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A review by brooke_review
The Family Game by Catherine Steadman
5.0
Every year, the holiday season offers up a slew of cute and cozy romance novels designed to make your Christmas merry and bright. Catherine Steadman’s The Family Game is not that. If you are not looking for a holly jolly holiday read, but rather something more sinister yet still Christmas-centric, this is your book. Steadman has written an utterly captivating suspense thriller situated around a prominent and wealthy family’s unusual holiday traditions.
Harry, an up-and-coming novelist has recently become engaged to Edward of Holbeck family fame. The Holbecks are an insanely wealthy family, and Harry isn’t so sure how she will fit in among their old money ways and traditions. Nonetheless, she is about to find out because she and Edward have been invited to the Holbeck family home for the holidays. Harry soon finds herself spending the holiday season with her future in-laws, and surprisingly, being accepted, despite not having power, privilege, or a pedigree.
That is, until patriarch Robert pulls Harry aside one evening alluding to mentions of trust and secrets. He slips Harry a cassette tape, informing her that she must tell no one about it. Harry does not understand why Robert has chosen her to give the cassette to until she listens to it and discovers that Robert not only is hiding secrets of his own, but that he knows her deepest and darkest. As the days pass, propelling Harry and the Holbecks toward Christmas, she must figure out what she should do about the contents of the tape, while also finding away to protect all that matters to her most.
Catherine Steadman can apparently do no wrong in my book because I loved both this novel and its predecessor, The Disappearing Act. She has once again crafted a finely tuned tale of masterful suspense and intrigue. I am obsessed with how intimately Steadman writes her stories, drawing you into these worlds that she has developed and investing you in the fates of her characters.
I especially loved how Steadman played on the “game” aspect of The Family Game in a variety of ways. The Holbecks are a family who love their games, and within the realm of the larger game that Robert and Harry are secretly playing, there are also traditional family games sprinkled in, including Krampusnacht and a Christmas Eve scavenger hunt. While the Holbecks are not your typical American family, everyone can relate to the fact that every family has their own holiday traditions. I have to admit that I found it truly fascinating to uncover the Holbecks’!
The Family Game is recommended to readers who are looking for an atmospheric, ominous holiday read. This novel is perfect for reading during that transition period between Halloween and Thanksgiving when you may not quite be ready to let go of everything sinister and spooky for another year.
Harry, an up-and-coming novelist has recently become engaged to Edward of Holbeck family fame. The Holbecks are an insanely wealthy family, and Harry isn’t so sure how she will fit in among their old money ways and traditions. Nonetheless, she is about to find out because she and Edward have been invited to the Holbeck family home for the holidays. Harry soon finds herself spending the holiday season with her future in-laws, and surprisingly, being accepted, despite not having power, privilege, or a pedigree.
That is, until patriarch Robert pulls Harry aside one evening alluding to mentions of trust and secrets. He slips Harry a cassette tape, informing her that she must tell no one about it. Harry does not understand why Robert has chosen her to give the cassette to until she listens to it and discovers that Robert not only is hiding secrets of his own, but that he knows her deepest and darkest. As the days pass, propelling Harry and the Holbecks toward Christmas, she must figure out what she should do about the contents of the tape, while also finding away to protect all that matters to her most.
Catherine Steadman can apparently do no wrong in my book because I loved both this novel and its predecessor, The Disappearing Act. She has once again crafted a finely tuned tale of masterful suspense and intrigue. I am obsessed with how intimately Steadman writes her stories, drawing you into these worlds that she has developed and investing you in the fates of her characters.
I especially loved how Steadman played on the “game” aspect of The Family Game in a variety of ways. The Holbecks are a family who love their games, and within the realm of the larger game that Robert and Harry are secretly playing, there are also traditional family games sprinkled in, including Krampusnacht and a Christmas Eve scavenger hunt. While the Holbecks are not your typical American family, everyone can relate to the fact that every family has their own holiday traditions. I have to admit that I found it truly fascinating to uncover the Holbecks’!
The Family Game is recommended to readers who are looking for an atmospheric, ominous holiday read. This novel is perfect for reading during that transition period between Halloween and Thanksgiving when you may not quite be ready to let go of everything sinister and spooky for another year.