This book is perfect for anyone looking for a little murder and excitement in their holiday reads!

In the same vein as the classic 80s movie, The Running Man with a bit of Hunger Games mixed, in this thrilling holiday story of redemption was a lot of fun!

When a cast of near do well characters wake up in an abandoned recreation of a small town, they find out that they have to survive for 48 hours to gain their freedom back!

The characters immediately start being knocked off, leaving the rest of them to gang up together in order to survive!

Narrator Barrie Kreinik does an excellent job differentiating the characters and adding the suspense with his storytelling. This book could’ve also done well being narrated with a cast, but Kreinik’s individual delivery creates a seamless narration that keeps this high speed thriller on the tracks!

If you’re a fan of thrillers with lots of gore, this is definitely something to add to your Christmas wish list!

Narration was excellent! I did figure out parts of the book prior to their reveals, but it didn’t take anything away. I live the open-ended ending and the link to The Stowaway.

This book has a lot of on page gore so may not be for everyone.

I’ve always been a reader and Impractical Jokers is pretty much the only thing I watch and can watch on repeat so the addition of the punishment at the end is perfection.

For fans of the movie All The Boys Love Mandy Lane, You Better Watch Out is a creative and gruesome horror book set at the most joyful time of the year.
I was given an audio ARC of the book and I was so confused as to why teh book was read by a woman. While it not third person, the main character is the main throughout the whole book so it is very weird for me.
The book is gruesome and gory. The deaths are creative though as a group of rag-tag criminals moves through an abandoned town dressed up for Christmas--teh actual time of the year. An elderly couple tells them if they can live through the night they will be freed on Christmas morning. Considering many of their group have already died, this option seems slim.
I loved the twist ending and the tension was beautiful. It gave off true terror. And while I'm not big on gore. I really enjoyed this book.

Such a gory slasher story that was fast paced! The plot of this story is one I have never read and I have read so many. The entire plot was so interesting that you wanted to keep going to keep finding out more. It was so fun and I was completely here for this book.

The premise is that these strangers wake up in this place with no idea on why they are there. They soon realize that someone is trying to kill them off. The strangers back stories slowly start to come to light and realization hits.

You guys when I say that I didn’t expect the plot twist at the end…. I’m not joking. I literally gasped out loud and replied “no way.” It honestly made the entire book for me. I wish I could read it all over again. It’s been in my brain since I finished but I needed a few days to process. If you’re into the thriller/horror/slasher type stories….. THIS IS THE BOOK!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me access to this audiobook!

This was good for what it was- a quick, holiday themed horror with some gore and not super memorable characters. I liked the narrator of the audiobook, and thought she did a fine job, but I struggled to keep track of the story and it just didn't grab my attention in the way I had hoped. I'm a sucker for holiday horror- there's definitely not enough of it, but this didn't quite do it for me.

Six strangers wake up in a deserted town. They've all been kidnapped. They start getting murdered one by one.

I've been going into books blind, but I should have looked a little closer at this one. 🤣 It was GORY. If you like scary movies like the Saw franchise, you'll love this one. It was a bit much for me, but I did like the twist at the end.

The audiobook is only about 6 hours. Barrie Kreinik did a fantastic job with the male and female voices. Plus, there's some bonus content at the end of the author reading one of the chapters while strapped to a car.

I called it !!!! Starts right away and keeps its up. You do eventually find out the reason why. I was struggling with the why for a long time and then it came together. Quick listen a smidge gory but it all good for me.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.

A lot of characters to keep track of. I was interested at the beginning but I didn't stay interested.

If you take this book for the campy, violent story that it is and don't take it too seriously, it's entertaining enough. Just be prepared to suspend your disbelief and just go with it.

It's the story of a group of people who find themselves kidnapped and left in an abandoned town. Why are they there? How do they escape? When they begin to get picked off one by one, it's a race against time to survive.

I listened to this as an audiobook narrated by Barrie Kreinik and she, as always, does a fantastic job at setting the scene and communicating the actions of the characters. Her delivery is spot on and she elevates the book through her narration.

This is a very fast paced novel, and although it is not even slightly believable, it's like a slasher movie put onto the page and should appeal to horror readers, especially around Halloween.

I thoroughly enjoyed this holiday story, especially with its blend of murder and mystery—making it a perfect fit for my tastes. It evoked the suspense of escape room movies combined with elements reminiscent of "SAW," and the twists truly caught me off guard. I highly recommend experiencing this book in audio format, as it really enhances the narrative.

You Better Watch Out isn’t just another cozy Christmas mystery; it’s a tense and often gruesome thriller with some eerie holiday touches. It probably won’t help to calm your holiday stress—but this pitch-black thriller it sure to keep you guessing until the end.

