Close your Eyes and Count to 10
Lisa Unger

I have an interesting relationship with Lisa Unger books. There have been times I have loved them and there have been other times. CLOSE YOUR EYES is one of the latter. I feel like her most of her writing happens in the dark and I have appreciated it more when she steps into the light.

CLOSE YOUR EYES is about a mother, left to fend for herself and her family by her husband. She has made it through some of the tougher times alone. She is an influencer with more debt than support. More debits than credits.

One day her son tells her about a reality game based on the childhood game of hide and seek. The prize for winning it all is more money than she'll ever see in her lifetime. He thinks she can win it all. She realizes she does too.

What she doesn't know is that the game is set up with the odds stacked against the players. And to win, she'll have to find the parts of herself long hidden, and lose the part of herself she has long held onto.

Books based on games don't always work for me. And when this book was put together in the blender parts of it stayed separated like oil and water. It felt clunky and rocky, not smooth and it didn't allow for an entertaining and enjoyable reading experience. It felt like work, and far more than it was worth.

I'm sorry this one didn't quite work for me. I will continue to read Unger's book and I'm hoping for a better connection next time!

Thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing | Park Row for the advanced copy!

CLOSE YOUR EYES AND COUNT TO 10...⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you @htp_hive for the gifted arc!
🫣Isolation
🫣Influencers
🫣Remote Island
🫣Multiple POVs
🫣Missing Girl
🫣Angry Locals
Adele is trying to survive with her two teenagers after her husband left her in debt and is on the run. Her son convinces her to sign up for a game of Extreme Hide and Seek for influencers and a chance of a million dollars.
Maverick is a popular adventurer influencer and does extreme challenges. Him and his team also run the Extreme Hide and Seek. After a girl goes missing in the last game and their business on the line, they need this challenge to go well.
And then the storm rolls in…. And then things get wild!
Even though I guessed some of the twists, I enjoyed this one. I love a good isolation/ locked room mystery.

Another good edition from Lisa Unger, tho I was worried about the plot from the beginning. Why would a mother risk so much, and how could she let her children follow someone with so many skeptical doubters? That aside, classic whodunit in a bit of a locked room mystery. Mysterious isolated island. Only a few people invited. Storm. Dangerous building collapsing near the ocean. The drama was high, but it didn't go the path I thought it would. Was expecting each contestant in the game to die, one by one. Instead, there were less contestants and more corporate workers running the game. Always enjoy Unger's writing style tho!

I loved this book! Fast-paced and action packed, this book is about a group of contestants that go to an island to play an extreme game of hide and seek. It really show cases the modern day world of online gaming. Definitely worth the read.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. A big thank you goes to @launger and @netgalley for my advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review! This book releases on February 25, 2025!

I ended up DNF Around 30%. The whole extreme game of survival concept has been popular and overdone in the last year, and I just didn’t find myself wanting to read this or enjoying it. I’m sure tons of people will love it, it just wasn’t for me.

This was a fast-paced thriller that I breezed through in a few sittings.
-Extreme game competition, live streamed by infamous vloggers
-Last extreme game, a contestant disappeared
-Island location; decrepit abandoned resort
-Angry locals; impending storm

You might say to yourself “what the heck is extreme hide and seek?? And who the heck would sign up for that??”- (my initial thoughts) but somehow I couldn’t look away and found myself rooting for single mom, Adele, as she tries to outlast her competitors and win the $1 million prize.
The Extreme team (vlogger hosts) were *messy*- rife with disagreements, in-fighting, secrets, and unlikeable personalities, but the drama was fun and made the game full of tension. Unger does a great job with the descriptive location, the chapter breaks with foreshadowing, and bringing claustrophobic suspense as the stakes get higher! I think long-time Unger fans who are not as familiar with, or comfortable with reality streaming shows, YouTuber culture, and gaming might find this book to be outside of their comfort zone, or to have a different feel than some of her previous books. However, I found the focus on our culture’s obsession with ‘likes, views, shares’ as an excellent context for exploring how and why some people are willing to go to extreme actions, including murder.

3.5🌟
The ultimate game of hide and seek. Are you ready?

Here’s the backdrop:
An eccentric online adventure-seeker known to take stunts to the extreme.
A girl missing from the last online event.
A remote island
A crumbling, condemned building
And a huge storm approaching.

I mean seriously, what could go wrong?‍💁🏼‍♀️

This was a quick read from one of my go-to authors. Though the premise isn’t all together original, with influencers doing anything for followers. Ultimately leading to the old adage, who's to blame?
Those seeking the attention...or the viewers desperate to see how far things will go? Maybe both?

