Shell Games

A Novel

By: Bonnie Kistler

Narrated by: Bonnie Kistler, Tavia Gilbert

“A truly spectacular psychological thriller with a dazzling mystery at its core. Shell Games is the ultimate one-sitting read that has everything—incredible family dynamics, characters that burst off the page and a premise so deliciously enticing and surprising that the pages quite simply turn themselves. Bonnie Kistler is a genius!”—Matthew Blake, author of Anna O

A brilliant page-turning thriller about a young woman whose fabulously wealthy mother might be the victim of an elaborate con or might be losing her mind––and the daughter can’t tell where the truth lies.

Julie’s mother Kate is a force of nature––a glamorous woman of seventy, a self-made real estate developer, a grande dame in Florida society, and a power broker in Florida politics. It wasn’t easy for Julie to grow up in the shadow of such a dynamo, but she loves her mother, and she and her husband Eric are thrilled when Kate marries her long-lost high school sweetheart, a salt-of-the-earth man named Charlie.

But their storybook romance ends abruptly. On their wedding night, Kate calls the police in hysterics to report that Charlie just confessed to a notorious unsolved crime from decades before.

Charlie says she imagined it. Eric says that Kate has dementia. And the FBI says that Charlie couldn’t possibly have committed that crime.

Julie doesn’t know what to believe. Is her brilliant mother losing her mind? Or is sweet, lovable Charlie gaslighting Kate to gain control of her fortune?

As Julie tries to navigate through this maze of paranoia and mind games, cracks start to develop in her own marriage as it seems that Eric is keeping secrets . . .

Set against a backdrop of rampant development and devastating climate change, Shell Games is a psychological thriller that will make your head spin and the pages turn as you wonder exactly who is doing what to whom.

Amazing,Amazing,Amazing

What a great book,a must read. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. A MUST READ

Twisty

4.5 STARS

I enjoyed SHELL GAMES more than I expected, based on the reviews. Bonnie Kistler kept me thoroughly entertained from start to finish.

At times Julie’s passivity, especially toward her verbally/emotionally abusive husband frustrated me. I wanted to tell her to stop allowing him to treat her so poorly. She had the means and support of her wealthy mother to go. It seemed like she didn’t realize that in healthy marriages, spouses don’t bully and intimidate. Julie was a terrible judge of character. I enjoyed watching her grow.

I had so many wrong theories about Kate’s death and the other subplots. I love when I’m wrong and the correct answers made sense.

Bonnie Kistler is a must preorder writer for me.

One too many twists

An easy listen for sure. But it felt like the author was throwing everything at the wall at the end just to see what would stick.

The performance was OK with the exception of one character. This one felt like the narrator had read to the end and wanted to make everyone listening knew this character was bad. It was over the top.

It keeps you enthralled

I enjoyed the twists and the turns all throughout this novel. I would highly recommend it.

Held Interest

Good story and characters. Something that could or maybe already has happened in real life