Full review published in NightsAndWeekends.com and aired on Shelf Discovery.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #MacMillanAudio for the book #YouBetterWatchOut by #JamesSMurray and #DarrenWearmouth. Jessica has woke up in a strange place, a strange town, two days before Christmas. She and five others have been kidnapped and have no clue how or why they have ended up together. One by one, someone is killing them off. They all have one thing in common, they are not good people. Can she survive until Christmas?

You Better Watch Out is a new fast-paced thriller that will have you humming off-beat Christmas carols while making sure your doors are locked!

Just days before Christmas, several strangers are drugged and wake up in an abandoned town. They have to figure out who they can trust–and quickly–because someone is picking them off, one by one.

This is an entertaining book. I listened to it as an audiobook, and it held my interest from beginning to end. The book has several POV characters, and there are flashbacks throughout. Despite this, the pacing was solid. This book is quite short, with the audio being only 5 and a half hours. As a result, I felt that some of the characters and their personalities might have benefited from being a little more fleshed out. That said, I genuinely cared for Jessica and Freddie, the two main protagonists, even if I didn’t mind at all when terrible things happened to the others.


At first, the “Christmas” setting felt a little forced, but it was nicely revisited throughout the story. I do believe we need more holiday-themed horror and thriller, so I was pleased that this one explored the most wonderful time of the year!

I recommend this book to those who like stories with a fast-paced plot that gloss over characterization in favour of pacing.

I absolutely enjoyed this one. I thought it was going to be silly based on the author but the twist at the end was such a good one that I was actually surprised. This one really surpassed my expectations. A little gory, some creepy moments, and many moment where I thought I knew the answer

This book was entertaining. With a quick pace that keeps you on your toes, it gives creepy and gory galore. It takes itself seriously while still edging on campy horror - edging meaning not really but I'd still say yes with one of those "sort of: hand gestures. Its a quick read. The audiobook was good. The creep factor was there. The narrator kept the cast distinct and easy to follow. I'd recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley, James S. Murray and Darren Wearmouth, and Macmillian Audio for this audiobook ARC.

So while a lot of reviewers compared this to the movie Saw (which I agree), I kept thinking this is more like the 1997 film Cube, which happened to be one of my favorite movies. I went into this without reading much of the synopsis or any reviews, so this hit the nail on the head for me as I kept thinking about the movie Cube. Strangers stuck in a simulated space while getting killed off one by one. Yessss, pleaseee.

I could see why the main focus was on Jessica (the synopsis highlighted her, most reviews did as well), but this was more about the character Eddie. It started off with Eddie and most of the events happened had to deal with Eddie. Either way, this was such a fun read, in my case, listen. It's a few days before Christmas but you should definitely read this going into the holidays. You'll be set up for both Halloween and Christmas for sure.

The gore, the inventive traps, and the reasoning behind the characters were done so well. This was such a great book! I think the title could have been a little better, but that's just a small teeny thing. The narration was also done well, so I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for an audio copy of this thriller. All opinions are my own.

The twist! I wasn’t feeling the book most of the way through to be honest. But I did not see that ending coming and it was pretty good. The characters were pretty surface level and the plot had me kind of rolling my eyes but I love a surprise ending.

This was a fun Christmas thriller. It wasn’t too long and I read it pretty quickly. The concept behind the book is terrifying, and the descriptions of the different characters’ deaths are gruesome.

I wish the characters had been a little more fleshed out and nuanced. I didn’t feel very attached to any of them, and their deaths weren’t super impactful beyond their horrendous natures. I found the ending fairly predictable, especially after I read the given synopsis.

I wouldn’t call this a new favorite or anything groundbreaking, but it was fun and scary! If you’re trying to seasonal read in the next few months and holiday romance isn’t your thing, pick this one up!

<i>audio-ARC from NetGalley.</i>

This was so much fun. If you want a good Christmas murder story, this is it!

I have nothing more constructive to say. Will definitely be checking out some of their other titles!

Over the top horror thriller set in a town where nothing is as it seems.

Eddie wakes up in the street during a blizzard. The last thing he remembers is trying to help an old couple stow groceries in their car. Now he finds himself in serious danger with others who’ve also been brought to this fake town of Old Forge, New York. Kidnapped and locked in, Eddie joins forces with this ragtag band of less than upstanding citizens trying to figure a way out. Then they start dying one by one in very horrific ways.

If you like gruesome serial killer slasher thrillers, you will enjoy this one. A vague Christmas theme exists, but it’s not the heartwarming kind. Blood and gore and quite predictable as you see the characters fall but there is a little twist at the end that actually really disappointed me but did fit with the rest of the premise. Don’t read much going into this so you won’t feel cheated.

I liked it OK and it was certainly fast paced but it was just too much relentless horror for my taste. And at the revelations and conclusion I was like, no way, as it caused me to shake my head in disbelief at the implausibility of it all.

I listened to the audiobook while also following along in the e-book ARC as both were provided by the publisher for review. I didn’t care for her voice and I don’t think she did that great a job speaking both the male and female characters. They all sounded the same. This one would definitely have benefited from a larger cast on the audiobook.