Everyone Is Watching

Everyone is Watching (2024) is a thriller by American novelist Heather Gudenkauf. It follows a group of contestants on an increasingly dangerous reality TV show set up by a woman eager to get revenge on the participants by publicizing their past wrongdoing. By chronicling the lengths to which the competitors will go to acquire the prize money and conceal their misdeeds, the novel explores The Value of Money, how Desperation Reveals True Character, and the ethics of using Exposure as Punishment.

Gudenkauf is known for setting her mysteries in rural Iowa, where she lives; nine of her books, including her 2009 debut novel, The Weight of Silence and 2022’s The Overnight Guest, either take place in or prominently feature characters from Iowa.

This guide references the 2024 Park Row Books e-book edition.

Content Warning: The source material references sexual assault, abusive relationships, violence against children, gun violence, and death by suicide.

Plot Summary

In the Prologue, which takes place after the beginning events of the novel, a viewer with the username MatthewSwimBikeRun watches the livestream of a gameshow called One Lucky Winner. In it, a contestant fires a gun before the livestream goes dark. 

The novel flashes back in time to the narrative present. Maire Hennessy, Samuel Rafferty, Camille Tamerlane, Richard Crowley, and Ned Bennett journey to Bella Luce estate, the setting for the One Lucky Winner game show. On the estate, Fern Espa hurries to prepare the estate for their arrival, on behalf of her boss, Catalina “Cat” James. Unbeknownst to them all, Cat is actually Maire and Samuel’s friend from college; she has secretly arranged the game show to reveal the contestants’ various crimes.

The contestants meet one another and are confused to discover they have previous history. Maire, who needs the prize money to fund her chronically ill daughter’s medical care, recognizes Samuel but pretends not to, as she wishes to guard the secret that in college they accidentally killed a man. Fern is shocked to see Ned, who sexually assaulted her 10 years prior. Fern explains the rules of the game: Contestants will compete in various challenges that will be livestreamed at random hours to online viewers. Later, Fern confronts Cat about Ned’s presence; angry at Cat’s long-time mental and physical abuse of her, Fern locks Cat in the estate’s wine cellar.

The first competition happens in the middle of that night. Competitors are roused, directed to run through a maze to find a clue, and are given Tasers that are supposedly set to a low level. When Maire uses her Taser against Samuel and wins the challenge, the violence makes others, especially Samuel and Camille, uneasy, but they all remain. The first episode is highly successful online. Fern leaves Cat in the cellar, rationalizing that if she can make the rest of the show do equally well, Cat will have to forgive her.

Flashbacks show Camille’s past with Wingo, a stalker whose death Camille contributed to when she falsely told police he was armed. 

The second challenge is an obstacle course during which contestants are shot by paintballs and stung by scorpions. Puzzles in the challenge allude to the characters’ various crimes, including Camille’s tax fraud and Crowley’s relationship with a sex worker. Ned cuts Maire’s rope during a dangerous climb, but she stays in the competition rather than forfeit to seek medical attention. 

A flashback depicts Maire and Samuel lying on a dark road as a prank, causing a car crash that kills a man.

After Crowley is eliminated from the competition, Fern releases information about his relationship with Shana, a sex worker, and their son, Caleb. Enraged, Crowley returns to the estate where he attempts to strangle Fern until Maire and Samuel pull him off her.

The next challenge forces the competitors to swim a covered lake to retrieve pouches. Ned nearly drowns Maire, but Fern and Camille aid her. Then Ned almost drowns because Maire previously drugged him; she, Camille, and Samuel rescue him. Camille grows increasingly suspicious that the game is not designed to be won, but rather is a setup. Camille, Samuel, and Maire work together to ensure that Ned is voted off next.

The group plays a version of truth or dare; refusing to answer personal questions means they must point a (supposedly unloaded) gun at their own heads and pull the trigger. When Camille doesn’t answer a question, her gun does not go off, but when Ned points his gun at Fern after she describes how he assaulted her, it fires. Nobody is hit, but Ned is horrified. 

Fern wants to retrieve Cat’s laptop, which has records of the contestants’ secrets; Camille, Samuel, and Maire seek the same evidence, fearing that the game won’t truly end otherwise. In Cat’s office, they encounter Cat, who has escaped the wine cellar. Cat admits to orchestrating the game to get revenge. Maire and Samuel, Cat’s best friend and boyfriend, betrayed her by kissing the night they killed the driver. Crowley had Cat blacklisted in Washington DC journalism circles after she threatened to expose his affair. Ned assaulted Cat just as he did Fern. Camille, a marriage counselor, advised Cat’s husband to leave her after witnessing Cat’s emotional abuse. Cat flees with her laptop; when Ned pursues her, she pulls them both over a balcony to their deaths.

Fern later learns that Cat had Huntington’s disease, a progressive and terminal neurological condition; Cat planned the show to reveal her enemies’ crimes before she died. Cat left Fern $10 million in her will, so Fern gives Maire a million dollars to help pay for her daughter’s medical care. Camille’s podcast becomes popular once more. Samuel’s career is minimally affected. Ned’s reputation is destroyed after numerous women came forward to accuse him of sexual violence. Fern announces that she will host a second season of One Lucky Winner.