A Game for All the Family cover art

A Game for All the Family

a totally gripping and unputdownable crime thriller packed with twists

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options

A Game for All the Family

By: Sophie Hannah
Narrated by: Julia Barrie
Try for £0.00

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £12.84

Buy Now for £12.84

About this listen

 'One of the great unmissables of this genre - intelligent, classy and with a wonderfully Gothic imagination' - The Times

Justine thought she knew who she was, until an anonymous caller seemed to know better...

After escaping London and a career that nearly destroyed her, Justine plans to spend her days doing as little as possible in her beautiful home in Devon.

But soon after the move, her daughter Ellen starts to withdraw when her new best friend, George, is unfairly expelled from school. Justine begs the head teacher to reconsider, only to be told that nobody's been expelled - there is, and was, no George.

Then the anonymous calls start: a stranger, making threats that suggest she and Justine share a traumatic past and a guilty secret - yet Justine doesn't recognise her voice. When the caller starts to talk about three graves - two big and one small, to fit a child - Justine fears for her family's safety.

If the police can't help, she'll have to eliminate the danger herself, but first she must work out who she's supposed to be...

(P)2015 Hodder & Stoughton©2015 Loose Ship Ltd Crime Fiction Genre Fiction Mystery Psychological Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Crime

Critic reviews

Superb
Deliciously creepy
Hannah - like Patricia Highsmith and Ruth Rendell before her - is an expert at exploring the delicate line between the ordinary and the monstrous . . . A GAME FOR ALL THE FAMILY is the product of an author with an extraordinary imagination, working at the height of her powers.
For readers hoping to beat Hannah to the conclusion, the twisting plot is not only enthralling but uniquely challenging. This is another spellbinding book from a novelist whose ability to turn domestic setting into a forum for high drama is difficult to match.
Beguiling and intricate . . . brimming with her customary confidence
Hannah has become renowned for her psychological thrillers and has never been more imaginative than she is here, in a plot all the more unsettling, as madness shades into evil, for its quotidian setting.
This is a psychological mystery that encourages reading well past bed time and keeps minds ticking over and searching for rational (and perhaps not so rational) answers
All stars
Most relevant
A good story, kept me engaged....a little disappointed in the ending....could have been a bit more complex but didn't see that coming if I'm honest

Gripping to a point

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A slow start, but once it gets going there are some fun and interesting twists! Excellent narration!

Pretty Good

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I Loved this book. Weird story, but so intriguing. The narrator's voice brought this alive.

Great story, brilliantly narrated...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Any additional comments?

Lots of negative reviews, which are a bit unfair to be honest. It is a great psychological mystery, with layer upon layer of things to keep you guessing right till the end. Well narrated too.

Well I thought it was excellent

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

What would have made A Game for All the Family better?

A better story. Sophie is a good example of a writer who has developed considerable narrative skill but run out of stories worth telling.

What could Sophie Hannah have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

I think she needs to find someone with a worthwhile story and offer to ghost write.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

Can't think of one.

What character would you cut from A Game for All the Family?

It isn't about the characters. There is no exchange with the reader. The experience is like trying to eat wax fruit..... if you can imagine.

Sophie lost he way sometime ago...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews