Review of The Family Game

I am all about a creepy thriller about a toxic family, so I was super excited to read The Family Game by Catherine Steadman. What did I think? Check out my Review of The Family Game.

The Family Game by Catherine Steadman

To be published on October 18, 2022 by Ballentine.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance copy for review.

What is The Family Game About?

Harriet “Harry” Reed has just published a wildly successful debut thriller. In love and newly engaged to Edward, the couple’s happiness is interrupted when the Holbecks, Edward’s eminent old money family, want to meet the bride-to-be.

Even though he’s severed ties with his family, Edward will inherit it all. The glamour and sophistication of the Holbecks impresses Harry. They seem to welcome her with open arms, but everything changes when she meets Robert, the magnetic head of the family. At their first meeting, Robert slips Harry a cassette tape. When she plays it, he reveals a shocking confession which sets a deadly game in motion.

What Else Has Catherine Steadman Written? Catherine Steadman books in order.

The Family Game is Steadman’s fourth book.

Her debut title was Something in the Water (2018), a thriller about a honeymooning couple who make a deadly discovery while scuba diving.

She followed that with Mr. Nobody (2020), the story of a neuropsychiatrist asked to assess a John Doe who is alive but unable to speak.

After that came The Disappearing Act, a 2021 chick lit amateur detective story about a British actress in Hollywood trying to find a missing person. I wasn’t a huge fan of that last one, but decided to read The Family Game. What did I think?

Review of The Family Game

I love Gothic fiction and am a huge fan of Succession, an HBO show about a wildly dysfunctional family who run a huge media empire.

The Family Game was giving me major Succession vibes. Some readers also compared it to the movie Ready or Not, a 2019 film about a new bride forced by her husband’s family to participate in a deadly game. I also thought of The Invitation, a film I haven’t seen. It’s also about a young woman meeting her own long-lost family, who seem to be a bunch of rich and creepy vampires. (It didn’t get great reviews.) And I’m also reminded of Twilight, in which poor Bella contends with the very insular and mysterious Cullen family. You get the idea: young woman in love, creepy family.

But Harry isn’t your typical ingenue. She’s the author of a brand-new, successful thriller novel, so she knows her way around a creepy situation. She meets her fiancé’s family and you definitely get the feeling she’s attracted to her father-in-law. Okay, Harry!

Robert, the father-in-law, gives Harry a micro cassette tape. He tells her that he recorded a story he wants her to listen to. When she does, he’s telling her about a murder. Warning her. Is Robert threatening to kill her, or warning her about the family, or what?

Some creepy and deadly games ensue. At one point I was able to guess the ending, an ending I liked. Like most of the book or movie references mentioned above, The Family Game definitely goes to a “wtf” kind of place.

The Family Game was a really fun and twisty read. If you like this kind of Gothic horror story, I urge you to try it. And if you do, I hope you come and join my Spoiler Discussion of The Family Game!