A really good book centering on a group of 6 children who are close friends. They find themselves at the wrong place at the wrong time. They see a man burying something in the woods, while in their den, and dig it up. The consequences are horrendous for them. This book has a storyline that keeps you riveted and fearful for the children.

Six children have formed a small gang and have been meeting at a den they created in the woods. One day, they witnessed a man burying what appears to be drugs. They devised a plan to get rid of the drugs, but this was easier said than done. Then they made the unfortunate discovery of the body of the man that had buried the drugs. From this moment on, the children and even their families are not safe.

Game Players is dark story that is very well-written and was a one-sitting read. I look forward to reading more of Anita Waller's books in the future.

Many thanks to Bloodhound Books and to NetGalley for this ARC to review.

Well Anita Waller has managed to fulfil all my expectations and more in her new book Game players. It utterly amazes me how she can give the sense of shock and horror in one foul swoop, it sends tingles through my spine every time I delve into Anita’s imaginative storylines.

Game Players, 6 children, a stack of buried drugs and a murdered man, the lives of these 6 children is never going to be the same again. After the children decide to hide the drugs, their lives pummel into a uncontrollable spiral, there is danger around every corner, the boss wants his drugs back by any means possible. As the pages unfurl disaster strikes, the families are on tenderhooks, are they safe, can the police keep them safe.

The dynamics of the children reminded me of my childhood where we would all hang out, play games, summer holidays were awesome, just like these kids not a care in the world and feeling safe. But that safety can be shattered in an instant, something you see, hear, do can be your downfall. I felt really sorry for these kids whose split second decision altered there lives and everyone around them but I was also quite proud of their camaraderie when everything became almost unbearable.

My interpretation of the story to me, follows the naivety of the children, the conundrum of being unable to confront their fears and pass the vital information over to the police in case of backlash, but also being in the spotlight of a drug baron who will stop at nothing to get back what is his.

Anita has a written a well proportioned book with the correct balance of fear, darkness, criminality and pieces of familiar family ties which connect the whole storyline together with the awesome WoWness which will drag throughout the pages at full pelt until your reach the penultimate ending.

Anita has blown away the rest in one stroke of her pen with her new exceptional psychological thriller Game Players, even that cover tips me over the edge with the dark creepy woods. Oh the chills just thinking about it……

Thank you to Bloodhound Books, Anita Waller and Sarah Hardy for an advanced readers copy of Game Players in exchange for my honest opinion and unbiased comments for my review on the Blog Tour.

This is the first book of Anita's I have read and, although it wasn't as fast paced as most of the books I read, was still an enjoyable read and I will be looking out for more of Anita's books in the future.

The book revolves around a group of children finding some drugs and then what happens afterwards.  

All of the characters are very well described and I loved the fact that the Gang of Six are all very protective of each other and enjoy playing as a gang.  The author really made me feel for the group as they had their innocence ripped from them as they get dragged into the story and have to grow up very quickly.

Overall it was a very enjoyable book, which got started quickly before the pace slowed down a bit.

When a group of children hiding in their secret den see someone burying drugs in a hole in the ground, they collectively decide to do the right thing - dig it up and take it to their local police station. Unfortunately, before they've had time to hand in the drugs, they discover the dead body of a local small-time dealer where the drugs would have been, had they not dug them up.

Eventually they decide to tell the police about the body they've found but not that they've got the drugs, because they don't want to be blamed for the death of murdered man. To avoid getting into trouble, and having their secret den taken away from them, the kids make up a story of discovering the body whilst playing a game of hide-and-seek. But of course, kids lying to the police can only get them into more trouble, right?

Are they now responsible for someone's death? If they hadn't of meddled with the drugs, would the man still be alive? These are just some of the questions raised in the book Game Players by Anita Waller, which highlights how a group of innocent children get caught up in a major drug dealing racket, and become stuck with a heap of drugs that people are killing for! These guys mean business and they'll stop at nothing to get their stash back. It's worth a lot of money.

This is a great book, and I read it super-fast. The children find themselves having to grow up overnight when their childish actions come with deadly serious consequences. This believable story shows how one act of naive kindness can turn their lives upside down as events spiral out of control and their own lives, and those of their families, are put in danger.

The kids were great to read about, as they were really good friends who looked out for each other. I loved how they worked together to get themselves out of trouble, just like those in Stephen King's The Stand. They're a team and think they'll be together forever. Just like kids thinking the hot summer holidays are never-ending. I also enjoyed reading how one boy's dad was involved in a way which made me dislike him, but when things got really bad, he had a change of heart and stepped up to become the concerned father he should have been all along. This is just one, of many plot threads, which made this book a worthy read.

This is an entertaining and believable thriller, which I found both gripping and incredibly moving. It's about the true bond of friendship, decisions having consequences and the games people play with their lives. I enjoyed it immensely and will look into reading more of Anita Waller's books from now on. Superb!

The age of innocence, children running free, playing in woods, building dens over the long six week holiday from school. And then they witness one man’s actions and things never be the same again.

