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for this Hide and To Seek thriller ARC.

This was a lot of fun to read, exciting, loved the social media aspect and the game show vibe. Lots of twists of and turns to keep it interesting.
Couple of cons: the jumping timelines without distinction was a bit annoying, that and the numerous side plots. I feel like some side plots could have been chopped and the story would have been ok without.

Overall a different take on a thriller, great read!!

4/5 ⭐️

In this locked room thriller, a single mom agrees to join a reality show on an island with a premise based on extreme hide and seek. A social media stunt quickly becomes a real high stakes game for survival.

I found this book to be an interesting concept, although I have read several thrillers based on similar ideas recently. However, the actual execution was a bit disappointing and it isn’t one I’d recommend. I found it to be really slow paced and lacking in terms of plot twists. It didn’t keep my interest. However, it’s possible it might appeal to those who enjoy a slow burn thriller!

Thank you to the author and Harlequin Trade Publishing/ Park Row for the arc and opportunity to be an early reader and reviewer.