🔪 You Better Watch Out - James Murray, Darren Wearmouth

3.5 ⭐️- Where are my impractical joker fans?! This one’s written by our very own Murr! I love Christmas, thrillers, and the ADKs and this one had all 3! This is definitely filled with blood and guts so if that’s not your thing, find yourself another Christmas thriller.

Six people have a history that will haunt them. All six are mysteriously attacked and brought together in an abandoned town in the middle of a winter blizzard. They all wake up and have no idea how they got there or why. One by one, each is mysteriously killed in this creepy fenced in town. You better watch out because no one knows who’s next.

This is short and easy to binge. The audiobook is about 6 hours long and really well done. I wish there was less characters because at times, I did confuse them, but I eventually got the hang of it. I needed a Christmas thriller to mix up with all the romance that comes with holiday books. This was thrilling with twists and turns and deaths I didn’t see coming. Definitely recommend for thriller fans looking for something a little different. Also for fans of “No Exit” by Taylor Adams!

I really wanted to love this one because the premise sounded so good. But I just wasn’t invested. I definitely think it was me more than the book! I wasn’t feeling the slasher vibes & I didn’t feel connected to the narrator or any of the characters.

This was…fine. I can see why fans of easy psychological thrillers would eat this up. The story clips along at a decent pace and there is a twist ending.
As a voracious horror and thriller reader, I found this book supremely lacking. I can name the exact movie or tv show in which we have seen all of the kills play out. They depend on you to suspend your disbelief far beyond what I could do, especially when I found everything so predictable and unoriginal. I was really hoping for more from this. I would definitely give the author another shot. I just found myself itching to just get the book over with so I could move on to my next read. I will say that the audiobook narrator was totally a 5/5.

Short, delicious, twisty, and satisfying! Perfect transitional read from spooky to holiday season. I thoroughly enjoyed this one, LOVED the ending, and could so see it developed into a movie. Already recommending to friends! The ending was killer.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Oh, the weather outside is frightful, and so is this book… holy hell was this a gory horror book!

I have been in a major horror/thriller kick lately so when I was approved for an ARC of this book I thought it was a perfect way to get in the holiday season. There were less holiday elements than I thought there would be based on the title and cover but there were some Christmas themes throughout - there were decorations, one particular holiday song, and the events of the book too place before/on Christmas.

I love a slasher book/movie and I also love multiple POVs so those parts of the book were a win for me. That being said, the twist was one that I called correctly and it was fairly obvious where it was going, which dropped it down from a 4 to a 3.5 for me.. The gore was also a bit much, particularly in one scene, but it was certainly imaginative! Jigsaw from SAW would have been impressed. It was a wild ride for sure and definitely keeps your interest!

Gruesome Christmas thriller with Hunger Games / Survivor vibes. Not so innocent people find themselves kidnapped on Christmas Eve. Will they make it out? The twist was surprising but I guessed it right before figuring it out! The ending was still a surprise too! "You Better Watch Out" is going to have a different meaning now

Wow! This was such a fun, gory slasher. Extremely fast paced and reminded me a lot of the Saw franchise. I listened to this on audio, and the narrator did an amazing job!

We follow Jessica who wakes up after being attacked. She's trapped in a strange deserted town with a few other people. They band together to find a way out, but they quickly realize that someone is killing them off one by one.

I really loved this! It has me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. I was not expecting the twist at all. My jaw literally dropped. I will never look at merry-go-rounds the same way. Highly recommend if you're looking for something suspenseful, graphic, and/or gory.

This was just okay. I thought the beginning started out so strong and by the end I was disappointed. I felt the romance came out of nowhere and was unnecessary.

Holy crap - this book was incredible.

Five strangers wake up in a ghost town in a blizzard - kidnapped, drugged, and dropped here. Their only task is to try and survive - which is hard, as slowly one by one they meet their bloody and deadly demises. They’re trapped with a killer - they don’t know each other, and they’d better watch out.

I had the audiobook of this novel and it was so engaging and interesting from the start. I love slasher films, so when I read the synopsis of this I was instantly locked in. But I could not, for one minute, anticipate the big twist! This was wild! I’m going to have to do a relisten and be very intentional because I think there was foreshadowing and I didn’t catch it at all.

If you’re looking for a Christmas thriller, with slasher vibes - you must check this one out.

