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Sara's Game: An absolutely addictive psychological thriller with a jaw-dropping twist (The Sara Winthrop Thriller Series Book 1) Kindle Edition
As her world shatters, the game is only beginning.
Two years ago, Sara's husband left for the gym one morning...and never came back. His car was found. He wasn't. Unbelievably, the police report said, "No foul play suspected." There were a few unreliable sightings over the following months, but little else.
Now, on the last day before summer break, her three children have gone missing from their schools, all at the same time.
And the note left under her windshield wiper asks one foreboding question: Are you ready to play the game?
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateMarch 10, 2014
- File size813 KB
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Editorial Reviews
Review
★★★★★ "This captivating thriller was impossible for me to put down."
★★★★★ "A fast-paced, psychological thriller that had me sitting on the edge of my seat. I enjoyed every word and am looking forward to reading the next two books in the series."
★★★★★ "This kept me revved up and going through chapter after chapter."
★★★★★ "I could never guess what the next step would be. That, of course, makes the best sort of thriller."
★★★★★ "If you love thrillers with a lot of twists, turns, and suspense I recommend reading this book."
★★★★★ "Sara Winthrop is a momma bear on a mission."
★★★★★ "Edge of your seat thriller! Don't stop with this one!"
★★★★★ "A generous mix of whodunit suspense and humor combined to make this one of the best books I have read all year."
★★★★★ "Great characters, good plot, amazing story line. Really interesting. I think if you like mystery thrillers, you will love it."
★★★★★ "This kind of book leaves me starved for oxygen."
From the Author
An Interview with Author Ernie Lindsey
1. What got you started with the Sara Winthrop Psychological Thriller Series?
I write as if I'm reading the story as I go, so I create the type of fiction that I'm drawn to. Some of the best psychological thrillers have influenced my work recently, like Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins.
Those two are absolutely masterful, and I feel like I should use them as study guides.
2. Sara's Game has been downloaded over half a million times worldwide, and all of your titles together have been downloaded nearly 1.1 million times. How has the success of Sara's Game changed your writing career?
Having Sara's Game see so much success (particularly when it reached #2 on the Kindle books best sellers list) has literally made my career what it is today. I couldn't be more thankful to Amazon for recognizing its potential and featuring it on a number of occasions.
The access to so many readers, fans, and new friends has given me the opportunity to write Amazon books full time and I wouldn't be where I am today without my readers. I'll be forever grateful.
3. You write a lot of suspense, mystery, and thriller novels. What are some of the top qualities you look for in other Amazon books?
That sense of urgency that keeps you flipping the pages long after you should've gone to bed. It's what I look for in the fiction that I read, and I absolutely try to instill that in my work.
When I first began reading suspense thriller books, I cut my teeth on Dean Koontz, and for clever mysteries, it was Elmore Leonard. Two of my heroes.
4. Are the titles in this thriller series chronological and what should readers expect?
Well, if a reader is looking for good psychological thriller books, Sara's Game is a nice place to start, especially now that they're a part of the Kindle Unlimited free books program. (The author says, sheepishly.) With the Sara novels, readers should expect a fast-paced, heart-pounding journey throughout the whole series, and they are chronological, actually.
They do work as standalone novels, but they're best read in order so that you won't miss important details from earlier parts of the story.
So, the thriller series should be read like this: Sara's Game, Sara's Past, Sara's Fear, and then the companion novella, One More Game, which comes later and features a different main character than Sara herself.
5. What are some of the themes, ideas, and categories that new readers can look for in Sara's Game?
Ultimately, as one reviewer suggests, this is a novel that asks, "How far will one mother go for her children?"
It falls in line with James Patterson's suspense kidnapping books; it's part psychological thriller, part puzzle, part game, and readers are encouraged to solve the clues along with Sara.
Additionally, you could say that this would easily fall into book club recommendations, beach reads, and the most suitable categories for mystery, thriller, and suspense.
From the Inside Flap
*All of Lindsey's titles are currently available as Kindle Unlimited free books.