I loved the camaraderie between the six children. It’s a proper gang that run together, causing mischief and playing in the woods. Such a contrast with the cutthroat nature of the set up of the gangsters. The Sheffield mob are not afraid to cut one of their own loose whereas the Gang of Six have each other’s backs no matter what! I was really rooting for the gang to get through all of this and I will admit there were a few gasps and hand to mouth moments as I read.

This is the first book I’ve read by Anita Waller and it won’t be the last. I was lucky enough to meet the author last October and hear her read from 34 Days which piqued my interest in her books. Many of my bookish friends have read her novels and rate them highly so I’ll have to get myself some to read, starting with 34 Days!

This is a very gritty read. This might sound weird but it was very Yorkshire and it’s meant as a complement. I could hear the locals in the story sounding just like the people I know from the City of Steel. Yorkshire folk are a hard and loyal bunch and the author has captured this perfectly in the Gang of Six despite their young age. Add into the mix, the ruthlessness of the gangsters and you’ve got a cracking crime thriller.

WOW! ANITA HAS DONE IT AGAIN. What a bloody brilliant, outstanding, captivating story. This has to be a new favourite author for me, she just knows how to hook me left, right and centre! Loved Game Players. Anita comes up with the best stories I promise you. After Captor I had high hopes but this tops it!

A well deserved five stars from me and highly recommend. Game Players will be going into my top 20 of 2018! Brilliantly written, a fast paced read which is easy to devour. Brilliant. Would love to see this story turned into a film.

Six innocent children in the wrong place at the wrong time… I felt sorry for each child and what they went through, but I loved the relationship between the group and how they all stuck together. Children taking on grown up decisions should not happen, I reckon they handled the situation as best they could.

My take on this book was surprising and very vocal.
It was especially from all the six kids .
When they find money and drugs in the woods they have to tell the police about it because the six kids are being hunted .
I got this ARC from Bloodhound and NetGalley .

Six children see a package being buried in the woods near their den and are utterly confused and frightened. They make the dangerous decision to take it without realizing the danger it will put them in.

This was my first time reading a book by Anita Waller and I was impressed. It kept my attention well and I wanted to see what would happen next. I enjoyed the bond that these six children had and I loved the focus that it had on the change in their lives rather than what was happening to the people looking for the package. It did focus a lot on those looking for the package but the children played major roles in the book and I think that is what made it so intriguing.

To me, the book really didn't have much of a climax. I felt like it was the same pace throughout the whole book. I was waiting for it to build up to a climax at the end but it didn't and it was fairly disappointing. However, I thought this was a great read and would recommend it!

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this advanced readers copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

http://toristhrillingthoughts.blogspot.com/2018/05/game-players-by-anita-waller.html

This is the first book by Anita Waller I have read and I’m pleased to say I really enjoyed it.

It’s what I would describe as a gentle thriller as I felt it was more character than action driven. It reminded me a little of the film stand by me, as it had a touch of a coming of age story to it.

I loved the setting of the woods. I grew up playing in the woods and making dens with my friends so I enjoyed the descriptions of the children’s innocent games as it took me back to my childhood. The Gang of Six are a beautiful creation that I hope the author writes more stories about. I found that I really cared about them and therefore felt more involved in the story as I cared about what happened to them. I really wanted to be part of their gang, involved in their games and investigations. They are really close, good friends and I wish I had such friends in childhood.

This is one of the first books I’ve read when I actually felt sorry for the drug dealer. Vinny seems, underneath everything, an ok guy whose just got into something way over his head. He’s a criminal with a conscience which is quite sweet to read about.

This isn’t an overly fast moving book but it is a hugely enjoyable one, mainly because of the characters the author has created. The action alternates between the children and Vinny, the drug dealer, which gives the reader more of a holistic view of what is happening and helps to add to the tension as you are aware of what is happening before the other side.

This is the first book by Anita Waller I have read and I’d be very interested to read more from her in the future, particularly if she was to write another story with the gang of six in it.

Huge thanks to Sarah Hardy and Bloodhound books for my copy of this book and for inviting me onto the blog tour.

Well this is my second book by Anita Waller and I really enjoyed reading it.
The story begins with the introduction of the gang of six children who have a den in the woods where one day they see a man hiding bag of cocaine in the ground, later they find a young man dead... it is a story filled with twists and turns that keeps you on toes and doesn't let you stop reading.
All characters were very well built, bad ones are evil and easy to dislike them, on the other hand children are realistic and their actions were pretty believable. You simply start to worry about them because you know that everyone is in danger.
Storyline is great, the book itself is easy to read and I can say that I will be reading the next ones written by the author.

Mark, Dominic, Freya, Ella, Daryl and Sammy call themselves The Gang of Six, they meet up in the woods every day and play in their den. One day they spot local drug dealer Vinnie Walmsley bury some drugs. They can’t leave the drugs where they are so they dig them up. Unfortunately for them the people who Vinnie was minding the drugs for want them back and will stop at nothing for them to be returned.

