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THE STRANGER GAME
About The Stranger Game
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Hanover Square Press; Original edition (October 1, 2018)
A literary suspense novel in which an eerie social game goes viral and spins perilously—and criminally—out of control.
Rebecca’s on-again, off-again boyfriend, Ezra, has gone missing, but when she notifies the police, they seem surprisingly unconcerned. They suspect he has been playing the “stranger game,” a viral hit in which players start following others in real life, as they might otherwise do on social media. As the game spreads, however, the rules begin to change, play grows more intense and disappearances are reported across the country.
Curious about this popular new obsession, and hoping that she might be able to track down Ezra, Rebecca tries the game for herself. She also meets Carey, who is willing to take the game further than she imagined possible. As her relationship with Carey and involvement in the game deepen, she begins to uncover an unsettling subculture that has infiltrated the world around her. In playing the stranger game, what may lead her closer to finding Ezra may take her further and further from the life she once lived.
A thought-provoking, haunting novel, The Stranger Game unearths the connections, both imagined and real, that we build with the people around us in the physical and digital world, and where the boundaries blur between them.
“The Stranger Game is a sharp-toothed commentary on the ways in which ‘following’ can foster a pretense of intimacy between strangers, and how the falsity of this intimacy—its utter lack of substance—often creates a perilous hunger for more: more access, more communion, more knowledge. It’s also a fun, moody, twisty thriller, with a sun-touched, West Coast vibe…as much Joan Didion as Patricia Highsmith.” —Scott Smith, author of A Simple Plan and The Ruins
“‘Following’ gets a whole new meaning in Peter Gadol’s stylish psychological thriller set in the future of the day-after-tomorrow. A moody, increasingly dangerous house of mirrors where the rules morph as his players become more obsessed with ‘the stranger game.’” —Janet Fitch, author of White Oleander and The Revolution of Marina M.
“The Stranger Game is a gripping and nuanced novel that asks whom we trust and why. It is about being an insider and an outsider, about being watched and, finally being truly seen.” —Ramona Ausubel, author of Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty and No One is Here Except All of Us
Purchase Links
Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble
About Peter Gadol
Peter Gadol’s seven novels include THE STRANGER GAME, SILVER LAKE, LIGHT AT DUSK, and THE LONG RAIN. His work his been translated for foreign editions and appeared in literary journals, including StoryQuarterly, the Los Angeles Review of Books Quarterly Journal, and Tin House. Gadol lives in Los Angeles, where he is Chair and Professor of the MFA Writing program at Otis College of Art and Design. Visit petergadol.com for more info on his work.
Instagram Tour:
Monday, October 1st: @thecityofdarkclockwork
Tuesday, October 2nd: @katielmae
Tuesday, October 2nd: @createexploreread
Wednesday, October 3rd: @bookishwinterwitch
Thursday, October 4th: @dropandgivemenerdy
Friday, October 5th: @novelmombooks
Saturday, October 6th: @bookclubwithbite
Thursday, October 11th: @tlcbooktours – tour replay
Review Tour:
Monday, October 1st: No More Grumpy Bookseller
Tuesday, October 2nd: From the TBR Pile
Wednesday, October 3rd: Patricia’s Wisdom
Thursday, October 4th: A Chick Who Reads
Monday, October 8th: Jathan & Heather
Tuesday, October 9th: Tales of a Book Addict
Thursday, October 11th: Openly Bookish
Friday, October 12th: @wherethereadergrows
Saturday, October 13th: @thecityofdarkclockwork
Monday, October 15th: Novel Gossip and @novelgossip
Tuesday, October 16th: Helen’s Book Blog
Wednesday, October 17th: @basicbsguide
Thursday, October 18th: @jennblogsbooks
Monday, October 22nd: Thoughts from a Highly Caffeinated Mind
Tuesday, October 23rd: @bookishmadeleine
Wednesday, October 24th: Write Read Life
Friday, October 26th: @somekindofalibrary
Monday, October 29th: Sweet Southern Home
Monday, November 5th: The Lit Bitch – excerpt