For Skynoise
"Fun time travel adventure. Interesting history...and enjoyable characters." --Rysa Walker, author of Timebound -- 2013 Winner of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award
"With Skynoise, Ernie Lindsey shows why he is one of the most compelling and dynamic indie writers out there. Earlier this year, I found "Super," which turned the superhero genre on its ear, and in"Skynoise," Lindsey takes the sci-fi trope of time travel and twistsa good yarn through years of mysteries and bread crumbs." --Will Swardstrom, author of Dead Sleep
"Ernie Lindseyweaves a fantastic Time Travel thriller that's part X-Files and all fun. It'stense, taut and reads like you're trying to catch your breath as he pilesmystery on top of intrigue and serves with a perfect slice of humor. Thisyear's best time travel story and a fun escapist read that has you rooting forthe good guys. This book is why Lindsey is a solid master in the making." --Nick Cole, author of Soda Pop Soldier
"If you love [timetravel science fiction], filled with action and bone-jarring twist and turns, you won'twant to miss Skynoise." --Josh Hayes, author of Second Star:Breaking Through
For How White People Die
"[How White People Die] is both literary and accessible at the same time. An intense and sometimes funny southern cop drama that dares you to figure out what is going on. However you classify it, it's terrific." --Michael Bunker, author of Pennsylvania
For Super
"Impossible to put down until you know the answers. Exciting, thrilling, and full of deception, this is one of my favorite books of the year." --Jason Gurley, author of Greatfall and Eleanor, released by Crown Publishing.
About the Author
Product details
- ASIN : B009FBK5CI
- Publisher : JCL Publishing Psychological Thrillers
- Accessibility : Learn more
- Publication date : March 10, 2014
- Language : English
- File size : 813 KB
- Simultaneous device usage : Unlimited
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 263 pages
- Page Flip : Enabled
- Book 1 of 3 : The Sara Winthrop Thriller Series
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,875 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Over 1.1 million copies downloaded worldwide!
USA Today bestselling author Ernie Lindsey grew up in the Appalachian Mountains of southwest Virginia, working on the family farm and reading, and has spent his life telling stories to anyone that will listen.
He is the author of thirteen mystery, psychological thriller, and suspense books, along with numerous novellas and short stories. When he's not writing Kindle books or reading the works of other thriller writers, you can find him chasing, feeding, or cleaning up after his young son. He remembers non-parenting things, but they're flimsy, gauzy mysteries.
Ernie and his family live in Oregon, along with a multi-fingered Hemingway cat named Luna.
Head over to ErnieLindsey.com for more information about his Kindle books and writing career, or join him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ErnieLindseyFiction.
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find this psychological thriller engaging, with its well-developed characters, particularly the strong female protagonist, and appreciate its fast-paced narrative that's impossible to put down. The book features lots of twists to keep readers intrigued, and customers praise its smooth flow and interesting concept.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book well written and engaging, describing it as a ride that's fun to read.
"...She is very good at her job and has worked her way up in the company at a pretty rapid pace...." Read more
"Wow, this writer has written a LOT of books... I can't believe it's taken me so long to "discover" him...." Read more
"...It does say something very flattering about the author, however, to feel so drawn in solely by his writing style...." Read more
"...It was very easy to figure out, but the "game" was fun watch unfold. There are areas of suspense and you truly do feel for Sara...." Read more
Customers find the book suspenseful with lots of twists that keep them intrigued, and one customer describes it as a terrific edge-of-your-seat story.
"...time Sara becomes aware her children are missing, the action on this story never lets up; in fact, it only intensifies with each additional chapter..." Read more
"...This is a terrific edge-of-your-seat story about a brilliant gaming executive who's forced to play a very high-stakes game. At stake?..." Read more
"...This book will keep you riveted, and guessing, to the very end! (Plus, there's a teaser for the next book in the series!) Thoroughly enjoyed it!" Read more
"...There are areas of suspense and you truly do feel for Sara...." Read more
Customers enjoy the pacing of the book, describing it as a remarkably quick read with a fast-moving story, with one customer noting it's a page-turner right from the start.
"...on this story never lets up; in fact, it only intensifies with each additional chapter or revelation...." Read more
"...There were no real shocks in this story. It was very easy to figure out, but the "game" was fun watch unfold...." Read more
"This was a fast read. The plot moved quickly with all of the action taking place in a span of just over 12 hours...." Read more
"...The pacing is very quick. Sara is a strong, competent female protagonist...." Read more
Customers praise the well-developed characters in the book, particularly appreciating the strong female protagonist.
"...The characters were so well developed." Read more
"...The setting was well done, and as a main character Sara was strong and well developed...." Read more
"...The pacing is very quick. Sara is a strong, competent female protagonist...." Read more
"...side, it was a remarkably quick read with decent dialogue, a likeable character in Sara and an interesting concept what with the protagonist playing..." Read more
Customers find the concept of the book interesting and smart, with one customer noting how it makes them think at every turn of the page.
