Wow! This was a fast paced, edge of my seat thrill ride!
When Maire Hennessy receives an email invitation to be a contestant on a new reality challenge show - with a 10 million dollar prize - Maire knows that money would change her life. One of her two daughters has cystic fibrosis and the medical bills keep piling up. But knowing that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is, Maire ignores the email. The thought of it keeps coming back to her, and eventually she decides just to email back and see what happens. And the next thing she knows, she's been cast as a contestant.
Therapist Camille Tamerlane also has her reasons for applying to One Lucky Winner - mostly to get out from under her crippling debt. She's been living well above her means for a while and something needs to be done to help her get out of the hole she's dug herself into, so like Maire, Camille decides to apply, and is also accepted.
Fern Espa is Cat James's overworked, underpaid, stressed out assistant turned show host to One Lucky Winner. Cat wants the show to be authentic and believes her fame would only overshadow the concept for the show, so Fern is thrust into the spotlight, meeting the contestants as they arrive. She arranged everything and knows that this is her big break, but when the 5th contestant is someone she knows, Fern becomes even more stressed out and anxious.
As the five contestants are locked away in the California mansion where the show will take place, tensions start to rise. The challenges are nothing like the 5 contestants would have ever imagined, with their safety being taken for granted. But each is finding it hard walk away when 10 million dollars is on the line. It becomes clear that each contestant has a secret they would very much like to keep buried, and they will do almost anything to keep them from coming to light.
But who is pulling the strings at One Lucky Winner? Why were these 5 seemingly random people picked for the show - and will they survive long enough to figure it out?
I hate when someone says a book is "unputdownable" but this book really lived up to this! It was a unique premise and I found myself loving some characters and rooting for them and hating others and hoping something bad would happen to them. This was a fantastic read!