2/25/25; 384 pages
Park Row Books
Close Your Eyes and Count to 10 by Lisa Unger is a very highly recommended locked-room mystery/thriller. Unger is one of my automatically read authors and she delivers an excellent novel again!
Adele Crane and her two teenage children, Violet and Blake, have been struggling since her husband Miller disappeared along with millions of dollars he embezzled from his company five years ago. Now Blake has told her about a streaming reality competition called Extreme Hide and Seek run by adventurer Maverick (Mav) Dillan. The prize is a million dollars, something that would really help Adele and her children. Adele has had some success online as a health influencer, so she applies and makes the team.
Mav and his team are holding the competition on the remote Falcão
Island, at the site of an abandoned, dilapidated resort that is on the
verge of collapsing. Adele's competitors are Malinka, a famous young
mountain
climber, and Wild Cody, a former kid's show host. Once Adele arrives,
she can see there are internal struggles with Maverick's team.
Complicating matter further is a huge storm heading for the island and a
mysterious old woman, with muscular enforcers accompanying her, is
warning them to leave.
This is exactly the well written and plotted mystery I needed. Once
the plot is set up in this multifaceted, complex, and engrossing
locked-room mystery/thriller, the action takes off at a fast pace. I was
engrossed throughout. You think it's going to be a hide and seek game,
but it is so much dangerous and becomes a fight for survival. There are
so many secrets as the sense of dread rises with each page - and for
multiple characters. Everyone is live-streaming leading up to the game
increasing the tension as the views matter and determine success.
The narrative unfolds through the point-of-view of several different characters, including Adele, her children, Maverick, his girlfriend Angeline, and more. Adele is a fully realized character and you will be supporting her all the way. All the other characters are also portrayed as realistic, complicated individuals with secrets and shortcomings.
It is so enjoyable to read a well-plotted and executed mystery/thriller that doesn't feel like every other thriller out there. Thanks to Park Row Books for providing me with an advance reader's copy via Edelweiss. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.
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