Two years ago, Sara's husband left for the gym one morning...and never came back. His car was found. He wasn't. Unbelievably, the police report said, "No foul play suspected." There were a few unreliable sightings over the following months, but little else.
Now, on the last day before summer break, her three children have gone missing from their schools, all at the same time.
And the note under her windshield wiper asks one simple question: Are you ready to play the game?
Ernie Lindsey grew up in the Appalachian Mountains of southwest Virginia, working on the family farm and reading, and has spent his life telling stories to anyone that will listen. He currently works as a freelance writer and is the author of five Mystery & Suspense novels and numerous short stories. When he's not writing, you can find him tackling the gigantic To Be Read list on his Kindle or the never-ending stack of books in his office.
Ernie and his family live in Oregon, along with a multi-fingered Hemingway cat named Luna.
In my experience, many freebie e-books do not meet the standards (punctuation, spelling, etc.) of a traditionally published work. I try not to expect too much, and just appreciate the bargain price of free. It makes it just that much nicer when you luck into one that is not only well written, but that has been edited by someone with a clue as to what he or she is doing. This is one of those finds.
Straight forward writing, believable dialogue, and a pace that will leave you winded. It held my interest throughout, would have liked to have read it in one burst. I agree with other reviewers who have stated that it was fairly easy to figure out the baddie, but it did not taint the enjoyment of the read for me.
Although I figured out who the kidnapper was very early in the book, this in no way detracted from the story.
I wanted to know how, and I wanted to know why.
It held my interest from the first page until the last. Great story line, well written, and fast paced with characters I really liked...well, except for one.
The last page was a bit of an Oh no...Oh Crap! moment for me. I had to get a tissue.
She works at the successful game developer company, has two twin girls and a boy. Husband disappeared two years ago, now her children are kidnapped. She has to play the game to get her kids, and find out what happened to her husband. Many things were happening, strip bars, drug dealings, but some didn't made any sense.
The story is nice for a thriller, the main characters are defined, but some of the secondary ones have no depth to them. The book will keep you on the edge of your seat so it is recommended for suspense and thriller fans. Looking forward to read the sequel at some point of time, though I don't know what to expect. I like the ending of this book as I did not expect that particular character to die!
I really enjoyed this fast paced thriller. It was well written and edited, and very hard to put down. I found myself almost out of breath at times, and annoyed that I had to put the book down to get on with my real life.
The overall concept of the book was quite frightening, and although I found myself eager to read more, I did feel it lacked mystery and suspense to quite the degree I would have liked. The first part of the book was really edge of your seat exciting, but then there came a stage where I felt too much was revealed, or worked out by myself, which in turn reduced the thrilling experience of the novel.
However, I still recommend this novel, as it is a very good read.
I don't even know where to start with this book. Okay first of the positives...the story in general was interesting and sometimes thrilling, it was well written in terms of language and grammar (as far as I could tell) and it was almost believable (if we lived in CSI world). But there were many things for me that ruined this book, and the major one would be that almost from the very beginning I knew who was behind the kidnapping which pretty much spoiled the ending. I wasnt kept guessing and thinking 'ooh it's them, no its him, no its her, no they're both doing it!' I could tell when there was a bit to the story where the author was trying to throw the reader off the scent but I didn't buy it. All I was wondering about was the motive, which was revealed before the actual culprit was. So I didn't have that 'OMG' moment when everything is revealed because I'd already guessed 80% of it in the first half of the book. This definitely had promise but it was ultimately too predictable.
This story certainly hits the ground running. Sara having only just got to work gets a phone call to say her children have disappeared. Without a doubt a mothers worst nightmare. We are then taken on a race against time to see if Sara can save her children.
The story is mainly told through the point of view of Sara herself as well as a few from DJ a detective who is working on the case. Whoever has them certainly wants to put Sara through the mill by not only playing with her mind but with the readers also.
Sara’s Game is certainly a fast paced and quick read. It did feel a bit frenzied at times and I did have to re read parts to try and keep up with what was going on. Saying that, the story line had me hooked as I needed to know the who and why. A solid enough start to a new series to me.
This just wasn't a winner for me. Weak plot, I didn't really like Sara, and the narrator did not make the audio book engaging at all. This felt like a bridge between YA and adult fiction and it didn't work well for me. I'm happy that I got this audio book as a super bargain-I was able to finish it but it wasn't particularly enjoyable. I won't continue this series.
I received a copy of **Sara's Game** by *Ernie Lindsey* from NoiseTrade.com for which I "tipped the author".
Up until two years ago Sara had a very good life. Then, without any warning, her husband, Brian, vanished from the face of the earth. An extensive search was performed, but no reason for his disappearance ever surfaced. He was simply gone.
