Judith D Collins

Mar 307 min read

Everyone is Watching

By: Heather Gudenkauf

Narrator: Brittany Pressley

Harlequin Audio

ISBN: 978-0778310327

Publication Date: 03/26/2024

Publisher: Park Row

Format: Other

My Rating: 5 Stars (ARC)

MAR 2024 MUST-READ BOOKS

MAR QA #AuthorElevatorSeries

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Overnight Guest comes a twisty locked-room thriller about a mysterious high-stakes game that proves life-threatening.

The Best Friend.

The Confidant.

The Senator.

The Boyfriend.

The Executive.

Five contestants have been chosen to compete for ten million dollars on the game show One Lucky Winner. The catch? None of them knows what (or who) to expect, and it will be live-streamed all over the world. Completely secluded in an estate in Northern California, with strict instructions not to leave the property and zero contact with the outside world, the competitors start to feel a little too isolated.

When long-kept secrets begin to rise to the surface, the contestants realize this is no longer just a reality show—someone is out for blood. And the game can’t end until the world knows who the contestants really are…

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About the Author

Photo Credit: Kate Cousins Photography

Heather Gudenkauf is the Edgar Award nominated, New York Times & USA Today bestselling author of nine novels. Her debut novel, THE WEIGHT OF SILENCE, was an instant NYT bestseller and remained on the list for 22 weeks. Gudenkauf’s critically acclaimed novels have been published in over 20 countries and have been included in many Best Of lists including Seven Thrillers to Read This Summer by the New York Times, The 10 Best Thrillers and Mysteries of 2017 by The Washington Post, Amazon Best Book of 2022, GoodReads Most Anticipated Mysteries of 2022. Her tenth novel, EVERYONE IS WATCHING will be released on March 26, 2024.

Heather was born in Wagner, South Dakota, the youngest of six children. At one month of age, her family returned to the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota where her father was employed as a guidance counselor and her mother as a school nurse. At the age of three, her family moved to Iowa, where she grew up. Having been born with a profound unilateral hearing loss (there were many evenings when Heather and her father made a trip to the bus barn to look around the school bus for her hearing aids that she often conveniently would forget on the seat beside her). Heather tended to use books as a retreat, would climb into the toy box that her father’s students from Rosebud made for the family with a pillow, blanket, and flashlight, close the lid, and escape the world around her. Heather became a voracious reader and the seed of becoming a writer was planted.

Heather lives in Iowa with her family and a very spoiled German Shorthaired Pointer named Lolo. In her free time, Heather enjoys spending time with her family, reading, swimming, and hiking. She is currently working on her next novel. WEBSITE

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Behind the Book and the Author

Q&A #AuthorElevatorSeries

Interview with New York Times Bestselling Author Heather Gudenkauf

Welcome to the third March 2024 #AuthorElevatorSeries —and joining us for the second time, a personal and fan favorite, notable guest author, Heather Gudenkauf, with her tenth novel —her highly anticipated locked room thriller, EVERYONE IS WATCHING. Join us as Heather shares some fascinating behind-the-scenes exclusives from the book and up-close and personal fun moments.

Welcome, Heather!

Behind The Book

Q. Give us your best ELEVATOR PITCH for EVERYONE IS WATCHING.

HG: Five strangers come together to compete for $10 million dollars in a reality show competition series but as the game begins, they quickly realize that they were brought there for very different, very deadly reasons.

Q. DESCRIBE your novel in three words or less.

HG" Fast-paced, diabolical, twisty

Q. SETTING: Tell us more about the book setting and why you selected it.

HG" Typically, my novels are set in my home state of Iowa, but the bulk of this story is set at a remote estate in California in wine country. I needed to move away from the familiar backroads of the state I grew up in because that’s what the book called for. I needed my characters, contestants in a reality competition series, finding themselves isolated and cut off from the people they love and the environment they are familiar with.

Q. UPCOMING: Can you share what you are currently working on or what is next in ten words or less (or more)?

HG: I’m working on my next novel, THE BIG REVEAL. It’s a thriller about an over-the-top gender reveal gone wrong.

Wow, The Big Reveal sounds exciting!

Now for more up close and personal with Heather.

Continue reading below.

Behind The Author

CURRENT STATE?

Iowa

DOG/CAT LOVER?

Dog lover! Just ask Lolo, she’ll tell you.

IF YOU WERE GRANTED 3 MONTHS OF UNINTERRUPTED WRITING TIME—WHERE WOULD IT BE?

A Quiet Scenic Mountain Cabin surrounded by nature

HOW MANY BOOKS HAVE YOU WRITTEN?

Ten novels, one novella, two contributions to anthologies.

NAME ONE THING YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF TO BE BAD AT.

Singing!

NAME A TRAIT YOU INHERITED FROM YOUR DAD OR MOM?

My love for reading. I’m so fortunate to have grown up in a home where I saw my mom and dad reading, there were lots of books, and many trips to the library.

YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT BEING A PARENT?

Seeing my children grow into who they are meant to be.

THE BEST PART OF YOUR DAY?

I love ending the day in bed with a good book.

A FAVORITE SPORT?

I love watching college basketball – men’s and women’s. Go Hawkeyes!

A FAVORITE INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE?

There are SO many but River Lights 2nd Edition in Dubuque, Iowa is near and dear to my heart.

IF YOU COULD CURE ONE DISEASE, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

Osteosarcoma. My son was diagnosed with bone cancer when he was 13. Thankfully, he is cancer-free and doing great, but I would love to be able to spare all children from this awful disease.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE REMEMBERED FOR?

After all is said and done, I hope I’m remembered for being a good mom, wife, daughter, sister, and friend.

WHAT IS YOUR WRITING PROCESS LIKE?

BOTH – I am a Pantser who is trying to develop more of a Plotter personality.

BEST PART OF BEING AN AUTHOR?

Talking books with fellow book lovers.

FAVORITE CHILDHOOD BOOK?

The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf

YOUR FAVORITE AGE (in your life)?

Right now! I’m 53 and love how comfortable I feel in my skin.

DID YOU ENJOY READING AS A CHILD?

Learning to read was very difficult for me but once I did, there was no stopping me.

A FAVORITE PODCAST?

Criminal Podcast hosted by Phoebe Judge

WHO GIVES YOU THE COURAGE TO TRY NEW THINGS?

My husband. He’s always up for an adventure.

FAVORITE TYPE OF WORKOUT?

Swimming, hiking, and lifting weights (very light ones).

Thank you, Heather, for spending time with us today!

Praise

"[A] diverting tale that will have readers flying through the pages to learn what happens next." —Booklist

“No wonder Heather Gudenkauf is one of my favorite authors. Everyone Is Watching is a unique, original, compelling, and absolutely binge-worthy read. I couldn’t inhale the pages fast enough to find out what was going on in this mysterious high-stakes televised game. It’s Big Brother meets Survivor meets a bucketload of Machiavellian twists, and this knock-out book is sure to be a hit!” —Hannah Mary McKinnon, internationally bestselling author of The Revenge List

“Heather Gudenkauf manages to smash it out of the park every time. Everyone Is Watching has the delicious ingredients of a stay-up-all-night-and-finish thriller: a do-or-die reality show, a cast of disturbing characters, and a drumbeat that starts pounding on page one. If you need an escape from reality, this is the book to grab.”

—Julia Heaberlin, internationally bestselling author of Night Will Find You

“Everyone is Watching is such a unique and intriguing book! I enjoyed every page, and the twists left me with my jaw hanging open!”

—Freida McFadden, New York Times bestselling author of The Housemaid

"An absolute blast of a read, Heather Gudenkauf's astounding latest, Everyone Is Watching, is as addictive as the reality TV shows it's inspired by. Big Brother meets Clue in this utterly original and incredibly tense locked-room mystery. I couldn't tear myself away from it!"

—May Cobb, author of A Likeable Woman

#EveryoneIsWatching

My Review

NYT Bestselling author (a favorite) and master storyteller, Heather Gudenkauf returns following The Overnight Guest with her highly anticipated tenth novel, EVERYONE IS WATCHING —an exciting high-stakes game— Big Brother meets Survivor—in this edge-of-your-seat-locked room suspense thriller!

Are you ready for the adventure of a lifetime?

Five contestants are chosen to compete on a new reality TV show called One Lucky Winner. The prize is 10 million dollars. The Best Friend. The Confidant. The Senator. The Boyfriend. The Executive.

Set in the heart of wine country, at a secluded estate mansion in Northern California, live streamed. The contestants will battle for the grand prize through a series of challenges that will test them physically, mentally, and emotionally.

They will spend 14 days at the exclusive Diletta Resort and Spa in beautiful Napa Valley. When not competing, they will spend their time in a lavishly appointed private cottage, swimming in the 130-foot pool, or heading to the spa for treatments, massages, wraps, and scrubs from grapes grown in the La Bella Luce vineyard. Each person will receive a case of the world-famous cabernet sauvignon with an exclusively designed label. Sounds heavenly, right?

They also have instructions not to leave the property without outside contact with the outside world. But they are greedy, and this is 10 Million Dollars—GAME ON!

However, they soon realize there is something sinister, and nothing is as it appears. Dark secrets surface, and a sinister plan of REVENGE.

Told from multiple POVs, a dream turns into a nightmare. It appears as if Armageddon had come to Napa, and someone had built some twisted playground. The obstacle courses. Events: Cold and calculated. Millions of viewers. The stakes are high. It's a dangerous, cruel, and sadistic game.

What begins as a simple goal of taking home the coveted cash prize turned into a gripping, insane battle for survival.

Who is going home? Who will pay?

INTENSE! Told from multiple POVs, the author cleverly keeps the suspense high, fast-paced, and with twists and turns in this innovative, riveting, locked-room thriller.

While EVERYONE IS WATCHING is quite different than Gudenkauf's previous books and set outside of Iowa, she is a master craftsman and showcases her mad skills, proving she can play in any playground!

Get the popcorn ready!

EVERYONE IS WATCHING is a fun escape from reality, and even though I am not a huge fan of reality TV shows, I am a fan of the author. I am all in for anything she writes. A long-time avid fan, I have read all her books, and each one is unique.

Thanks to Park Row Books and NetGalley for a gifted, advanced review copy.

@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks

Pub Date: Mar 26, 2024

My Rating: 5 Stars

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