Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this book by Scott Kershaw.

4 star read- a devouring, page turning gripping read had me gripped from page 1 and all the twists and turns had me hooked right to the end recommend highly!

The person you love most is in danger, to save them you must play the game, possibly risking the lives of others involved, what do you do?

The Game is a fast paced gripping thriller told from the perspectives of each of the 5 players. It's told in short snappy chapters that alternate between each character which kept me completely hooked and wondering what the hell was going to happen next.

As the story unfolds it appears there are many sinister things to come, just where will it all end and who if anyone will survive? Absolute fear and raw desperation ooze from each chapter as we see each individual question if there's any limit to what they will do to save the person the love?

I switched between audiobook and ebook and found both equally gripping. The narration was done by one narrator and I was surprisingly impressed with his different characterisations. While I was completely hooked throughout I can't say that I was overly fond of the ending, it felt a little bit messy and if anything a little bit unnecessary in a way.

Overall an interesting fast paced thriller that will keep you hooked.

TWs for animal death, rape and sexual assault.

Brilliant twisty little thriller had me hooked from page one and the ending was not to be missed, will look out for more from the author!

Pretty good! Slightly confusing trying to keep track of all the different players at the beginning, but an interesting and scary concept nonetheless! Definitely took a twist I didn't see coming - would recommend!

What a sick and twisted mind Scott Kershaw must have to come up with this completely soul destroying game. But how glad I am he did, because it makes for a ridiculously impressive debut novel.

This is fast paced, and 5 seemingly unconnected people are made to become players in this game and its a race against time to see if you can save your loved one.

Five people abducted between three different countries, five inadvertent players in this sick and twisted game. Well it certainly makes for compelling and addictive reading. I was hooked from the start, and if I wasn't reading, the book wasn't far from my mind.

I raced through this within a day, and couldn't get enough of it. I felt for the first characters who we hear from in player order, and I would only put the book down at intervals if I had finished a set of updates on each of the five players in the game. This is compulsive reading at its very best, and it blows my mind that this is a debut.

Some of the descriptions are rather graphic, and at times it can be uncomfortable reading, especially things like the whole of Noah's route to England. But it keeps you going, kept me drawn in, and I can't believe just how fabulous this book is.

I am already insanely keen to discover what this talented author pens next.

Thank you to HQ and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

🌟Great concept.
🌟I felt so so sorry for Sarah 😱
🌟Gripping read.
BUT
☆☆the ending really missed the mark for me

I loved this book at the beginning- it had me hooked from the first page - and I continued to love it until the last 20% or do - when it got a bit confusing. I don’t think it clearly set out what was going on and I was disappointed with that. Overall 3.5 stars.

It took me a while to read this book as it took me a while to really get into it.
The idea of “the game” was great, a good storyline but at times quite long winded.

Did I know who created the game as the story went on? No, so the author did a great job there, as sometimes I can tell early on who the ring leader is.

I didn’t see the point of the character Noah. I understand his job before entering the game and that may be why he was invited, but when they looked back at everyone else at the end, they didn’t for Noah so I don’t know how his story really ended.

A good book if you like suspense and different characters storylines but I felt there was a peak and then it went a bit downhill.

It’s been a while since I read a book that kept me hooked from the word go! I absolutely loved this!

The book is told in the perspective of each of five strangers who, to save the person they love most that has been kidnapped, must follow instructions on a phone and play ‘The Game’.

Fast paced the book keeps you hooked from the beginning, until an explosive and surprising ending!

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for letting me review this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Hooked me in from the get go. Different and compelling.

A real page turned and a cracker of a story.

Recommend

I can't decide if I liked this book or not. It certainly had some great bits and kept me reading, but towards the end it got a bit silly and definitely not believable. I would read another by this author

Really enjoyed this book as it was out of the ordinary and had a lot of twists and turns. Ask yourself what you would do if a loved one was in danger and the only to save them was to play the game...... And win! Great book and highly recommended.

I liked the blurb of this book, it sounded like something that would blow my mind, but, it didn’t quite do that.
I knew going into it that there would be at least five characters and it did, there were more than five and each chapter was told from one of their points of view. It did get confusing remembering who was who.
I didn’t feel shocked at the ending and was left a little disappointed. It kind of ended quite abruptly, but it does leave it open for another book or another game?!
Overall, it was an okay book, I did find my interest wavering at times, it had potential, but it just didn’t give the wow factor to me.

Absolutely not, just no


The beginning of this story I thought the plot seemed so interesting, five strangers finding themselves having to come together to play a game in order to save someone they love. however the way this story was written, for one it had way to many povs, so it made it really difficult to keep track of what was going on and to become invested in the characters. Then it would also go back and forward in time as well which made it even more confusing. Then the plot twist just came out of nowhere and yes most of the time that's a good thing but we really didn't have any lead up to this happening and without spoiling it, I didn't like how it was handled, the subject matter was not handled correctly in my opinion

It's kinda twisty, it's kinda fun - why not!

Picked up this book as it sounded cool and a tad different from my usual books and boy it was - and it did not disappoint!

The plot and characters were interesting, the pacing fast and the storytelling unique.

I did feel somewhere after 60% in the pace dropped off the high speed and I had to skim a bit to keep myself interested and not abandon this book for a better one..

Overall, I was enjoying myself, except for the 'resolution' bit with Sarah's partner.. it just did not sit right with me at all and the ending(s) were tied up in an unsatisfactory manner. Maybe I missed some bits but - I didn't think the ending did the rest of the book justice to be fair.

Thank you for the ARC, NetGalley!

This was actually one of the best books I've ever read.

I LOVED it from start to finish. Usually I'm quite good at predicting stuff, but honestly, this book threw me in so many ways.

Relatively overdone plot but honestly, this had me gripped. Definitely worth a read.

For me this book started off great and then slowly declined. I wasnt sure what the game actually was and didn't think leaving it to the last 10% to explain made me want to carry on reading.

Unfortunately it just wasn't for me

I really enjoyed this debut novel by Scott Kershaw. A fast paced thriller with plenty of twists and turns that kept me guessing throughout with an ending that I didn’t see coming. I look forward to reading more from this author. Would definitely recommend. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

When I went into this book I was expecting a fast-paced thriller, and there were elements of that, sure, but what I actually felt a lot of the time was...sad, I guess? The characters were mostly unlikeable, and while I enjoyed the twists and turns, I felt like the constant cliffhangers left a lot unresolved.

Overall the plotting and Kershaw's writing style were strong, but where this lost me was in its depiction of its characters, by leaning into stereotypes associated with women and PoC.

The premise really excited me, but after introducing the five players I really couldn't get on with the writing. I found the female characters clunky and predictable. I could tell that, even though some of the characters were from the US that the author wasn't, the description of location and buildings were very 'this is what I think the US is like'. I did not finish.