I was really looking forward to this one, but I ended up super disappointed. The game aspect, which sounded really interesting, was almost nonexistant. There were so many storylines. There was the past, the present, the future, a podcast element... It's like the author decided to throw everything at the wall to see what stuck.

3.5 Stars!!

If you like a good whodunit, this book is for you.

Close your eyes and count to 10 by Lisa Unger is about an extreme hide and seek game gone wrong. It’s a quick and easy read that you’ll want to finish in one sitting.

I thought the plot would be a bit more creepy with the falling apart hotel and island vibes. Lots of twists and a fast-paced read. I’d rate this one 3.5 stars.

The social media element was a unique add. It was helpful to get the different perspectives from the players and creators from their lives.

Adele was a soft spot for me. A mother ready to do anything to provide for her kids. That is what kept me hooked to see what happens and wanted the best for her. I was really rooting for her to win and stay safe.

Thank you Harlequin Audio & NetGalley for the audiobook to review!

The audio for this book was fantastic. This is my favorite book by this author. The twists & turns had me on the edge. I didn’t want to stop listening. The concept was very creative and taking a childhood game of hide & seek, and turning it into a deadly competition. I will definitely be recommending to all my thriller friends.

I read this in tandem with the eARC. After restarting twice and on the third listen having to stop multitasking and focus on the audio I threw in the towel. DNF @ 32%(x3) I love thriller and I’m on a big kick with it right now but this just didn’t work. The narration always seemed a bit off. The story was compelling at the beginning but I quickly lost interest.

This one was not quite what I was expecting, but I still enjoyed it. I thought given there was a reality extreme hide-and-seek competition, it would focus more on the competition aspect. But it’s more about the creators/producers of the competition. I think if you go into this book knowing more of that, and expecting less twists, you might enjoy it more. I like the way Lisa Unger writes, but it’s almost more of a drama than a major thriller. Still very enjoyable, but I can see how others might be let down.

𝘼 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣:
No complaints on the narration! This was a fun one to listen to.

What do you get when you gather all the top talked about influencers onto a private island for an extreme game of hide and seek? Well prime reality television entertainment of course. But when the lines between what’s real and what’s a facade for tv theatrics becomes incredibly blurred each contestant finds they must fight for survival if they ever hope to leave the secluded social media driven hell they have unwittingly entered.

Close Your Eyes and Count to Ten boosts a unique twist on the secluded locked room/trapped thriller genre with its reality tv gone wrong aspect. As someone who has watched their fair share of reality tv and reality show competitions I was immediately drawn to this added plot narrative. However while I found the overall premise to be extremely intriguing I began to struggle with feelings of not getting fully invested in the slow burn mystery. I attribute this to the fact of the immense amount of multiple POVs. Making connecting to any one of them difficult. And while each character does have interesting pasts with their own secrets and skeletons the overall amount of POVs just made keeping track of each and every single one of them a daunting task. Ultimately making the reading experience feel more like work rather than the thriller escapism that I was hoping for. I did still end up enjoying the last wild 100 pages tho despite the disconnect I felt from the characters. Overall this was a quick read that while not being a complete love for me still managed to keep me turning pages despite a few bumps in the reading experience.

Close Your Eyes and Count to Ten comes out February 25th, 2025.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing.

The ultimate game of hide and seek. Are you ready? I’m a fan of Lisa Unger and this book had a lot happening in it. It fell a little off the mark for me but it was still enjoyable!

After her husband steals company money and disappears, Adele is left raising their two teenage children alone and cleaning up the mess that he made. Aware that money is tight, Adele's son convinces her to enter an extreme game of hide-and-seek hosted by social media influencer and daredevil, Maverick Dillan, where the winner will receive a $1,000,000 cash prize. As Adele arrives on Falcao Island and meets her host and fellow competitors, she learns that the stakes are a lot higher than she ever could have dreamed. A crumbling resort, a dangerous storm, mysterious deaths, and a cast of questionable characters make for a compulsive, edge-of-your-seat read!

I thought that this story did a good job of grabbing and holding my attention. I loved trying to guess what would happen next and who was behind everything. I also thought the social media influencer aspect was an interesting element. It made me think a lot about the things that we post or stream online, the access that we give strangers to our lives, and the lengths that some people will go to for content that them deem acceptable. However, the ending felt chaotic and a bit rushed for me, and while I enjoyed the narrator, I felt like this book really would have benefitted from a full cast. There are a ton of characters and view points in this story, and I often found myself confused about who was speaking.

Thank you to Harlequin Audio and Netgalley for an ALC. I also purchased a finished copy via Audible.
3.5 Stars

I love the premise of Close Your Eyes and Count to 10, a reality game built around hide and seek on a rough and tumble secluded island. Contestants are all experienced in some sort of outdoor activities and/or are YouTubers/Instagrammers/Influencers. The company hosting this live game has set it up for a Million Dollar prize. However, said company is broke in more ways than one.

Our MC, Adele, is a single mom after her husband absconds with company funds 5 years earlier. Her need for money is such that she is willing to put herself through this competition. She also happens to be an influencer. Outside of the competition, there is a backstory of the husband, the kids and their gaming, and an anonymous player following Adele's son.

Each player has a background that is somewhat fleshed out along with connections to the other players. I would have loved to have had more focus on the competition itself or at least kept the focus on the island action. Narrator Vivienne Leheny did a good job of keeping things moving along though some of the accents seemed a bit questionable.

Ultimately this audiobook is entertaining but just a little shy of what I was hoping for.

