Loved this book! It was fun read full of twist and turns you won’t see coming. This book will have you on the edge of your seat wondering what’s going to happens next.

Spooky, atmospheric, dark and mysterious.

Adele, a mother of two, decides to go on an extreme activity reality TV show hoping to win the million dollar prize. The extreme event is being held in an isolated location with lots of history. Participants start to arrive for the competition, but all is not as it seems with the background and owners of the company who are running the reality event and many red flags are being hidden from the participants. In a past event, another participant had gone missing, and someone on social media is blaming Mav, the owner of the Extreme company for the participant’s disappearance. Things start to unravel before the competition starts and this book kept me guessing as to what was coming next. If you love “locked room”, isolated settings in your thrillers, this won’t disappoint!

Told by multiple character POVs and in multiple timelines - it became confusing at times to keep up, so but I fully appreciated The Game being in Italics.

Overall, I would rate this as 3.5 ⭐️. I would recommend to others.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion and review.

A little too "cheesy" of a thriller for me. I think I may be over this particular genre, especially when influencers are involved. As usual, Unger's writing is great and easy to read, I think this type of thriller just isn't for me. Thank you, NetGalley.

I really enjoy this authors writing style.

Who doesn’t love a good Hide-and-seek game! It was a slow start for me . However, once I got about half way in I was hooked! I couldn’t put it down.

There were alot of characters and had to really stay focused to keep them straight.

Overall I really enjoy the story, cast and twist!

*Thank you to Park Row and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*

This book is a Mr. Beast hide and seek game gone horribly wrong. And that parallel made it horrifying plausible to me. From the first page alone, I was hooked. The problem was that it took so long to get BACK to that tension. We also had WAY too many PoVs going on, without them adding much to the story. The PoVs also completely lay out the plot, but without foreshadowing characters' motivations. Things just happen! Really just a story of a good plot, without good execution.

This book follows Adele, a single mother competing in a Mr. Beast type hide and seek competition for a million dollars! I loved this concept, but unfortunately it didn’t live up to my expectations

This books biggest crime was being boring. The POV switched every chapter to some inane character such as; the protagonist’s son playing a video game, a podcaster searching for the missing contestant of the previous hide and seek competition, an agent trying to find MC’s criminal husband. These POV’s added nothing, and I found myself skimming if not completely skipping these chapters.

I don’t like to be so harsh when given advanced access to a book, but honestly, save yourself the time from picking this one up.

Close Your Eyes and Count to 10 started off really strong. I was intrigued by the characters, their individual drama (and trauma) and the game itself. I really enjoyed the idea of the husband on the run and the devious nature of Mav and his company. Adele is a strong FMC that I really liked. The setting is fabulous - a little eerie and troubling, yet exotic and beautiful to picture.
The multi POV helped keep the tension and keep you guessing. The approaching storm added to the fear and apprehension. The true nature of each character is slowly revealed, causing red herrings at every turn.
The last 1/4 of the story really failed to keep my interest, however. The story seemed to get overly complicated and slightly unbelievable in my opinion. The buildup for the storyline of Adele’s missing husband had a twist that I saw far in advance and then ended far too quickly and with a less than satisfying conclusion. The resolution of “whodunnit” also felt a little convoluted and a bit of a let down.
I did enjoy the social media aspect and the first 3/4 of the book satisfied my thriller expectations so I give Close Your Eyes and Count To 10 by Lisa Unger ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5.

I have shared this review on Amazon,

https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/a1339599-891b-4212-b529-327a605dbde0

Goodreads

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7088447350

And Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DGog8CmPqxx/?igsh=MXRoMjFxd2VxbnRkdg==

Adele Crane's life is a shadow of what it used to be. She and her teenage kids are dealing with the aftermath of her husband's embezzlement of money and disappearance. Her son, Blake, is being bullied and they are buried in debts. Then Blake tells his mom about a chance to win a million dollars in an extreme hide and seek game on an isolated Portuguese island for a reality tv competition. Adele is accepted, but is puzzled when she starts getting text messages warning her to stay away from the game. She can’t give up on the chance at prize, so she soon finds herself thousands of miles away from her children in a dangerous situation. There is infighting amongst the show hosts and crew members and a major storm is on the way.

The story is told from multiple points-of-view which works fine for the most part. However, there are also abrupt shifts in the timeline which are sometimes confusing. The game eventually takes a back seat to real life survival which is very suspenseful. Some of the drama going on with Adele's kids isn't as interesting. This is where the multiple points-of-view take away from the main plot. While some of the background information on Blake and Violet is important to the story, the amount of details that are included slows the pace of the book. Back on the island, I enjoyed getting to know Adele, the other contestants, and the Extreme Crew. The book kept my interest, and I like the way things are wrapped up at the end.

I received an advance copy of this ebook for review consideration from HTP Hive and HTP Books, but my review is voluntary and unbiased.

