Heather Gudenkauf has long been one of the most solid writers of psychological thrillers in the business. Nothing, however, will prepare readers for her latest effort, which is unlike anything she has written previously.

EVERYONE IS WATCHING is an engrossing and highly suspenseful work, and Gudenkauf keeps the pages flying at a rapid rate. The Prologue provides a little taste of what is to come as we witness online conversations between various streamers of the game show “One Lucky Winner,” in which five random contestants are vying for $10 million. Of course, with a prize package of that size, the challenges they face will be unlike any reality show anyone has ever seen.

"Gudenkauf does a masterful job of introducing each character, the connections they may have with one another, and why they were invited to the game.... I absolutely loved this novel and had so much fun reading it."

Each chapter is told from the perspective of a different character --- mostly the five contestants and Fern Espa. Fern is the assistant to Cat James, the owner of the estate where the competition is taking place, and ends up being the host of this bizarre and dangerous game. All we know initially is that Fern was being sexually assaulted by her boss when she was interning years earlier, and her colleague Cat stepped in to save her, leading both to be fired. Cat opened up her own marketing firm; now, years later, they are producing this landmark program.

The contestants are given a nickname or handle by which bloggers refer to them, and they all have their own reasons for wanting the $10 million. The contestants are The Best Friend, a single mother who has a very sick daughter; The Confidant, a successful psychiatrist; The Senator, a lifelong politician from Texas; The Boyfriend, a southern attorney; and The Executive, the host of a popular true-crime series.

Gudenkauf does a masterful job of introducing each character, the connections they may have with one another, and why they were invited to the game. Shuttled out to a large villa in the Napa Valley region of California, the contestants must abandon their cell phones and all forms of communication for the two weeks they will be there. Fern explains the rules of the game, which includes a series of challenges with various prizes and “game changers” that can be won. Things take a decidedly physical and dangerous turn when the first challenge set within an outdoor maze involves the contestants using tasers on each other. Believe me, this is just the tip of the iceberg with the violence yet to come.

I absolutely loved this novel and had so much fun reading it. EVERYONE IS WATCHING made me think of Agatha Christie’s AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, which saw apparently random strangers invited to a private island at the behest of a host who had a sick sense of justice. I have my fingers crossed that we see this book turned into a series soon.