Played, by Julie Lomax, is a psychological thriller built around a sinister geocaching app, a string of disappearances, and a dangerous game that pulls several families into its path. Caroline Morgan, her daughter Bailey, piano man Jack Gilbert, and a troubled young man named Dwayne all become connected through JD, a calculating figure who uses technology, puzzles, and human weakness to control the people around him. As a work in the slow-burn thriller genre, the book takes its time setting up its players before tightening the trap.

What stood out to me first was the way Lomax uses ordinary spaces to create unease. A neighborhood walk, a bookstore event, a bar with piano music, a phone screen glowing in someone’s hand. None of these should feel threatening, but they start to. The danger doesn’t arrive as one big dramatic entrance. It seeps in. The writing is at its best when it lets small details do the work, especially around Jack’s quiet observations and Caroline’s growing discomfort. There are moments when the story feels somewhat crowded, with many characters and threads moving at once, but that also gives the book its restless energy.

I was also interested in the author’s choice to make technology feel both familiar and predatory. The app isn’t some far-off science fiction device. It feels like something people might actually scan without thinking, which makes the premise hit harder. The book asks the reader to keep up with a lot: family trauma, missing women, old secrets, shifting loyalties, and a widening criminal pattern. I wanted a little more breathing room between revelations. Still, the emotional core kept me reading. Dwayne, in particular, adds texture because he is not simply one thing. He is angry, damaged, foolish, and sometimes more aware than people expect. Jack also grows into a strong anchor for the story, the kind of character who watches the room before anyone else knows there is something to see.

I recommend Played to readers who enjoy psychological thrillers with a dark puzzle-box structure, a large cast, and a steady build rather than a quick sprint. Fans of crime stories that mix family tension, surveillance, manipulation, and small-town dread will find plenty to dig into here. It’s best for readers who like their thrillers layered and a little messy in a relatable way, where the danger isn’t just who has the weapon, but who has been watching all along.

Pages: 389 | ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0G48H14RG