The fox siblings, Christian, Valerie, Jeremy and Lucy have been raised by their father, Stefan to be fierce competitors. When their father collapses at an event honoring their mother, the siblings are asked to attend a meeting to go over the family trust called "The Den". A trust which states that if anything happens to one of the siblings the other siblings get their share.

Each of the children have a backstory which comes into play during the book. The book is told through the POV of several characters one of which was Marian, the woman who worked for the family for years. She and her son, lived on the property and know the families’ secrets.

This was an enjoyable whodunit which was entertaining and fun for me. I had an inkling whodunit early on and even came up with a motive. I was right on one level but there was more at play and was shocked at the full reveal.

This had a nighttime soap feel to it. Some things were a little OTT and predictable but was very enjoyable and a fun whodunit. I enjoy escapism reading and this fit the bill. This family had a lot of drama going on which moved things along and kept me invested. Overall, an entertaining family drama/mystery.

3.5 stars

The Den by Cara Reinard is a suspense filled domestic thriller that was hard to put down. Ms. Reinard takes us on a wild ride with this one! It is told in multiple point of views with characters you will love to hate! I have read another book by this author and I love her writing style. She has so many twist and turns it will make you head spin. This is a thrilling tale of family drama, revenge and murder. You will find yourself guessing throughout this one. It is twisted and dark and filled with scandalous secrets. A fast paced thriller the pages will turn very fast. I just wanted to know what was going to happen next. I highly recommend you read this one, Cara Reinard is one who does not disappoint!!

Thank you NetGalley, Thomas and Mercer and the talented Cara Reinard for allowing me to read this one early. My opinions are my own.
#netgalley #thomasandmercer #carareinard
#theden #domesticthriller #arc

Not the family drama I tend to love nor the popcorn thriller that I'd been craving.

I enjoyed the characterization and family dynamics. But while the book tries to paint everyone as a likely suspect with motive, it's very obvious and predictable who the bad guys are. Lucinda was an annoying mess and my least favourite Fox.

This gave me We Are The Brennans (one of my top 2021 reads) vibes, especially the second-chance romance, but had so much less suspense and tension in comparison to a book that isn't even a thriller. The writing was also convoluted at times.

I was prepared to rate this painfully dull novel 2 stars but the last chapter saved it.

The Den is the story of a wealthy family with lots of secrets. This is a family that has many different personalities and have been pitted against one another. Definitely not a loving family. The family seems to be prone to "accidents" but are they really, is someone trying to eliminate each member of the family.

I have to say this was not a likeable family. After being raised with a ruthless father who says and does whatever he pleases none of the adult children are well balanced. Simone the mother of the family is suffering from Alzheimer's and in an assisted living facility. She's home for one night on her anniversary, when something happens at the party it leads to a lot more disaster.

The plot has many layers, and it is easy to see where this is going, but there are a few secrets that are yet to be revealed, but with members of the family being attacked, who will be left standing to inherit everything.

I don’t know why but I didn’t care for this book. I really thought I would because the plot really intrigued me. I guess I found it to be confusing and that it had too many characters. Can’t put my finger on why.

this sounded like something right up my alley but it turned out to be just okay for me - a bit overly long, and i never really found the mystery aspect that intriguing, and maybe it’s because of the boring characters.

This book was so much fun! Talk about a quirky family...even Dr. Phil would have trouble with these characters! The patriarch dies at his own party and even though he was pretty despicable and his wife has dementia, his grown children are surprised and saddened. And everyone becomes a suspect as there is a clause in the will that has them all able to "split" the family fortune. And more family member die suspiciously and many are suspects. My head was spinning continuously as I read as I believed any one of them could be responsible. This would make a great movie--or series--and I intend to read more of Reinhard in the future!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

When Lucy Fox gets caught showing too much public affection to one of the servers at the party her dad through for her mom‘s nonprofit organization, they blame her when he has a stroke. This is why the fox siblings Lucy, Christian, Jeremy and Merrill are all gathered at the dad‘s lawyers listening to the will. When they mention a caveat in the will about their mom‘s nonprofit the oldest brother Christian thinks there’s something wrong with that and because the other siblings aren’t as well off as he has they think he is just trying to stall to delay them getting their money. When they learn someone drugged their father and then Christian has an accident the police know there’s been fall play but it seems every time they get a suspect that suspect wind up dead. Not to mention Mario has recently divorced her husband who is about to go to prison for embezzlement and fraud and she could use the money but she wouldn’t kill for it and lucky for her the detectives investigating the case believes that as well. Ben is her ex boyfriend who is still in love with her but if she’s innocent then who’s doing it the suspect pool is getting smaller and the murders are growing. This book was so good it was not only a thriller but it was so much fun to read Lucy is a mess and gave me a few LOL moments I highly recommend this book I don’t think I have ever read a book by Kara Rynard but I will certainly be looking for another book by her today. I don’t think I have ever read a thriller that was so much fun to read and one as I said I highly recommend. I received this book from NetGalley and a publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

The premise of The Den looks great in the synopsis. Domestic thrillers are often amongst my favourite genres. Though I needn't like a few characters to enjoy a book, all of them in this book are intensely unlikeable and immature. I also got an artificial vibe interspersed with ostentation.

Lucy, Valerie, Jeremy and Christian Fox inherit a sum beyond their wildest imaginings are disrespectful (understatement) and full of angst toward one another...and they show it in various ways. Claws come out as do ridicule and condescension. They aren't exactly fond of their despicable father who had a heart attack and stroke one evening. But it's not just the family members who are conniving.