"...I liked the plot idea; the "game" was well thought out and made for an interesting storyline...." Read more
"...by kidnapped children, electronic gaming, traditional mystery, personal relationships and ideas that stretch across social mores and encourage the..." Read more
"...read with decent dialogue, a likeable character in Sara and an interesting concept what with the protagonist playing for her life in game show..." Read more
"...I was engrossed in Sara's actions and thought processes as well as really liked the character of Jonjon...." Read more
Customers find the book impossible to put down.
"...Just loved it. Couldn't put it down. Like other reviewers I worked out who done it early on but the main character didn't...." Read more
"...Just pure, heart-gripping drama that's hard to pit down. Highly recommended!!!" Read more
"Like many a computer game I found this book difficult to put down and finished it in roughly 3 hours...." Read more
"I was surprised by how much I liked the book. Couldn't put it down, read it in one sitting. Give it a try!" Read more
Customers describe the book as a page-turner that keeps readers engaged from the beginning.
"...or something to pass the time while waiting at the airport...it's a page turner and should hold your attention all the way through the end of the..." Read more
"This was a true pageturner. I enjoyed it even though I am not a fan of crime fiction...." Read more
"...This is truly a page turner as I read from bedtime to early morning light coming in my window and still wanted to continue reading!..." Read more
"...It was a page turner, and I read it quickly, and my interest was held, but Lindsey is no James Patterson." Read more
Customers appreciate the book's pacing, describing it as fast-paced and easy to follow.
"...To me, it was smooth, well written and left me feeling that I KNEW what was going on page-by-page. I appreciate that...." Read more
"...Fast-moving, not too corny, no gratuitous sex, I enjoyed this and am trying to get the free book that's next in the series." Read more
"Easy read, fast moving. Good for a free read. Would recommend if you s stuff as I do. Thank you" Read more
"...I felt that the book had a great flow, just telling enough to encourage the reader to try and solve the mystery along either Sarah and feel fir her..." Read more
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2014I received a copy of **Sara's Game** by *Ernie Lindsey* from NoiseTrade.com for which I "tipped the author".
Up until two years ago Sara had a very good life. Then, without any warning, her husband, Brian, vanished from the face of the earth. An extensive search was performed, but no reason for his disappearance ever surfaced. He was simply gone.
He left behind a wife, Sara, and 3 young children, 2 girls and a boy. After two years, Sara managed to put together a life for the children and her, but it is not easy raising three young children by herself and holding down a full time job. However, Sara is nothing if not resourceful. She works in marketing for a company called Lite Pulse which makes computer games. She is very good at her job and has worked her way up in the company at a pretty rapid pace. Of course there are times when she misses her husband and feels frustrated that he has never been found. There are also times she resents his not being there to help with family responsibilities. But over all, Sara has managed to accept what she cannot change and in that frame of mind, she balances her job and her family obligations very well.
That is, until the day that started off like any other day when Sara got to work and received a phone call from her son's school. The children had been playing hide-and-seek, and when they had finished the game, Jacob, Sara's son, was nowhere to be found. No one wanted to panic just yet. It had happened once before when Sara and the children were playing this game at home, and when everyone was ready to stop, Jacob couldn't be found. He had discovered a great hiding place and fell asleep waiting for someone to notice him. He finally turned up when one of his sisters stepped on him. Sara wanted to believe this current incident was just history repeating itself. Until her daughters' school called to say that both her girls were missing. The class had gone to an ice cream shop to celebrate the end of school, but when attendance was taken before returning to the school, neither of the girls was there. Sara immediately left work to go to the schools to straighten all of this out. When she got to her car, she found a note on her windshield that said, "Are You Ready To Play The Game?" This was how Sara was led to the conclusion that her children, all three of them, had been kidnapped.
From that point on, whoever was responsible for abducting the children leads Sara on an exhausting and frustrating journey with clues she has to solve and orders she has to follow if she ever wants to see her children alive again. The first task is designed to humiliate Sara as much as possible. It was hard to imagine what Sara had to be thinking and feeling as she was forced to decide whether she would allow herself to be humiliated in that fashion, and from that point on, the tension builds. It is obvious that the goal of the person who has Sara's children is to punish her severely for something she has done in the past. There is one very obvious person who could be the one behind this scheme, but realistically, it's a stretch to think that this person would go to such lengths and harbor such extreme hatred for Sarah to hatch a plan like this one. However, both Sara and the police detectives on the case agree that the one person they have in mind must be the culprit.
From the time Sara becomes aware her children are missing, the action on this story never lets up; in fact, it only intensifies with each additional chapter or revelation. Lindsey has written a very tense, believable story about testing a woman's endurance and her love for her children far beyond what any mother expects to encounter in raising her children. Fortunately for readers who enjoyed reading about Sara and her family, Lindsey has written two more books featuring these people. I immediately bought both of them. I look forward to reading more from Lindsey in the future. He certainly has a gift for keeping readers on the edge of our seats and delivering first rate storytelling.
- Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2014Wow, this writer has written a LOT of books... I can't believe it's taken me so long to "discover" him. (Kinda like Columbus "discovered" America.) With so many reviews already written, I probably don't need to add my three cents' (inflation) worth, but I'm gonna say a few words, anyway.
I've read some very good series before, but I'm not always a fan of them. Matter of fact, some of them flat-out annoy me. You know the kind of books I'm talking about. The ones that suck you in and then don't give you an ending, like the old "Perils of Pauline" serials at the movie theater used to do. They just leave you hanging in mid-story without a proper landing. Cliff-hangers, they call them. More like manipulation to get readers to buy the next book, if you ask me. This book is different. Yes, it's the first in a series, but it also stands on its own two feet (so to speak) as a thoroughly enjoyable book. In a nutshell, I don't feel manipulated to buy the next book(s) in this series. (And his other series, too... like I said, this guy has written a LOT of books!) I'll be buying the other books because I WANT to read more about these characters.
This is a terrific edge-of-your-seat story about a brilliant gaming executive who's forced to play a very high-stakes game. At stake? The lives of her children. They're being held and tortured by the psycho who's orchestrating the game, setting all the levels, and dictating all the moves.
Four and a half very strong stars.
- Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2018This captivating thriller was impossible for me to put down. Sara's husband Brian disappeared two years ago, and she has been juggling her three children, her home, and her bills alone, while successfully managing a hectic, stressful marketing job, as well as playing "house mother" to the young game designers at work. But Sara's stress is about to get much worse. Just as she's about to launch a promising new game, she receives an emergency phone call that plunges her into a nightmare. Her three children have been kidnapped, and she must play a deadly "game" at the mercy of a diabolical "voice" on the phone in order to rescue them. What follows is a nail biting roller coaster ride, with multiple twists and turns, that kept me turning the page to find out what happens next. As Sara complies with the kidnapper's demands, she struggles to outwit her tormentors and keep her children alive until she can figure out how to recover them. During the ordeal, the mystery of her husband's disappearance is also revealed. This book will keep you riveted, and guessing, to the very end! (Plus, there's a teaser for the next book in the series!) Thoroughly enjoyed it!
Top reviews from other countries
- KEN B. CHAMBERLIN, Vancouver, BCReviewed in Canada on June 1, 2015
5.0 out of 5 stars This is five star + suspense thriller, happy reading.
Sara’s Game – Ernie Lindsey
Ernie Lindsey’s “Sara’s Game” is a fresh new yardstick to measure all other suspense novels. This is by far the best piece of literary work of suspense I have had the opportunity to read from an Amazon library. It is fast paced and doesn’t contain the fillers many authors use such as descriptions of characters’ thoughts and scenic surroundings. You get the nuts and bolts, all the suspense and intrigue and the mental tools to sort it all out, packed into a standard size thriller. TSara’s Game – Ernie Lindsey*****01/06/15
Ernie Lindsey’s “Sara’s Game” is a fresh new yardstick to measure all other suspense novels. This is by far the best piece of literary work of suspense I have had the opportunity to read from an Amazon library. It is fast paced and doesn’t contain the fillers many authors use such as descriptions of characters’ thoughts and scenic surroundings. You get the nuts and bolts, all the suspense and intrigue and the mental tools to sort it all out, packed into a standard size thriller. This is five star plus book, happy reading.
happy reading.
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Kindle Customer t sReviewed in France on March 18, 2018
5.0 out of 5 stars Good read
I gave it 5 stars because the story is written well, I enjoyed reading it and yes it was a page turner, I read it very quickly, and will choose another book by the same author
- Amazon CustomerReviewed in India on March 3, 2018
4.0 out of 5 stars OUTSTANDING!
Excellent! Very well written. Keeps you glued till the end. You almost guess who the culprit is, but of course, the twist at the end pops its head! Little hasty at times, but then again, it's just the authors style. I seriously recommend this book to everyone. Cant wait to read the next books in the series! LOVED IT...!
- SweetsReviewed in Germany on April 29, 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastisch plot
I couldnt stop reading.A very fast pace,which keeps you reading,because One NEEDS Tod know .This Thriller eats you Up.........try it
- Lady HougunReviewed in the United Kingdom on December 2, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars Addictive
This is a page turner of a book. Housework was left undone, takeaway for dinner. I just couldn't put this book down until finished. Brilliant read