Social Media Influencer and extreme gamer Maverick Dillan, creates a game of hide and seek on an abandoned island resort. Adele, a single mom of two teenagers is one of the main characters who readers will root for. I think the novel could have been a bit tighter if it had focused more on Adele’s story. There were quite a few POV’s and the ending was tied up, but struck me as a bit ludicrous. All in all, not a terrible read, but not completely sastifactory.

First and foremost, thank you to the publisher and author for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Close Your Eyes and Count to 10 is a mystery thriller that follows multiple pov’s. First you’ve got Adele, a single mother whose husband left her high and dry alone with their two kids. And then you’ve got Maverick, charismatic social media influencer.
The story follows these two as Maverick and his company host the ultimate hide and seek challenge on a mostly deserted island. Adele enters the competition for the chance to win $1,000,000. And what should have been a challenging game quickly turns into a FUBAR situation. The CFO of Maverick’s company goes missing, the locals keep telling them to leave and that the abandoned hotel they’re playing in is haunted. Did I mention a huge storm is about to touch down?
Overall, this story was quickly paced and moved from scene to scene seamlessly. In the end of it all, it just seemed to wrap up too easily. I would’ve enjoyed this if there was just a bit more action.

This book takes you on a social media reality show ride of hide and seek. There are some poignant critiques of this influencer era we are living in, but you have to suspend reality to be pulled into this thriller.

Audio: 3/5
Plot: 2/5

I liked the audiobook narrator for some of the book, but some of the perspectives were a little weird with the voices she chose to use.

The plot was just super cringey and there were so many storylines that I was just kind of confused for parts of the book. This needed to be streamlined and it would have been a lot better.

DNF @ 60%

I was going to force myself to finish this but for what?

At the beginning I was intrigued because the premise was very interesting but it did a 180 and just went somewhere else. Nothing made sense. Too many characters to keep track of with many plot lines at the same time.

Thank you Harlequin Audio and NetGalley for the ALC!

Lisa Unger is a favorite thriller author for me and this book was excellent. The plot, that cast of characters, the remote island. It all really worked well for me. I highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for providing this audiobook.

This novel had a lot of potential, but unfortunately, it didn’t quite deliver for me. The concept of a creepy, cursed island with a high-stakes game of Hide and Seek, where YouTube influencers compete for a million dollars, was incredibly intriguing. The cover alone drew me in instantly. However, the story deviated from its promising premise and instead focused heavily on the characters' personal issues. There were many directions the plot could have taken, but it followed a predictable path, and I saw the twists coming. I think this story might resonate more with a younger audience, particularly young adults.

The story follows a group of players in an extreme game of hide-and-seek on Falcao Island. As the game unfolds, a deadly threat emerges, turning the challenge into a fight for survival. Single mother Adele must navigate through deception and danger to protect her children and make it back home.

I am relatively new to this author, but this book was a slow burn for me. I was fortunate enough to receive both the digital eBook and an audiobook. The narrator did an excellent job of keeping the story engaging and holding my interest. If the book didn't resonate with you, I highly recommend trying the audiobook as it is more dynamic and engaging.

The storyline features multiple points of view that alternate throughout the narrative. While I was able to predict some aspects of the plot, I was eagerly awaiting the revelation of the "why" behind it all. Some sections felt a bit drawn out and overly explained, but there were plenty of small twists that tied everything together.

The book also touches on the theme of how social media can be used to deceive others for personal gain. This message remains relevant today, highlighting the idea that things are not always as they appear and that much of what we see is merely a facade. This adds a layer of realism to the story.

If you enjoy a drama-filled plot full of lies and deception, then this book is a perfect fit for you. The story explores the blurred lines between reality and virtuality, highlighting the importance of self-reliance in a ruthless battle for survival. While some may feel that the author fell short in delivering on expectations, I encourage you to read the book and form your own opinion. Personally, I was taken aback by the main twist and found the writing style to be captivating.

Thank you, Harlequin Audio and Park Row, for the digital ARC copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This one is a slow burn for sure. I wanted to love this book with all of my heart but for me it dragged on so much!!

I loooved the plot. And really think it has all the makings to be great. It just took a little too long to get there and there were too many POVs.

It was super hard to invest in any characters. I didn’t hate it but didn’t love it!

I absolutely loved this one! Lisa Unger’s stories are always great, but this one is my favorite so far. I have a thing for survival shows. Naked and Afraid, Alone, Race to Survive Alaska, and of course, Survivor. So when I saw the description of this one, I was immediately intrigued. Add in the game portion of it and I was hooked. Adele was a great character because she came into the story so incredibly damaged, so she had a lot of room for growth. And grow she did! She really came into her own and learned that her past (or husband’s, in this case), didn’t define her. The kids were also great. They had a very real flavor as far as teenagers go. Personally, I really struggle with writing teenage characters, so I was really impressed with how they were presented. Of course there were some terrible people in the story. I knew who the bad guy was right off the bat, but what I didn’t know was how they did it. I admit, I was really surprised when everything came out. This one was definitely a page turner!

Huge thanks to Harlequin Audio and NetGalley for sending me this ARC for review! All of my reviews are given honestly!

3.5 ⭐️’s
When extreme adventurer, Maverick Dillan announces his next game of hide and seek, the location is a scary one. Adele is a struggling single mother in desperate need of cash and with a million dollar prize, she’s all in. Upon arrival on the island things start to unravel quickly and a simple game of hide and seek is about to turn deadly. This was not my favorite of Unger’s books. An OK read, but not her best. Thank you to Harlequin Audio and NetGalley for an ALC of this book.