THE FAMILY GAME by Catherine Steadman
Ballantine; 10/18/22
CBTB Rating: 4/5
The Verdict: highly entertaining psychological suspense
Sometimes you just need to read a really fun psychological thriller—and that’s the boat I found myself in last week. After devoting my entire October to-read list to supernatural thrillers for spooky season, I was ready to get back to my psychological suspense roots this month—and ideally, I wanted something that was a little bit more lighthearted and “popcorn-y” for a change of pace. Luckily for me, I had the perfect book for the job waiting on my to-read pile: Catherine Steadman’s brand-new release, THE FAMILY GAME. THE FAMILY GAME is a page-turning suspense story about a writer, her fiancé, and her fiancé's dark family secrets. It was my first time reading a Catherine Steadman novel, and (spoiler alert!) it won’ t be my last. If you loved the movie Ready or Not or Jessica Knoll’s psychological thriller Luckiest Girl Alive, you’ll love Catherine Steadman’s THE FAMILY GAME. Page-turning, fresh, and just the right amount of weird, THE FAMILY GAME is a perfect choice for your winter to-read list. (Bonus: if you celebrate Christmas, this book takes place in the lead-up to the holiday! Plan accordingly.)
Harriet Reed is on top of the world—or she should be, anyway. Her latest thriller has become a runaway bestseller, and she has recently gotten engaged to the love of her life, Edward Holbeck. But becoming a Holbeck comes with a few strings, and, as Harriet is about to find out, more than its fair share of danger. It’s the holiday season in New York, and Harriet is facing the most daunting of relationship hurdles: the prospect of meeting her fiancé's family. Meeting the in-laws is nerve wracking no matter what, but it’s doubly so when the family you’re marrying into is the Holbecks. Powerful, fiercely private, and affluent beyond Harriet’s comprehension, the Holbeck family doesn’t let just anyone into their inner circle. It’s much to Harriet’s surprise, then, when her initial impression of the Holbeck family is… that they’re warm and welcoming? Harriet quickly finds herself drawn into their lavish world, getting a crash-course in all things Holbeck: their family history, their family business, and their family traditions. And then, one evening after dinner, Robert Holbeck, the patriarch of the family, hands Harriet a cassette tape containing the what he claims is the idea for a novel he’s working on…but Harriet isn’t so sure that he’s telling her the whole truth. Because on that cassette tape is what seems to be a confession to a murder. But if this confession isn’t fictional, why would Robert share it with Harriet? What plans does he have for her, if, as Harriet suspects, he’s just brought her in on his darkest secret? Harriet sets out to investigate—and the closer she gets to knowing the truth about her new family, the more dangerous her proximity to the Holbecks becomes. If the tape is to be believed, Robert Holbeck knows how to make people disappear—and Harriet is playing a dangerous game with deadly consequences.
There’s a unique allure to crime novels that lay bare the dark secrets of families that seem to have it all. Maybe it’s the surprising contrast between these characters’ picture-perfect exteriors and the messy inner lives hiding behind those facades; maybe it’s a little bit of voyeurism, the appeal of getting a glimpse into a writer’s fictional take on a world that feels far-removed from my own; maybe the simple answer is, it’s just the entertainment value, the same quality that makes me love reality TV shows like Real Housewives. Whatever the reason for it, I can’t deny the fact that I have a real soft spot for books like THE FAMILY GAME: suspense stories that give us a deep-dive into the sordid secrets and dangerous actions of the 1% (or, in this case, the 0.1% is more like it). In THE FAMILY GAME, readers follow a relatively down-to-earth protagonist as she navigates the challenges of winning over her fiancé's family—a family who just so happens to be wildly wealthy, frighteningly powerful, and potentially a little bit unhinged. Harriet Reed is a sympathetic and (for the most part!) relatable protagonist, a character who is an effective guide through the highly unrelatable world of the Holbecks thanks to her “outsider” status within it. Harriet is a novelist who is on the brink of hitting the big time. When we meet her, she’s coming off the wildly successful publication of her latest suspense novel, but is now struggling to meet her publisher’s deadline for her next book. She has recently moved from the UK to New York, where she is settling down with her doting fiancé, Edward. For the most part, everything is going Harriet’s way—she just has to cross the finish