This book has lots of gasp out loud moments and plenty that will make you a little weepy too (it did for me anyway). A thing that I’ve noticed from her last book and as well in this one, Anita Waller really makes you care about what happens to her characters, not an easy feat I might add!

I wish I had a set of friends as good as these six when I was younger, their friendship is just so lovely! Out of the children I liked Freya, who’s nickname was feral Freya because of her fearless attitude and Daryl the sensible one who really matures as the book goes along and becomes a leader rather than a follower.

This just personal preference mind you and nothing personal to the author, but I’m becoming a little tired of the latest fad for children being the main characters in Mystery/Thrillers. It’s super hard to get the voices right which unfortunately, to me anyway, they sound a bit more like teenagers than the eleven and nine they’re supposed to be.

Also I feel there was a lack of character description and the story seemed to run out of steam by the end, I was kind of hoping for a twist or something which didn’t come.

Overall this is more of a tale of friendship than mystery but a must for fans of Anita Waller.

This was my first book by Anita Waller. I got a pre-publish copy with a request to review. I liked the book so much that I pre-ordered the regular Kindle version from Amazon. I highly recommend this book. You can just picture the six children and the way of their thinking to stay out of trouble. You will sympathize with both children and parents and occasionally even feel sorry for some of the bad guys.

I really like Anita Waller, when I read 34 Days I absolutely loved it and have been a fan of the author ever since, and she's definitely got a place in my top author's list.

There was a lot that I loved about Game Players, it grabbed me right from the start and I loved the 'gang of six', a group of children who find themselves caught up in a world that they don't belong. They make a decision, all agreeing by vote, but are totally unaware of the fatal consequences of that vote. 

As a reader I couldn't help but root for the gang, and also feel slightly envious of them as I'd of loved to have friends like that when I was growing up! I loved how Waller made each child an individual, but together they were such a team and a real force to be reckoned with.

The book is told from various points of view and I have to say that I enjoyed reading all of them which is unusual as often there's at least one that you don't enjoy reading about so much. The police officer who knew that something was going on but had no idea what. The criminal with a conscience. The imperfect parent trying to do their best. They all added to the story and made it a compelling read that I just didn't want to put down.

Game Players was one of those books that I desperately wanted to keep reading to find out what was going to happen, but when I did I was really sad that it was over and that I would have to leave that gang of six behind. 

Thanks for a great read Anita Waller! When is the next one out??

Thank you to Bloodhound Books for a copy of Game Players by Anita Waller, I was under no obligation to review the book and all thoughts are my own.

This is a good book which centres around a group of six children who cone across some drugs in the woods, and then a dead body.
They work out a plan for the drugs but the next day when they find the body they realise they must tell the Police.
The Police start investigating the death of the local man but the children still have the drugs hidden.
I understand they were unsure what to do but the loss of these drugs gets some nasty people interested in them and soon disaster strikes.
This is a good read which I flew through in a few hours.
Thanks to Bloodhound Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Heart-racing tale of six young children, who while innocently playing in the woods, witness something they should not see. Now they, and everyone around them is in danger. Fantastic storyline, great characters and one heck of a ride! Quick read as you're sucked in from page one and simply don't want to out it down... Will surely be checking out more books by this author!

Yet another brilliant book by Anita Waller. I have read all of Anita’s books so far and can honestly say they have all been great reads.

This one centres around a group of six friends aged 9 to 11. Whilst playing in their den within the woods they see a young man burying something. They decide to take a look and that decision will change their lives as well as those around them.

This book really does keep you hooked from start to finish and it is so unusual for a thriller to be centred around a group of children. I absolutely loved it and would highly recommend this to anyone that loves thrillers. There are some really upsetting scenes but they are handled so brilliantly. I absolutely loved the children’s characters and if I had to choose just one I think it would be Daryl !! I even found myself feeling sorry for one of the main bad guys, I’m sure you can guess who.

A definite must read and if you haven’t already you really must read Anita Waller’s previous books.

What a shocking, horrifying book...in the most brilliant way! Like a grown up Famous Five. Highly recommended and will be looking out for future stories from Anita.

Game Players is the first book that I gave read by Anita Waller but it probably won't be the last.

At first I wondered whether it should have been described as YA or Chikdren's fiction however as the story develops and there are more adults involved more mature or adult themes are introduced without it becoming too onerous or overpowering

The book is a fairly easy read but keeps you turning the pages

A thumbs up from me

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview Game Players by Anita Waller. I am really starting to like mystery/thriller books from UK authors - I think I have discovered a whole new world and Anita Waller is an author I will follow.
A group of children from a well do to area play in the woods and create a "fort". They are a tight knit group, they watch out for each other, and protect their little area in the woods. One day they see a young man bury something and they soon find out that the area they thought would be safe for them to play is no longer - They dig it up and discover that this young man has buried drugs. The kids think they are doing the right thing by taking it and hiding it but soon their actions lead to death and destruction - and nothing will be the same again.
Fast paced and well written - recommend.