It's Only a Game
A Novel
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Pub Date Feb 2 2027 | Archive Date Mar 30 2027
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Description
"If Jigsaw wrote a rom-com, it might read something like IT'S ONLY A GAME. Sam Rebelein tugs on your heartstrings while pulling every rusty lever in this thrilling house of horrors." —BRIAN MCAULEY, USA Today Bestselling Author of Breathe In, Bleed Out
A propulsive puzzle box novel by Sam Rebelein, where a recently split couple must solve a haunted escape room together—or die trying.
If you’re reading this email, YOU have been selected to participate in a C.A.C. Games Survival Experience! *scream emoji*
Remember: This is the most challenging survival experience on the market. Your horror will feel real. Your horror will show no mercy.
We are very excited to play with you. :)
A year after a bitter breakup, Julian and Millie are thrown back together by a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: an invitation to play a legendary 72-hour survival experience with a huge cash prize. The challenge: solve a series of elaborate puzzles inside the remote and reputedly haunted Clate Hill Lodge. Only one other contestant has ever successfully escaped, and Julian and Millie are desperate to make history.
But as the weekend begins, the line between performance and paranormal quickly blurs. The puzzles are impossible, the ghosts feel undeniably real, and the hotel seems to have a mind of its own. Caught between confronting the horrors of the hotel and the unresolved issues of their own past, Julian and Millie begin to wonder how much of the Lodge is only a game and whether the prize isn’t money—but their own lives.
Sam Rebelein’s newest is both a satisfyingly inventive puzzle box and an equally terrifying thriller that readers won’t be able to put down until the final clue is solved.
"Once you open [IT'S ONLY A GAME'S] pages and start reading, there is absolutely no putting it down. Just pray you can make it to the end in one piece." —Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Wake Up and Open Your Eyes
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9780063424005 |
| PRICE | $30.00 (USD) |
| PAGES | 352 |
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Average rating from 69 members
Featured Reviews
Christine H, Reviewer
This book has it all: a creepy hotel, puzzles to be solved, an untrustworthy game master, a terrifying serial killer, ghosts, clues, a cult and an ancient evil. But its most satisfying aspect, its most memorable theme, my favorite part, is love. The love and friendship and loyalty between the estranged couple who have decided to come together again to solve an escape room for a grand prize. Julian and Millie are perfect in their imperfections, their grudges and their misunderstandings.
Don’t get me wrong this is a horror thriller, with jump scares, plot twists and gore. But Julian and Millie make this a great read. What fun I had with this book.
Alexus J, Reviewer
No surprise I'm a huge Rebelein fan, Meatship ruined my life basically but omg.
This one is possibly my favorite, I love a good escape room game like horror, I live for that type of book, so thankfully Netgalley only allows you to request the book and not beg with words, cause I would have, zero shame here for me.
Imagine you have been broken up with your ex, but a year later, if you team up for this crazy game you can win enough money to change both of your lives. Id be tempted I think
It's only 72 hours and you need to survive (no big deal, what kind of game would involve real danger??) and figure out some puzzles, supposedly only one other person has ever won.
This was tense and had me on edge, were things all just someone fucking with them from the "game" or was something more odd going on, we're those ghosts real ghosts. Plus all the unresolved issues of their past, If they couldn't make it as a couple how could they survive real life right now when things are getting dangerous??
Will they win the money turned into will they survive this real quick and working together fully might be the only way out.
This had me absolutely seated and is now my favorite of his, I need more please.
Margaret W, Reviewer
Fantastic twist on the "stuck in a game" premise. Reminded me of the pinball episode of Are you afraid of the dark! My first experience with the author and would definitely seek out more of their titles. The puzzle in the Acknowledgements was the perfect closing.
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