At any rate, Lisa Unger still delivered a captivating read that I quickly breezed through over the weekend. Lots of characters and side-stories, but still very easy to follow along.

I’ve been reading books from Lisa Unger for years. And this latest may not be one of my top favorites but it is a good solid thriller and I look forward to her next.

Thank you to NatGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing

I loved Close Your Eyes and Count to 10 by Lisa Unger. Lisa has a way of blending the human condition into her mysteries that connects you to the characters and makes you part of the story. I was rooting for Adele, a single mom who was trying to provide for her kids after being abandoned by her criminal husband who was still missing. Adele's son found a hide-n-seek game on a remote island that had a prize of one million dollars to the winner. The twists and turns of the game will keep you up reading till way past your bedtime!

Clout, likes, followers... I felt like the storyline of the book was so relevant for our "social media" obsessed society. Social media influencers are invited to an island by Maverick to participate in an adult game of hide-n-seek. The victorious participant will win one million dollars.

Adele has found herself in a tough spot financially, so when her son, Blake, suggests she apply, she figured she literally had nothing to lose.

When Adele arrives on the remote island, she spends time doing recon work in preparation for the game. While exploring the island, it becomes clear that things are on the "up and up".

The cast of characters in this book are vast and I often found myself questioning some of their motives. As it turned out, I was right about some of my thoughts.

Something many readers probably haven't thought about is how easy it is for kids to communicate with unknown strangers while playing online video games. This can lead to unexpected consequences, some good and some bad.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion/review.

Thank you NetGalley, Park Row and Lisa Unger for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy of Close Your Eyes and Count to 10.
This is a mystery/thriller about a confident, extreme adventurer, Maverick Dillan, along with his posse of unreliable characters as they orchestrate a reality competition on a deserted island which twists and turns into deadly consequences. There are contestants, social media and everyone’s’ wicked past to juggle through this game of hide and seek.
This story is not my cup of tea. Maybe someone on the youthful end of life would be entertained but it is beyond my grasp. I’m not fond of video games, extreme challenges or histories of mistakes that make all the characters possibly guilty. The language to me was ridiculous and repetitive and the story was not about the challenge but about the characters’ past mistakes as they continued to make more mistakes along the way.. I need more depth, more edge of my seat action and more emotional honesty to become immersed in books I love to read.

I'm usually a Lisa Unger fan, but this one wasn't nearly as strong as some of her other thrillers. It felt like there were too many storylines at once without any significant connection to one another. Too many (unlikeable) characters and POV's, and too much bogged down by video game description and 'going live' constantly. I understand the points Unger was making and the depiction of today's flawed society in terms of our obsession with likes and views, but for me, it was all a bit heavy-handed and bloated. The strengths lay within Unger's atmospheric setting and descriptions, and the heartfelt capture of the relationship between a struggling single mom and her teenage kids.

I ended up loving this one SO much. At first I was like “Eh, influencers go to a remote island to play hide and seek in an abandoned, decrepit resort. Sounds like something I’ve read before.”

But once I started reading, I was hooked. I was pulled into the mystery components and enjoyed the twist at the end. I also enjoyed the character development of all of the players, as well as the MC’s kids, who were back home while their mom competed for the prize money. I thought it wrapped up in a neat bow and I enjoyed this quick, locked room mystery.

There was one component of the story that I wished had been further developed. I wonder if anyone else will share my thoughts.

I thought this book sounded so good! Unfortunately, it missed the mark for me. It felt like the plot was so slow to take off. I felt like there was so much time bouncing around character to character. This left me from feeling like there was any progression in the plot taking place. If you are a fan of a slow burn thriller, this could be the one for you.

Adele is a newly divorced mother of two teenagers, Violet and Blake. She has a low paying job but is also an influencer on social media. She decides to enter an extreme hide and go seek challenge with the promised prize of one million dollars to be held on the remote island of Falcao. This story had a great premise but had a slow start and seemed to drag in places. It also had multiple characters and things got confusing with too many multiple points of view. There definitely was a lot of action and suspense in the second half of the book. I love this author's books but this one was not one of my favorites.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishers/Park Row for the ARC of this book.

I absolutely loved the premise of "extreme hide and seek" gone wrong. The setting was perfectly atmospheric: a crumbling old hotel on a remote island, during a storm of course. There's a hint of survivalist suspense, but since this is essentially reality TV the characters seem safe enough. The host is also suspicious, setting the scene early on.

