The Family Game by Catherine Steadman

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.ePUB, 336 pages
Publication Date: 18 Oct 2022
By: Ballantine Books
Goodreads | Amazon

About The Book:
Harry is a novelist on the brink of stardom; Edward, her husband-to-be, is seemingly perfect. In love and freshly engaged, their bliss is interrupted by the reemergence of the Holbecks, Edward's eminent family and the embodiment of American old money. For years, they've dominated headlines and pulled society's strings, and Edward left them all behind to forge his own path. But there are eyes and ears everywhere. It was only a matter of time before they were pulled back in. After all, even though he's long severed ties with his family, Edward is set to inherit it all. Harriet is drawn to the glamour and sophistication of the Holbecks, who seem to welcome her with open arms, but everything changes when she meets Robert, the inescapably magnetic head of the family. At their first meeting, Robert slips Harry a cassette tape, revealing a shocking confession which sets the inevitable game in motion. What is it about Harry that made him give her that tape? A thing that has the power to destroy everything? As she ramps up her quest for the truth, she must endure the Holbecks' savage Christmas traditions all the while knowing that losing this game could be deadly.

My Review:
I really don't know where to start with this book except to say I was thoroughly disappointed. Last summer I read and enjoyed The Disappearing Act by Catherine Steadman. This one started out okay, a woman with a secret joins a family with a secret and a game of cat and mouse ensues. I was really enjoying the first part of the book as it was a very suspenseful read at the start, but then the book took a turn at the first family Christmas party which just wasn't logical.

Then the second family Christmas party starts and I didn't think it possible but gets even worse. I  mean it was so unrealistic that I started to laugh. Anyone with a modicum of sense would have run the other way as fast as they could. I mean the woman is pregnant and she's moving heavy furniture, running up and down five flights of stairs with a toddler on her hip, climbing down wells in the snow, and running into burning buildings to save the help. I didn't buy into this scenario at all. Add in the repetitiveness and some head-scratching reveals the book veers into a catastrophically bad read.

My GoodReads friends have given this book a 3.91 average so I am not sure we were even reading the same story. Don't get me wrong, I don't expect a thriller to be 100% believable but when a plot has me laughing out loud at the ridiculousness of it something's wrong. 

This book is now available for purchase.

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