This book did not feel realistic whatsoever and I sadly did not finish it as it felt obligatory and gave me no reading joy. I wanted to like it so was disappointed.

This book fell a little short for me. All of the characters were pretty unlikeable, but they had redeeming moments so I appreciated that! I was glad that the POV changed each chapter because if we spent all our time in Lucy’s head I would’ve been miserable, she was terribly annoying. Plot-wise, there were some good twists but I anticipated most of them and I prefer being surprised. The writing was good but not great, which was the major failing for me. It was repetitive at times, and just didn’t pull me in or engage me. It also came off as pretentious at times, but nothing that was being said was overly creative or new.

3/5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was just ok for me. The four Fox siblings are reunited after their father has a heart attack. Their inheritance is to be divided amongst them equally however, they all have a target on their backs. The story is told from multiple povs none of whom I liked.

I figured out the who was stalking the siblings pretty easily and the other minor plot twists were just ok.

The Den is available December 13, 2022.

Thank you to netgalley and thomas&mercer for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

After a family patriarch has a serious medical episode, his four adult children learn they are to be beneficiaries. However, any of them who die before their father, that inheritance is then split among the remaining kids. After one of the sons ends up murdered, they don’t know who they can trust.

I was expecting more suspense and more thriller vibes! I just didn’t find myself waiting on the edge of my seat like I want in a thriller.

I received my copycat from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Stars: ⭐⭐⭐

PUBLICATION DAY: December 13, 2022

This is the story of the Fox siblings: Christian, Valerie, Jeremy and Lucinda. Forced to attend a party for their ailing mother, a tragic event occurs and sets off a chain of events that none of the siblings ever saw coming. Christian - the overachiever, Valerie - the caretaker, Jeremy - the druggie and Lucinda - the mess are all forced to spend time together…the reward? A portion of a vast inheritance they thought they had no chance of ever receiving. What will this competition bring out in these siblings? And will they live to see the reward?

PROS and CONS:
Fairly one dimensional characters in this one - but lots of action makes for a very quick read. To me it felt like there were a lot of unrealistic reactions to situations and people, and the characters themselves were almost completely unlikeable (every single one of them). It made it difficult to cheer for an ending when the siblings continued to dig themselves into hole after hole, refusing to give each other a chance. As I said it was a very quick read with a (predictable) good ending.

READ IT?
If you’re looking for…a quick read about inheritance and family drama galore, then this one's for you.

3 Stars

Not top notch mystery but I enjoyed it enough that I would recommend it to a friend. I think the part that made it not so gripping for me was that it sounded like many other books I've read. But still, a good read.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Overall the Den gave me Succession vibes as in there are family secrets and they are insanely rich. I enjoyed the quality of writing from Reinard and it kept me interested. The multiple points of views was enjoyable.

I didn’t particularly enjoy the ending felt very thrown together and jumbled. I also feel like this could’ve been 200 pages shorter there were parts that dragged on.

This book was slightly underwhelming for me. I liked a lot of aspects of it but other aspects fell short. I really enjoyed the wealthy family drama and the secrets. However, some of the twists/secrets I figured out pretty early. There was one secret that I really didn't see coming. I didn't feel particularly strongly about any of the characters except for one. I always feel like a mark of good writing is having the characters make you feel something, and as I said only one did and only in one scene. Overall the book wasn't as good as I thought it would be, but I am glad I read it. I also would recommend the book to others.


Rounded my 3.5 star rating up to 4 for goodreads

I seas drawn to this book based on the synopsis. Parts of hand me gripping the end of my seat , too bad the characters themselves did not bring much to the table in the form of personality. I really wanted to like this book.

I want to say that I like this book I really do because there were parts that had me at the edge of my seat and wanting more and then so many other parts that drug the story on for too long and did not feel necessary to the story.

Sadly this one wasn't for me. It felt just far too predictable and samey to a million other family drama type thrillers I've read before. Its character driven but at the same time, the characters kist aren't interesting or special so i just didn't really care. Everyone lies everyone has secrets, you can pretty much guess what's going to happen and it just really fell flat for me. On a positive side, it is character driven so if you like that or books about dark family dynamics then this may be for you. To be fair, all stories have been written before to some extent so I'd say it's worth a try and to give it a god if you do enjoy that genre. It's not for those who like action led books

Summary

A family estate is to die for in a gripping novel of psychological suspense by the author of Into the Sound.

Nothing brings the four Fox siblings together like their detestable father’s heart attack—and a hefty inheritance to be divided equally. At his deathbed is his oldest daughter, Valerie; her irresponsible sister, Lucy; and their two embattled brothers, Christian and Jeremy. Even the former housekeeper, Marisol, who’s been with the family for forty years, is on watch. All Valerie hopes for is an amicable reunion, despite the damages of the past.

By punishing means, Stefan Fox raised his children to be competitors. The cruel lessons now serve them well in a game of life and death. When it comes to the family fortune, the rules are simple: fewer siblings means a bigger share.

After a suspicious accident, Valerie knows the worst is yet to come—and confiding in the wrong person could be the most dangerous thing she’s ever done.

Mini-review
There’s nothing quite like a family drama full of tension and angst – mix in a little murder, greed and some truly despicable characters and you’ve got a serious murder mystery!

I enjoyed this one for all the interwoven character driven themes. Each character had a secret or two, driven by a competitiveness that fostered an unhealthy relationship, each of the siblings and side characters is flawed and the sarcastic banter is often hilarious.

Tigthly plotted with a great twisty ending, I think this is a great book for any fan of the genre.