A Christmas thriller with a wicked twist! You Better Watch Out by James S. Murray and Darren Wearmouth was so much fun. This was very much a slice and dice slasher story. There was not a dull moment in this. The action was pretty much non stop from the very beginning. There was much more gore than I expected but I didn't mind it. I loved how creative the kills were. There were plenty of plot twists to keep you guessing. Such a fun and deadly way to kick off the holiday season!

Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Very gory, and not very Christmas-y. A good twist but I didn't care for the ending. The epilogue helped a bit. Enjoyable narrator.

Eddie, Jess and others awaken on Christmas Eve in a deserted town. It appears they all have similar stories of being drugged or assaulted before waking up in this place. Most of them work together to try to find a way out, but they begin dropping and dying one by one. Why were they brought here? How do they escape? And who are they really running from?

It was such a ride. Fast paced and really easy to listen to. Kept me so interested. Such a fun premise and a gory showing. It was definitely more gory and wild than I was anticipating for a somewhat holiday themed story. The only holiday being it happens on Christmas Eve.

Definitely give this one a read for a fun read.

When I requested this one I didn’t realize one of the authors was Murr from Impractical Jokers. Love that show and and he is multi talented as this was a great Christmas thriller. I didn’t see the twists at the end Coming at all! So glad I chose to listen to this one on audiobook, The narrator was perfect.

When Eddie decides to try and rob an elderly couple outside of a small-town grocery store two days before Christmas, he is attacked and wakes up hours later in the street. At first glance, the town seems to have been completely abandoned, but he soon finds other people who say they were also knocked unconscious and woke up alone. One by one, someone or something is trying to kill them all. But who, and why?

Okayyy, I would not have guessed that one of the guys from Impractical Jokers would co-author such a gruesome book! So dark, Murr! 😂 This short, inventive novel is really more horror than thriller. I seem to be dipping my toe into horror more and more lately and I don't hate it, but I wasn't ready for the level of gore in this book (yes, I know the gift-wrapped knife on the cover should have been a clue).

The plot twists and characters in this book made for a unique tale that had me on the edge of my seat until the end. The violence was a bit too absurd for me at times, but I'll chalk that up to the no-holds-barred nature of horror. Setting this book during Christmas and weaving in a holiday song with lyrics that are a bit creepy...well, it works.

Definitely worth a listen/read. I liked the audiobook narrator and thought she did a good job.

You Better What Out by James S Murray and Darren Wearmouth - If you are looking for a Christmas thriller - THIS BOOK IS IT! This book was everything! I need a sequel. The ending was mindblowing! No way anyone could ever guess it. I could not put this book down! READ THIS BOOK! Murr did GOOD!

I tried the audio-and DNFed around 30%

The premise and set up of this book sounds really interesting. Unfortunately, I just kept finding my mind wandering. I don't think I clicked with the audio narrator. I will absolutely give this one another try, but in physical format. I'd love to find out what is going on in this one!

This was a fun, bloody good horror read full of surprises. I actually laughed out loud when the addiction of one of the characters was revealed! Did not see that coming. Six strangers are kidnapped and held in a pseudo compound built to look like a small town. There is a killer on the loose who wants to hunt them down for sport. How will they survive when they don't know who to trust? This was a gory, slice and dice horror novel that was for me a quick and enjoyable read. I listened to the audio version of the book and the narrator was excellent. Recommended. 4 stars.

Many thanks to Net Galley and Macmillan Audio for a chance to read/listen to an ARC version of You Better Watch Out. All opinions are my own.

With a big thank you to MacMIllan Audio for the copy of this audio book, unfortunately this one was not for me. It had too much gore and not enough holiday spirit. I love the idea of a holiday horror/thriller book as a break from sugar sweet Hallmark type books, but this one was too much. I think what is inside did not match the cover at all. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review this book!

I don't the concept is new but the fact that it was right before Christmas was a bit exciting. I was invested in what was happening, and then when they found out what they were going to have to do to stay alive. I think the twist ending was pretty easy to see coming, but it still made the end a bit more exciting. Overall it was a really quick read and I think it's always nice when I have a holiday book that is not romance.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

This one definitely kept me interested, and I didn't expect the ending which was nice! I would read more by this author. The narrators did a good job.