Unfortunately, very little time was spent on the actual game. Most of the story was about Maverick's shady business practices and online drama. I would have liked a bit more survival! I also didn't think we needed quite as many scenes from the POV of Adele's children (more on that in my spoiler discussion).

This is a quick and enjoyable read. I binged most of it on New Year's Eve, and the pages turned quickly. I always enjoy Lisa Unger books!

I did think it was a little odd that the author spent time coming up with new names for TikTok, Instagram, Fortnite, and so on, rather than just using the real-world names. It was clear which platforms she meant, but it took some explanation that wouldn't have been required if she just said "TikTok". I understand not wanting to advertise for shitty companies, though.

I really liked this book, it had a different take on the game of hide and seek, and how being on an island that you are not suppose to be on can have deadly consequences.

I loved when I first start reading this book it was clear that I would have to keep four main plots in mind. The first was the fact that the main characters are about to play the game of hide and seek. The second is that Angeline had a problem and that problem is that the game was taking place in a sacred area of the island that she kept getting pushback on. The third was Adele's husband and the mysteriousness of where did he go and what did he do. Lastly, the fact that Chloe went missing in the last games and had yet to be found. While, there was a lot to be explored with these plot lines. I found myself able to comprehend and enjoy the set up of the story. My only main complaint is that there were too many points of view and it seem like the timeline was a little out of order sometimes. I dont know if it was my Arc copy that I received but some of the details seemed a little out of order but I was able to figure it out. I overall enjoyed this book and cannot wait for the next one tom come out.

I was let down by this one. It was really predictable IMO, lacked compelling characters and felt like the plot was so dystopian & abstract it was hard to get into (and feel like it was remotely a believable concept). The premise was promising, and I felt like it could have been really excellent but the execution of the plot lines and the “twists” was lacking for me.

Close Your Eyes and Count to 10 by Lisa Unger is a tension filled read that will keep you guessing.

Adele is struggling to raise two teens after her husband goes on the run rather than be arrested for embezzling money from his company. When her son comes to her, proposing she enter a contest that could result in her winning a million dollars, she is soon off to a remote island for an extreme game of hide and seek, but things don't turn out the way she had hoped.

I really enjoyed Close Your Eyes and Count to 10, but I felt like the story didn't really match the book description, so that was a bit disappointing.

The book is written from multiple points of view, some first person from the point of view of a character, and some in 3rd person purportedly from the game's perspective, which felt a bit odd at times. I generally enjoy a book written from multiple points of view, but I almost felt like there were too many points of view in this book.

The prologue really started on a high note and pulled me into the story immediately. Unfortunately it slowed down relatively quickly after that beginning. With so many points of view the chapters were relatively short, so this kept the story moving at a decent pace. I did feel like the story started to drag a bit in the middle, but happily not for long.

I think what made this interesting to me was that the main characters were all influencers, and not only were they competing for the prize from this game, but they were also all basically competitors in real life, competing for followers and views.

In all, my disappointments with this book were fairly minor, and I think many thriller readers will enjoy it.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This latest work by Unger is a mix of modern day suspense incorporating live feeds along with elements of an old-fashioned gothic mystery. There's an isolated island, a raging storm, an abandoned, crumbling hotel and a cast that has the reader unsure of who is the villian. There's quite a bit of back and forth from past, present to future which can leave the reader unbalanced. Cudos to Unger for being brave about using modern technology as a plot device. There are some scenes which seem out of step (weird native woman protecting the island) and at times dialogue is about ten years out of date (off the chain, you go girl). Still, it's a readable work and would be a good choice for vacation reading.

Daredevil Mav plans an elaborate game of hide and seek at an abandoned hotel on Falcao Island. Contestant and newly single mom, Adele must figure her way off the island.

This was an interesting one. The premise is really cool. I loved the idea of an extreme hide and seek. I was so ready for a nonstop action thriller. That's not really what I got. The way this book is organized I think is its biggest downfall. However, the story is still interesting. I liked Adele the best out of all of the characters. She's so strong and is really there to look out for her kids beyond everything. The other two contestants were also really interesting to me. They both had their reasons for being there that made their stories deeper. Mav and his crew were just very untrustworthy all around. I wanted to like them all more, but couldn't. However, I think that's intentional The best thing about this book was the setting and I wish there was more of it. The abandoned hotel was awesome.

All in all, an interesting thriller.

Thank you to the author and the publisher for the gifted copy!