The Escape Game by Gina Holder was an awesome, twisty, suspense story. This is the second book in The Game Masters series, but it can 100% be read as a stand alone. And you know I am very picky about making sure to not read series out of order, or even different series by the same author out of order that may connect somehow. So, yes, this is a series. The first book was The Puzzle Within, which was an awesome suspense book too. However, the only connections (that I was able to find) were that the books both focus on puzzle solving and mind games, plus faith and Christianity are important to the storyline. So, you are completely safe to read them out of order, but I do highly recommend the first book too.
Now, on to my review of The Escape Game.
Demi is the FMC of this book. She is struggling with changes that are being forced into her life. She's on the cusp of losing her home and her best friend, plus she still has not come to terms with what others insist must have been her father's death twenty years earlier. She will not accept that he abandoned his family or that he is dead. She knows he has to be out there somewhere.
Liam is the MMC, and he is only in their small town because he is searching for his twin sister who has come up missing after she insisted on time alone, even though they have spent the majority of their life together in missions. First with their parents, and then, after their parents' deaths, by themselves, sharing the gospel in dangerous countries.
Though the majority of the book is seen from these main characters' points of view, we also get to see some from Demi's best friend Maddie's POV and one other that I am not going to disclose.
In the pursuit of trying to figure out what happened to her father, Demi ends up in the Ives Mystery House with Liam. After some harrowing encounters, they realize that this isn't a simple escape room and they are in a race against the clock to solve the puzzles and escape, while also searching for their loved ones, who might just be in this house somewhere. And to make it worse, no one knows where Demi and Liam are.
Can they best the owner of this mystery house full of traps? What twists will they find along the way? Will they find their loved ones, and if so, will it be in time? So much is at stake. At the same time, all our characters have some truths about themselves that they need to admit. The gospel is shared and we see the importance of not just calling oneself a Christian, but truly having given oneself to the Lord and be living a life for Him. We also see the importance of accepting Jesus's forgiveness, and not clinging to the guilt and trying to work things out in our own merit. Plus, the importance of forgiving others.
This is an awesome book and it gripped me from the first page and I was immersed in this story, needing to know what was going to happen. So many twists and turns. I loved all the different puzzles they needed to solve and the references to such things as ancient mythologies and Edgar Allan Poe. I love that the author does not shy away from making sure the characters know what it means to be a Christian. And yes, I enjoyed seeing the relationship that developed between Demi and Liam.
I highly recommend this book.
I received an e-copy of this book as a member of the launch team and was not required to write a favorable review. These are my own honest thoughts.