Close Your Eyes and Count to 10 had me on the edge of my seat from the very start. The concept of an extreme game of hide-and-seek on a remote island sounded thrilling, and Lisa Unger did not disappoint. The tension builds quickly as the contestants realize the game is anything but fun. I found myself rooting for Adele, a mother willing to do anything to survive and protect her children. The atmosphere was intense, and the plot kept me guessing with its twists. My only slight issue was the pacing in a few spots, but overall, it was a gripping, fast-paced thriller I couldn’t put down.

**Initial Reaction**: 8

**Characters:** 9

**Setting:** 10

**Plot:** 8

**Pace:** 7

**Style:** 9

**Ending:** 9

**Enjoyment:** 9

69 / 16 = 4.3125

Rounded Rating = 4.25

Lisa Unger does it again! I really enjoyed "Close Your Eyes and Count to 10"! The island and game strategy story line was great, and kept me at the end of my seat. Full of suspense you won't be able to put this one down!

Social influencer's are invited to an island to play a game of hide-and-seek for a $1M cash prize. The contest is hosted by extreme adventurer Maverick, and a fun game quickly turns into a game of survival. Maverick's haunts from his last contest torment the current contestants. A storm ravages the remote island as the game kicks-off, and the hiders must forget all the rules to survive.

This is a reality gone wrong with lots of POV and tons of secrets. Could the setting been a bit more creepier, absolutely! I want more of this budding romance with Cody and the mom.

Thank you, Harlequin Trade Publishing | Park Row

I absolutely loved this book! Lisa Unger is one of my favorite authors. She really is one of the best at writing thrillers that keep the reader engaged. The characters were relatable, It was a great thriller that kept my attention throughout.. I highly recommend.

Thank you NetGalley & Harlequin for allowing to read this ARC.

This book had me hooked. A high-stakes game of extreme hide-and-seek turns deadly at an abandoned island resort and Adele—just a regular mom who would do anything for her kids—gets caught in the middle. She’s tough, smart, and absolutely relentless because the only thing that matters is making it back home to them. The storm, the island, the creepy, heart-pounding twists… it’s nonstop tension. Lisa Unger nails the mix of psychological suspense and survival thriller!


Thank you Lisa Unger, Harlequin Trade Publishing, Harlequin Audio, and Netgalley for the advanced copy!

This was a fun book, but had some flaws. There were a lot of storylines going on, so sometimes it was hard to keep track and didn’t really pick up Neil about half way through. Overall, it was good, but could have been better without all the jumping around.

I typically love this author, but unfortunately this wasn't my favorite of her books. It started off very slow, and it didn't speed up until about 2/3rds of the way through. I also didn't find the ending very satisfying. I really enjoy the locked door mystery trope, and I enjoyed that this one was set on a remote island in the middle of a tropical storm. I did also like the gaming, influencers, and social media aspects in this book, so I was really disappointed that it overall fell a little flat for me.

I loved this book! Lisa Unger always excels at creating such a creepy atmosphere with a captivating plot and a hero you are rooting for, and I absolutely loved how she did all that and more in Close Your Eyes and Count to 10. I also loved that the characters weren’t completely good or bad, there were layers to their motivations, not unlike the online world we all live in (and is highlighted in this book). I loved all she did to pull the story together and the way it ended as well! Such a great thriller!

The description of this book hooked me-ultimate game of hide-and-seek, social media stunt, and a determined mother competing. Unfortunately, this ended up being a book about bad people doing bad things. It seemed to want to do too many different things and got a bit muddled with so many characters' points of view. I was intrigued enough to want to finish and find out what happened, but it just didn't meet my expectations.

So much going on in this book! So many plots, subplots, characters, points of view. I honestly got a little lost at times and had to center myself in what I was reading. Was that because I was turning the pages too quickly? Maybe. But seriously, even as a not fan of reality and survivor type tv and social media, I was hooked on the insanity of a hide and seek game on a scary island. Then throw in the backstories of all the characters. It is hard to believe it all fit in 350 pages! But the jostling between story lines also meant that at parts the pace stumbled a bit. But I guess it is give and take when you are cramming so many ideas into the same book!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing/Park Row for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest thriller by Lisa Unger. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4 stars!

Extreme adventurer Maverick Dillon is hosting the ultimate game of hide-and-seek. Set on a remote island, the game quickly turns into a game of survival instead of a social media stunt. As a storm threatens, and everyone has their secrets, Adele is a single mother of two teenagers, desperate to win the prize money to offer them the stability they need. But has she made a mistake coming to this island that may cost her everything?

I always look forward to Lisa Unger's books, and this was a perfect escape book. Plus, I always enjoy an atmospheric, locked room mystery, and this one ticked off those boxes in spades. There's some warnings here about social media and influencers, and how blurry the lines are between gaming and the real world. A bit implausible at times, I still was thoroughly invested to figure out everyone's secrets and just how things would end up. Tense and full of thrills!