line and get the Holbeck stamp of approval. But when Edward’s father hands Harriet the mysterious cassette tape at the heart of this story, everything changes. Suddenly, Harriet’s skills as a researcher aren’t just needed to bring authenticity to her fictional crime novels—they might be needed to solve a real-world crime, too. In a story like this, where the world readers are drawn into is larger-than-life and deeply unrelatable, a protagonist like Harriet is necessary to give the story a little bit of authenticity and keep readers invested. Harriet’s candor with the reader—her sense of humor, frankness, and disbelief at many of the Holbeck’s traditions and choices—make her a perfect guide through the over-the-top world of the Holbeck family. At the same time, author Catherine Steadman maintains a little bit of mystery surrounding Harriet’s character, too. Harriet has secrets as well; there’s a darkness in Harriet’s past that lurks in the background, a terrible piece of Harriet’s personal history that threatens to be unearthed, and raises the stakes for her throughout the novel. If a family as powerful as the Holbecks were to find out Harriet’s secret, she would be totally at their mercy—and it’s this knowledge, as well as her deep love of her fiancé, that forces Harriet to participate in Robert Holbeck’s twisted games.
Speaking of Robert Holbeck and his games: where THE FAMILY GAME really shines is in its deep-dive into the bizarre, slightly unhinged, delightfully weird world of the Holbeck family. True to this book’s title, the Holbecks literally love games, and at the heart of this book is a Christmas game that the family plays every year at their country estate, The Hydes. This Christmas game is something of a treasure hunt: each family member gets a personalized set of clues that they have to follow, and the first person to solve their treasure hunt gets a life changing prize…and that’s all I’ll say about that, so as not to spoil anything! I was personally surprised to discover that this Christmas game itself only comes at the end of this book—the majority of the story takes place in the lead-up to Christmas, and moves between Harriet’s perspective as she is drawn into the world of the Holbeck family, and chapters giving readers the transcript of Robert’s sinister cassette tapes themselves. But never fear: the Christmas game isn’t the only game at the heart of this story, and author Catherine Steadman packs her book full of surprising and highly entertaining challenges for protagonist Harriet to overcome. There’s the “game” of navigating the Holbeck family itself, which turns out to be something of a game of interpersonal chess. Nothing this family does is by accident, and Harriet quickly discovers how calculating and shrewd her in-laws really are. And then are there are the more literal games, like the family’s Krampusnacht tradition, which finds Harriet and the kids hiding from a terrifying monster in the Holbeck townhome. (As a personal fan of Krampus lore, I have to say, this utterly unexpected addition to the story was possibly my favorite part of the book. Talk about surprising in the best way.) You know when you read a book and it just seems like the author must have been having fun while writing it? That’s how I felt about THE FAMILY GAME. This story has a vibrant and eccentric cast of characters, possible serial murder, and a creepy Gothic estate with a dark history—a backdrop worthy of the big screen. It’s a bit over-the-top, juicy and entertaining, and just a ton of fun to read—it’s got major “popcorn thriller” appeal, if that’s your cup of tea. My only qualm was that I did predict the book’s final reveal. I wasn’t hugely bothered by this (for me, the journey was so much fun, it didn’t really matter!), but if you’re looking for a psychological thriller that’s going to shock you with major twists, this book may not deliver what you’re looking for.
THE FAMILY GAME is a highly entertaining popcorn thriller that draws readers into the world of a powerful family and their dark secrets. If you loved Jessica Knoll’s Luckiest Girl Alive and/or the movie Ready or Not, this one will be a great choice for your winter to-read list. This book takes place during the holidays—specifically, in the lead-up to Christmas—so if you’re a reader who likes to choose themed books for the holiday season, this will be a great contender! While I did predict the final reveal in this book, it didn’t diminish my enjoyment of this page-turning thriller. This was my first Catherine Steadman novel, and it won’t be my last.
Book Details:
Publisher : Ballantine Books (October 18, 2022)
Language : English
Hardcover : 336 pages
ISBN-10 : 0593158067
ISBN-13 : 978-0593158067
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