These Deadly Games

By: Diana Urban

Narrated by: Kate Rudd

Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

"A propulsive mystery with high stakes and devious, masterful twists that will leave you guessing until the very last page. Diana Urban's latest had my jaw on the floor." (Jessica Goodman, best-selling author of They Wish They Were Us)

Let’s play a game.

You have 24 hours to win. If you break my rules, she dies. If you call the police, she dies. If you tell your parents or anyone else, she dies.

Are you ready?

When Crystal Donavan gets a message on a mysterious app with a picture of her little sister gagged and bound, she agrees to play the kidnapper’s game. At first, they make her complete bizarre tasks: Steal a test and stuff it in a locker, bake brownies, make a prank call.

But then Crystal realizes that each task is meant to hurt—and kill—her friends, one by one. But if she refuses to play, the kidnapper will kill her sister. Is someone trying to take her team out of the running for a gaming tournament? Or have they uncovered a secret from their past, and wanting them to pay for what they did....

Author of All Your Twisted Secrets, Diana Urban’s explosive sophomore novel, These Deadly Games, is a must-listen, propulsive YA thriller with deadly stakes, stunning twists, and a shocking ending you'll never forget—perfect for fans of I Know What You Did Last Summer and One of Us Is Lying.

A Macmillan Audio production from Wednesday Books.

©2022 Diana Urban (P)2022 Macmillan Audio

Pleasantly surprised

I actually got drawn in to this book even though the gaming and teenagers angle didn’t appeal to me at first. The twists were good and I kept waiting to see what would happen. I thought about who did it, but the author made it unlikely and I liked the twists.

A mystery game of murder!

What a freakin wild ride! I guessed who it was early on, but there was so much more to it than I could have imagined. Lots of twists and turns. Great characters and a dangerous game.

The narration was phenomenal!

Keeps You Hanging On

This is one of the best murder books that I have read. It keeps you hanging on til the end and even the ending makes you want more! Definitely a re-read.

Baskerville Book Reviews

Oh my me. These Deadly Games is the best thriller I’ve listened to in a good, long while. There’s never a moment where the danger ceases. It’s impossible to tell who can be trusted, as you’ll likely find yourself hoping Crystal will get her friends to help her.

I did find myself wishing the “five years ago” flashbacks had been a little less spread out throughout the story. They did help me figure out who was behind the threats, to a degree. I was “in the same ballpark”, so to speak. I wasn’t able to figure it out entirely, I just had a suspicion that I couldn’t prove.

I found the lingo insufferable. I fucking hate it when people say “IRL”, to mean “In Real Life”. As opposed to what?! Fake life!? I haven’t been in school for over a decade, so I can’t comment on how accurate the rest of the dialogue was. Though I will say everything felt well researched, it was easy to follow and made sense to me. I think people who don’t use a lot of technology or are even more behind the times than I am could struggle through.

I found These Deadly Games to be exciting, intense, and fun. It’s a thriller that’s actually thrilling. When most of the thrillers I read or listen to are passable at best, These Deadly Games stand out like a beacon of quality.

As for the audio narration, it’s alright. I’m always going to knock points off from anybody who can’t tell the difference between O and Zero. “3o1” isn’t a time. Her male voices were lacking and pretty awful, to be honest. Finally, at one point, a character was supposed to be speaking in an accent and I couldn’t hear it at all. Had it not been brought up in the dialogue, I wouldn’t have even known to make a note of it. Other than that, her narration for Crystal is really the only saving point.

Poor consistency in story telling

The main character is quite vapid. The rules of the game seem to be of no concern multiple times to the main character nor is their concern for the " consequence". Poorly written very surface level. Many errors similar to when a movie scene is cut and refilmed and the characters have different clothes or hair, the way the main character moves through the story is not consistent with the " deadly game".
May be entertaining for young readers who don't pay attention to obvious details. Only read thus because my daughter had wanted to read it.