Review: Everyone is Watching by Heather Gudenkauf

Author: Heather Gudenkauf
Publisher: Park Row
Publication Date: March 2024

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…

In Everyone is Watching, Five people are invited to an estate to take part in a reality game show.  The winner will walk away with 1 million dollars.  Very quickly, the contestants realize things are not what they seem.  All five of the have secrets.  The question is, who will make it out alive?

I really wanted to love this one.  It's right up my alley.  However, it ended up just being OK for me.  My main issue with the story was the characters.  They were all so unlikable.  When things start to go off the rails, I genuinely wasn't sure who I would root for.  I need to be able to connect with someone, but I just didn't.  There was one scene that did have me on the edge of my seat.  The lake scene gave me chills.  It's not a bad book.  There were a few surprises, but not enough to make me love this one.  I think it's fine, just not a favorite.