-
Your next favorite book
is waiting.
Summary | Discuss | Reviews | More Information | Read-Alikes
A Novel
by Lisa Unger
An extreme game of hide-and-seek turns deadly in this riveting new thriller from New York Times bestselling author Lisa Unger.
When the real game begins, who will make it to the count of 10?
Charismatic daredevil and extreme adventurer Maverick Dillan invites you to the ultimate game of hide-and-seek. But as the players gather on Falcao Island, the event quickly spirals into a chilling test of survival. A storm rages as a deadly threat stalks the contestants, turning the challenge into something far more sinister than the social media stunt it was intended to be.
Enter Adele, a single mother with a fierce determination to protect her children at all costs. When she begins the game, she unwittingly enters a twisted web of deception and intrigue. Can she maneuver through the treacherous storm and the relentless competition and get home to her family? In a ruthless battle for survival where the stakes are higher than ever, the blurry line between the virtual and the real proves that the only person we can trust is ourselves.
What are you reading this week? (4/17/2025)
I'm just finishing Death in the Dark Woods, Book 2 in A Monster Hunter Mystery series written by Annelise Ryan. A delightful departure from the more serious books I typically read. Just starting Lisa Unger's Close Your Eyes and Count to 10. This is my first time reading a title by Unger. If too i...
-Sunny
"Unger plunges the reader right into a sense of dread, then skillfully ratchets up the physical terrors of the challenge while revealing one disturbing secret after another. The perils of the real and virtual worlds collide effectively in this relentlessly paced thriller." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Unger overcomplicates her closed-circle setup, introducing podcast transcripts, convoluted backstories for her characters, and a dizzying number of narrators. While some twists satisfy and the pace remains brisk throughout, this doesn't live up to its potential." —Publishers Weekly
"Lisa Unger just gets better and better! In Close Your Eyes and Count to 10, we see her masterful hand at work as she weaves a compulsively readable story packed full of tension from the very first page. As an extreme game of hide and seek quickly turned from stunt to survival, I held my breath as the plot twisted and turned to its dramatic conclusion. Pacy and gripping, I couldn't read fast enough. Take it on holiday and savor every deliciously dark page." —Sarah Pearse, New York Times bestselling author of The Wilds
"Twisty, riveting, and emotionally intense. You will not close your eyes once you start reading this book." —Kathy Reichs, New York Times bestselling author of Fire and Bones
This information about Close Your Eyes and Count to 10 was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo: Tanya Sharkey
Lisa Unger is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of twenty-two novels, including Close Your Eyes and Count to 10. With books published in thirty-three languages and millions of copies sold worldwide, she is regarded as a master of suspense.
Unger's critically acclaimed novels have been featured on "Best Book" lists from the Today Show, Good Morning America, Entertainment Weekly, People, Amazon, Goodreads, L.A. Times, The Boston Globe, Sun Sentinel, Tampa Bay Times and many others. She has been nominated for, or won, numerous awards including the Strand Critics, Audie, Hammett, Macavity, ITW Thriller, and Goodreads Choice. In 2019, she received two Edgar Award nominations in the same year, an honor held by only a few authors including Agatha Christie. Her short ...
... Full Biography
Author Interview
Link to Lisa Unger's Website
If you liked Close Your Eyes and Count to 10, try these:
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil
by Victoria E.. Schwab
Published 2026
From V. E. Schwab, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue: a new genre-defying novel about immortality and hunger.
by Laila Lalami
Published 2026
READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK AS FEATURED ON TODAY ● From Laila Lalami—the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist and a "maestra of literary fiction" (NPR)—comes a riveting and utterly original novel about one woman's fight for freedom, set in a near future where even dreams are under surveillance.
by Aisling Rawle
Published 2026
Love Island meets Lord of the Flies in this must-talk-about-it read, as bingeable as the best reality TV.
The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
Can you name the title?
Test your book knowledge with our daily trivia challenge!
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
