Everyone is Watching by Heather Gudenkauf

 

From Amazon:

Five contestants have been chosen to compete for ten million dollars on the game show One Lucky Winner. The catch? None of them knows what (or who) to expect, and it will be live streamed all over the world. Completely secluded in an estate in Northern California, with strict instructions not to leave the property and zero contact with the outside world, the competitors start to feel a little too isolated.

When long-kept secrets begin to rise to the surface, the contestants realize this is no longer just a reality show—someone is out for blood. And the game can’t end until the world knows who the contestants really are…

My Take:

This is the 2nd Heather Gudenkauf book I didn't like. There are 3 important characters in the book. The Owner, who was offering the 10 million dollar prize, her assistant and one of the contestants , a single mom with 2 kids, one with a medical condition and who is also dirt poor. 

The owner bullies and harasses the assistant while the poor assistant bears this persecution because she was saved in the past by the owner. She was sexually harassed by one of the bosses but was saved by the owner. During that time the owner was also an employee. They eventually left the company with the owner forming her own business and bringing the other girl as her assistant. Then the owner hatchd this new reality show wherein they invite contestants to participate. This shall be  live streamed and the one who finishes on top receives 10 million dollars.

When they started fielding the participants, they realize that one of the contestants was the man who almost raped the assistant. To make the story short, the owner, at the end, pulls the man with her and they both dove to their deaths after falling from the balcony. After the cops were called, a letter is given to the assistant wherein  the owner mentions she was dying and after paying all her debts 10 million dollars is left. The assistant is the sole heir of the owner. So the lucky winner was actually the assistant .

After the contest everyone goes back to their merry ways, seemingly unaffected financially by their departure from their work except for the mother with 2 kids. While trying to figure out how to pay her bills an envelope arrives from the assistant. She gives the mother a check for 1 million dollars.

It just wasn't as good as the other books of Heather, though as a stand alone, it was't bad at all.