He left behind a wife, Sara, and 3 young children, 2 girls and a boy. After two years, Sara managed to put together a life for the children and her, but it is not easy raising three young children by herself and holding down a full time job. However, Sara is nothing if not resourceful. She works in marketing for a company called Lite Pulse which makes computer games. She is very good at her job and has worked her way up in the company at a pretty rapid pace. Of course there are times when she misses her husband and feels frustrated that he has never been found. There are also times she resents his not being there to help with family responsibilities. But over all, Sara has managed to accept what she cannot change and in that frame of mind, she balances her job and her family obligations very well.
That is, until the day that started off like any other day when Sara got to work and received a phone call from her son's school. The children had been playing hide-and-seek, and when they had finished the game, Jacob, Sara's son, was nowhere to be found. No one wanted to panic just yet. It had happened once before when Sara and the children were playing this game at home, and when everyone was ready to stop, Jacob couldn't be found. He had discovered a great hiding place and fell asleep waiting for someone to notice him. He finally turned up when one of his sisters stepped on him. Sara wanted to believe this current incident was just history repeating itself. Until her daughters' school called to say that both her girls were missing. The class had gone to an ice cream shop to celebrate the end of school, but when attendance was taken before returning to the school, neither of the girls was there. Sara immediately left work to go to the schools to straighten all of this out. When she got to her car, she found a note on her windshield that said, "Are You Ready To Play The Game?" This was how Sara was led to the conclusion that her children, all three of them, had been kidnapped.
From that point on, whoever was responsible for abducting the children leads Sara on an exhausting and frustrating journey with clues she has to solve and orders she has to follow if she ever wants to see her children alive again. The first task is designed to humiliate Sara as much as possible. It was hard to imagine what Sara had to be thinking and feeling as she was forced to decide whether she would allow herself to be humiliated in that fashion, and from that point on, the tension builds. It is obvious that the goal of the person who has Sara's children is to punish her severely for something she has done in the past. There is one very obvious person who could be the one behind this scheme, but realistically, it's a stretch to think that this person would go to such lengths and harbor such extreme hatred for Sarah to hatch a plan like this one. However, both Sara and the police detectives on the case agree that the one person they have in mind must be the culprit.
From the time Sara becomes aware her children are missing, the action on this story never lets up; in fact, it only intensifies with each additional chapter or revelation. Lindsey has written a very tense, believable story about testing a woman's endurance and her love for her children far beyond what any mother expects to encounter in raising her children. Fortunately for readers who enjoyed reading about Sara and her family, Lindsey has written two more books featuring these people. I immediately bought both of them. I look forward to reading more from Lindsey in the future. He certainly has a gift for keeping readers on the edge of our seats and delivering first rate storytelling.
The premise sounded interesting, but the book just didn't deliver. I normally love mysteries and thrillers, but this had neither mystery nor thrill. It was far too predictable. The villain was apparent from early on and I honestly finished the book just to see if I was right. Because of this, I spent the majority of the book frustrated by the characters and [spoiler]the obvious red herring[/spoiler].
The characters themselves weren't very developed and that made it difficult to connect with any of them. And I just didn't like the main character much at all. She was inconsistent and seemed to lack basic reasoning skills, jumping to conclusions a few too many times and far too surprised by the villain's identity for the information she had available. One of the detectives seemed like little more than a caricature and the near constant banter between the detectives also detracted from the tension I expected to feel reading about a situation like this. I had trouble believing that they took it seriously at times.
Really, though, I had trouble believing quite a few things. There are plot holes, largely regarding protocol, resource allocation, and just plain common sense in a situation in which children are missing. [spoiler]Where was the Amber Alert? Why did it take the elementary schools take so long to call the police? A five-year-old is missing and they don't call the police for an hour? Two ten-year-olds go missing in a public space and the same thing? They know to lock down the school, but not call the cops? Too many questions, too many slow reactions. Not to mention the weak explanation for the villain and accomplices' motives.[/spoiler]
Overall, the predictability spoiled the ending and kept there from really being any suspense. I kept hoping for a twist and was disappointed. At least it was short, I guess.
This one actually kept me guessing a bit!! Some things I figured out, but there is NO WAY you can guess all that's headed your way! Even if you guess the end game, the journey there is HIGHLY unpredictable. I really enjoyed this read. I wouldn't say it's a can't put down, but it's a definite I need to know what's coming next. After my last "mystery" was an epic fail, this book was refreshing and has me excited for more books. I am sure to read the rest of Sara's series and look out for more by Mrs. Lindsey!
So a lot of people liked this book and so did I. Someone has taken Sara's children and is making Sara play a game of running around and doing things or her children die.
What I liked about it: -The main character, she was strong and likable. -The chase and the premise. -A satisfying ending.
What I didn't like: -As you read, I think you'll know who the bad person is, pretty obvious. But it is supposed to be a big mystery and the author tries too hard to convince us it is someone else.
I can't say a lot of great things...but I did like it.
