YOU BETTER WATCH OUT is a typical locked room mystery in which a group of strangers are kept locked in a fabricated place, full of deadly traps and they start to get picked off one by one. Soon we learn there is a very good reason why those people are trapped and being punished.
I like how fast-paced this book is and how gory and violently gruesome the deaths are, but I gotta admit: because this is a short book and there are many characters, none of them were well-developed enough for me to truly care for their lives. There came to a point where I was just in it for the killings, just waiting for each one of them to be slaughtered.
This book reminds me A LOT of the main idea of a certain horror movie franchise from the early 2000's. I don't wanna name that franchise because it might be spoilery, though.
I'd also say this is the kind of story in which we, the readers, must suspend all our disbeliefs in order to be entertained by it. This story has some, in my opinion, quite ridiculous twists and turns in the last 20%, so just don't take them seriously. Go with the flow. It's a thriller, after all. It's not supposed to be that realistic.
The epilogue, however, did something that I personally did not enjoy at all. Nothing that would ruin the entire book, but I thought it was poorly made.
What's more, other than the fact that the whole story takes place 3 days before Christmas, I personally felt like nothing else brought me that Christmas vibe I wanted.

It's a quick read. Mostly for thriller fans who are into locked-room mysteries and a fight for survival. The main plot twist may be predictable (or simply not susprising or mind-blowing) for more hardcore thriller readers, but I'd say it is possible to enjoy it and have a good time with it.

I listened to the audiobook and I'll be honest: in my opinion, the dialogues were done really well by the audiobook narrator, Barrie Kreinik. But besides the dialogues I didn't particularly like the narration. I think this narrator has a too low, too soft, too whispery voice to be narrating such a thrillery story. There were several moments I wished for a more energetic and powerful narration.
I'd still recommend the audio for listeners who already know and like Barrie Kreinik's work, naturally.

Thank you, NetGalley and Macmillan Audio, for allowing me to listen to a free advanced audiobook copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Coming back to consciousness in what appears to be an abandoned town, five strangers make their way through a deranged killer's playground. Trying desperately to survive despite being picked off one at a time, they can only hope to make it through the day.

I absolutely devoured this one. I love nothing more than a solid locked room mystery, and the idea of a deranged killer building a whole town in the middle of the mountains sounded like a very interesting take on that set up. I'm not typically a fan of books with descriptions of torture, they gross me out and it gets to too much given the depressing state of the real world lately. That being said, while this book did feature some scenes that were as heinous as they were creative, they were relatively short lived and reasonably spaced out so they never felt overwhelming. I also thought that the characters were fleshed out enough to keep everybody straight and make the story seem believable, but never got so deep with the backstory or character development that their death was overly upsetting. Lastly the twist was good, I didn't see it coming and it was honestly pretty twisted. I also appreciated the reference to the previous book which I thought was a good call back for those of us who read it and yet readers who did not read it wouldn't be lost. I also appreciated that they toned down the Impractical Joker references (I couldn't name one, maybe I missed it or maybe they were subtle). My husband & I are huge fans of the show, we've been to the live shows and some of the guys stand up shows, but there were so many easter eggs in the previous book that it was distracting and took away from the tense plot. Pulling that out allowed this one to hold a very high level of tension the entire time. Well done!

I started this audio book when I took my dogs out for their walk yesterday morning and I just kept walking for almost two hours as I listened. When I got home, I listened while I made lunch. When I went to close up at work, I listened as I worked through my tasks. I just could not put it down. Overall just highly recommended for mystery thriller fans, horror fans, and, of course, IJ fans who want to support Mur! :)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
I cannot rave enough about this audiobook. I loved it!! Total surprise at the end. It had the perfect mix of mystery, creepiness and gore. Phenomenal storyline and I loved the setting too. Once I started it I finished it the same day because I could not stop listening.
Great narration too.
For anyone who likes a good horror book minus supernatural stuff, then this is for you!!!

Ok this was SUCH a good thriller. 😍 the mystery of finding out why these people were gathered together for this crazy event was entertaining to watch unfold. The k1llings were giving “SAW” traps in the best way. I loved the Christmas theme. 🎄 the narration was great and I loved the twist ending. 😃

This book is so much fun! If Saw, The Purge and If Then There were None had a baby, it would be this very entertaining, fast-paced novel. Eddie is not a good guy, he’s about to rob an elderly couple when he blacks out and wakes up in an abandoned town in the middle of a blizzard. He soon finds more victims and, before they can figure out what’s happening, they all start dying in gruesome ways. It is obvious from the beginning that, if Eddie is a petty criminal, his companions are not angels, so I wasn’t too sad to see them in peril. That said, Eddie is trying to change and his biggest ally, Jessica, seems like a nice person so it was easy to root for them. The murders are gory and pretty inventive, and the pace is so fast that it was hard to believe it could get any more suspenseful - and then, it did. Barrie Kreinik’s audiobook performance is solid, giving each character a distinctive voice so that it’s always clear who’s speaking, even when they are fighting and talking over each other. The baddie was very surprising and every guess I’d made was wrong. Since I always say that Die Hard is my favorite Christmas movie, I guess this is the perfect Yuletide book.
I chose to listen to this audiobook and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Macmillan Audio.

The holiday season meets Sara Blaedel’s DISSOLVED meets The Purge (movie) in this winter locked room thriller!

Premise - it’s the holiday season, but things aren’t so merry for a group of strangers who find themselves kidnapped by an assortment of kidnappers and stashed in a fake town. No one knows why they’re there or what the kidnappers intend to do with them, but one thing is clear: it’s not going to be easy to check out.

I don’t know that this would put anyone in the holiday spirit, per se, but it’s a lot of fun! And if you think Die Hard is a Christmas movie then sure, hohoho so is this.

There were some crazy twists towards the end that I did not see coming… including one major one that I found incredibly frustrating, right after I *almost* got a twinge of holiday hopefulness - honestly, I didn’t like that twist at all and considered 3 starring this, but the story was super engaging and the audiobook (I’ll get to this next) so well-narrated that less than a 4 didn’t feel fair/true.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Barrie Kreinik. She did a great job with the diverse cast of characters, they were all interesting to listen to and all distinct enough to never have any issue keeping track of who’s who, even when listening to the audiobook while running errands, doing housework, working out, etc. I definitely recommend enjoying this as an audiobook!

Thanks, NetGalley and Macmillan Audio, for the audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I LOVED this audiobook.

From the very beginning I was HOOKED. I listened to it all in one sitting. It was edge of your seat thrilling! A group of people are stuck in a seemingly fake town as they are picked off one by one. Why are they there? Who is holding them captive? Bet you’ll never guess!

This audiobook was the perfect length. It did not drag on with useless dialogue like some books tend to have to increase the length. I listened at 2x and it was the perfect speed. The narrator was great, I love her audiobooks! This is a perfect holiday thriller!

Highly recommend!