Catherine Steadman
Psychological Thriller
A rich, eccentric family. A time-honored tradition. Or a lethal game of survival? One woman finds out what it really takes to join the 1% in this riveting psychological thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Something in the Water, Mr. Nobody, and The Disappearing Act.
Harry is a novelist on the brink of stardom; Edward, her husband-to-be, is seemingly perfect. In love and freshly engaged, their bliss is interrupted by the reemergence of the Holbecks, Edward’s eminent family and the embodiment of American old money. For years, they’ve dominated headlines and pulled society’s strings, and Edward left them all behind to forge his own path. But there are eyes and ears everywhere. It was only a matter of time before they were pulled back in . . .
After all, even though he’s long severed ties with his family, Edward is set to inherit it all. Harriet is drawn to the glamour and sophistication of the Holbecks, who seem to welcome her with open arms, but everything changes when she meets Robert, the inescapably magnetic head of the family. At their first meeting, Robert slips Harry a cassette tape, revealing a shocking confession which sets the inevitable game in motion.
What is it about Harry that made him give her that tape? A thing that has the power to destroy everything? As she ramps up her quest for the truth, she must endure the Holbecks’ savage Christmas traditions all the while knowing that losing this game could be deadly.
-Excerpt taken from Goodreads.
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My Opinion
(4.5 / 5) Harriet is marrying into a very wealthy American family. However, her fiance has distanced himself from his family until now. At their first meeting, her new father-in-law hands her a cassette tape of a shocking confession. Now she has to decide what to do with the information, or if it’s too much of a risk to bring up her own dark past.
I listened to this in one day, I could not stop thinking about it! The mystery is masterfully woven. She has a mysterious past that she’s not willing to let others discover and that keeps her from turning him in. The more she investigates, the more troublesome her situation becomes. The family’s past gets more and more troublesome to where she is worried for her safety. Throw in weird family traditions that make her question their sanity and it makes a fabulous drama.
I had hints of what the twist was but didn’t fully believe it. Then everything I thought I knew was completely turned upside down. That twist hit hard and it was phenomenal!
Audio Review: This is one of those audios that completely makes the story. One aspect that helped is that the author read it herself. When authors read their own work, it adds so much more emotion and cadence to their voice. They want you to feel certain emotions at certain times and are best to bring that out. Steadman had a light English accent that fit beautifully into the story. My favorite part was actually the real sounds of voice mail or speaking on a tape. It was so realistic that it felt as if I was listening to the tape myself. There was background noise of cars, the staticky crinkle of tape sounds and the disconnected voice that sounds farther away. It was so well done! This was definitely my favorite audio in a long time!
General content summary: F words= 15, C words= 1, language, memories of a car accident and deaths (some details), previous teen death from mixed medications (some details), admission of murder (no details), some details of a suicide by jumping from a large height, details of a large monster, a man drugged a young woman killing her, intentional burning of a car that killed a man, multiple admittance of murders (no details), f/f relationship (previous), poisonings, injuries from physical violence, death by blunt force, physical violence, fire on person, gunshot wound, house burning with people inside.
Thank you to Penguin Random House Audio for the gifted copy!
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