Review by Mike Slavin author of award-winning Kill Crime (action-packed thriller on Amazon to buy or KU. As of this writing 94% 5 and 4-star reviews on Amazon with 350+ reviews)
SARA'S GAME was a page-turner that kept me on the edge of my seat. I did figure out who the "bad guy" was before it was revealed, but it did not detract from the story-telling and the ending. This is my first time reading a book by Ernie Lindsey and I will definitely continue with the series.
Oh dear.....another I've packed in. Stopped at 19% and it does get an extra star because it isn't full of mistakes ! However, it seems to be it was going to be set around computer games and I've zero interest in those at all. It started well and with great promise as there were some very funny lines in it but then just got a little too weird for me. I stopped with it when the guy on the phone ordered her to do her first "forfeit" I'd guess you'd call it. It was all a little too silly and unbelievable at this stage.
I got this free from Amazon. For a freebie, it wasn't bad but I would have been disappointed if I had paid for it. It was just ok. I liked the idea of a game, reminded me a bit of the Saw movies, but it could have been better.
This book was chosen by a group I belong to as October's book of the month. I tend to stay away from freebies on Amazon, as most are riddled with terrible grammar and spelling mistakes, but this one was surprisingly well-written. Lindsey has a fantastic grasp of the English language, leaving his readers free to enjoy the story itself.
Like most other reviewers, I found it too easy to figure out the whodunit. Not only that, but most of the characters were rather shallow, more like caricatures of people than true flesh and blood. I also found the dialogue between some of the characters (most particularly the two policemen that become involved in the case) and some of the situations (like when Sara attempts to win one of the baddies over to her side) to be quite cliched, which was a bit of a disappointment.
This is a quick read, however. I could see someone reading this on vacation or at the beach.
This book was hard to put down. It was very fast paced, intriguing and had me guessing from start to finish. Up until the last 100-50 pages before the kidnapper's identity was finally revealed, I had no idea who it could be, and even when Sara was finally face to face with her nemesis, I still had no idea what was going to happen as 'the game' changes all the time!
This book had me guessing from start to finish, building a distrust for all of the main characters, even Sara's missing husband! Is he alive? Is he dead? Where is he? Is he a part of this game? Nothing makes sense! The story-line is very good, euphoric, addictive, definitely a hard book to put down and the ending made me want to jump straight into book 2 of the series!
A short book, but definitely a good read if you like suspense!
Plot delivered as did the well placed twists, Even the end did not let up on the pace only adding to the intrigue. Nicely performed by Erin Spenser. A first time for this author and I’m glad I got the chance to enjoy this work. Pretty Clean (she did call the perps. “ _itch “ - -but I would’ve). Glad I didn’t read at bedtime. Good ending with a sad touch. Such books stay with me awhile.
The only good thing about this book was how quickly I was able to skim through it. So predictable. I recognized the villain before the kidnapping even took place. I am shocked that there are more books in this series and I can't imagine suffering through them. I can only hope for those who did, that the author's talent improved along the way. I would not recommend this book to anyone.
Not a bad read. Enjoyed the tongue-in-cheek humor Sara has when she talks to herself. And the kids adjusted as if it was just another day at a carnival horror ride! Typical lol. Suffice it to say, I am off to read book two in the series to see if the stars get better.
I have an extremely hard time abandoning books once I begin them. That alone is why I finished Sara's Game. Neither the characters nor the explanation of the antagonist's motives were well developed. By the end of the book, I was skimming rather than reading.
Let's start with a few things I enjoyed about the book:
1) Well-written. 2) Fast-paced. 3) Light (for a thriller). Some people disliked the banter between the detectives, claiming it wasn't realistic given the circumstances. That may very well be, but it wasn't blown out of proportion either and it served to lighten the mood a bit, gave the characters charisma and just made the book, as a whole, more enjoyable.
Here are the main problems I've had with the book:
Overall, I think Ernie Lindsey is a promising author and I certainly won't dismiss his future work. This one just wasn't for me.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review courtesy of Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
I think I'm in a DNF spree. I had to DNF this book after about 100 pages. It's not because the book was poorly written or not interesting, but because I knew how it would end from the beginning. And a spoilery look at the end proved my theory to be right. That completely ruined the book for me and while it was my fault I can't help but wonder if the book could have been written in a different way to avoid the ending from being guessed completely at the beginning of the book.
Verdict: If you enjoy thrillers, please give this a read! It seems to be highly enjoyable for a lot of people and I hope one day to return to this book and reread it.
Although I thought the background of who's really after Sara and why is a little far-fetched, that doesn't stop the novel from being a heart-thudding book that's hard to put down as Sara goes through hell and back to find her three children, all kidnapped and being held hostage by someone clearly crazy. Her only out? Play the abductor's physically exhausting game.
Fairly decent psychological thriller. Some of it was predictable but it held my interest to the end because I wanted to know what happened to the kids. Lol