
Stay in the Game
The Contest, Book 1
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $15.59
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Book Buddy Digital Media
-
By:
-
Megan Atwood
About this listen
The prize: $10 million
The rules: Be the first to complete 10 tasks assigned by the Benefactor. Do not ask questions. Do not tell anyone what you're doing. Do not fail.
The consequences: Unknown
James' grandpa is dying. An experimental treatment has a chance of saving him, but James' family can't afford it. Not unless James competes in the Contest. The rules are sketchy, and the tasks seem dangerous...and definitely wrong. James has the feeling this contest is about a lot more than the prize money. But he can't back out now - can he?
©2016 Megan Atwood (P)2018 Lerner Digital ™Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Dead Key
- By: D. M. Pulley
- Narrated by: Emily Sutton-Smith
- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's 1998, and for years the old First Bank of Cleveland has sat abandoned, perfectly preserved, its secrets only speculated on by the outside world. Twenty years before, amid strange staff disappearances and allegations of fraud, panicked investors sold Cleveland's largest bank in the middle of the night, locking out customers and employees and thwarting a looming federal investigation. In the confusion that followed, the keys to the vault's safe-deposit boxes were lost.
-
-
Not good.
- By Guy on 05-05-17
By: D. M. Pulley
-
Before She Was Found
- By: Heather Gudenkauf
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For 12-year-old Cora Landry and her friends Violet and Jordyn, it was supposed to be an ordinary sleepover - movies and Ouija and talking about boys. But when they decide to sneak out to go to the abandoned rail yard on the outskirts of town, little do they know that their innocent games will have dangerous consequences. Later that night, Cora Landry is discovered on the tracks, bloody and clinging to life, her friends nowhere to be found. Soon, their small rural town is thrust into a maelstrom. Who would want to hurt a young girl like Cora - and why?
-
-
Bad Bad Ending
- By Sue on 05-12-19
-
Malevolent
- Shaye Archer Series, Book 1
- By: Jana DeLeon
- Narrated by: Julie McKay
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Emma Frederick bolts upright in bed, pulse racing. It must be a bad dream. Except it’s not. Crrrrrreeeeeeeeaaaaaaakkkkkkk. The sound of the loose step sends her body into overdrive, and she rushes for the secret room behind the wall. The screech of old hinges echoes through the house as he enters her bedroom. He starts whistling. Three blind mice. Three blind mice. She slaps a hand over her mouth, stifling her scream. He’s coming for her, but that can’t be. She killed him last month.
-
-
If you like The Fixer series GET THIS!!
- By shelley on 11-30-17
By: Jana DeLeon
-
Watched: Murder Was Just the Beginning
- By: Cindy M. Hogan
- Narrated by: Cheri Julander
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It takes more than a school trip to Washington, D.C. to change Christy's life. It takes murder. A witness to the slaying of a senator's aide, Christy finds herself watched not only by the killers and the FBI but also by two hot guys. She discovers that if she can't help the FBI, who want to protect her, it will cost her and her new friends their lives.
-
-
Intriquing Storyline
- By Lynn Shaw on 03-13-15
By: Cindy M. Hogan
-
Con Academy
- By: Joe Schreiber
- Narrated by: Michael Hinton
- Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's his senior year, and Will Shea has conned his way into one of the country's most elite prep schools. But he soon runs into Andrea, a fellow con artist. With the school not big enough for the both of them, they make a bet that whoever can con Brandt Rush, the richest, most privileged student in the school, out of $50,000 gets to stay at the school. Will starts setting up his con (an online poker scam) with his uncle, who's one of the best grifters in the business, and with the unwanted help of his father.
-
-
Intriguing plot
- By shopper on 12-22-24
By: Joe Schreiber
-
Never Say Necklace
- Love on the Run, Book 1
- By: Jaclyn Hardy
- Narrated by: Sara K. Sheckells
- Length: 3 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Carlie has spent her entire life searching for a necklace that was lost centuries ago. When her work finally pays off, she drops everything to retrieve it. Braden works undercover for an agency going after artifacts throughout the world. But when his latest quest means taking the necklace from the woman he’s been secretly in love with for months, things take a drastic turn. But Carlie and Braden aren’t the only ones searching for the necklace.
-
-
Great adventure romance
- By Crissy on 11-14-20
By: Jaclyn Hardy
-
The Dead Key
- By: D. M. Pulley
- Narrated by: Emily Sutton-Smith
- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's 1998, and for years the old First Bank of Cleveland has sat abandoned, perfectly preserved, its secrets only speculated on by the outside world. Twenty years before, amid strange staff disappearances and allegations of fraud, panicked investors sold Cleveland's largest bank in the middle of the night, locking out customers and employees and thwarting a looming federal investigation. In the confusion that followed, the keys to the vault's safe-deposit boxes were lost.
-
-
Not good.
- By Guy on 05-05-17
By: D. M. Pulley
-
Before She Was Found
- By: Heather Gudenkauf
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For 12-year-old Cora Landry and her friends Violet and Jordyn, it was supposed to be an ordinary sleepover - movies and Ouija and talking about boys. But when they decide to sneak out to go to the abandoned rail yard on the outskirts of town, little do they know that their innocent games will have dangerous consequences. Later that night, Cora Landry is discovered on the tracks, bloody and clinging to life, her friends nowhere to be found. Soon, their small rural town is thrust into a maelstrom. Who would want to hurt a young girl like Cora - and why?
-
-
Bad Bad Ending
- By Sue on 05-12-19
-
Malevolent
- Shaye Archer Series, Book 1
- By: Jana DeLeon
- Narrated by: Julie McKay
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Emma Frederick bolts upright in bed, pulse racing. It must be a bad dream. Except it’s not. Crrrrrreeeeeeeeaaaaaaakkkkkkk. The sound of the loose step sends her body into overdrive, and she rushes for the secret room behind the wall. The screech of old hinges echoes through the house as he enters her bedroom. He starts whistling. Three blind mice. Three blind mice. She slaps a hand over her mouth, stifling her scream. He’s coming for her, but that can’t be. She killed him last month.
-
-
If you like The Fixer series GET THIS!!
- By shelley on 11-30-17
By: Jana DeLeon
-
Watched: Murder Was Just the Beginning
- By: Cindy M. Hogan
- Narrated by: Cheri Julander
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It takes more than a school trip to Washington, D.C. to change Christy's life. It takes murder. A witness to the slaying of a senator's aide, Christy finds herself watched not only by the killers and the FBI but also by two hot guys. She discovers that if she can't help the FBI, who want to protect her, it will cost her and her new friends their lives.
-
-
Intriquing Storyline
- By Lynn Shaw on 03-13-15
By: Cindy M. Hogan
-
Con Academy
- By: Joe Schreiber
- Narrated by: Michael Hinton
- Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's his senior year, and Will Shea has conned his way into one of the country's most elite prep schools. But he soon runs into Andrea, a fellow con artist. With the school not big enough for the both of them, they make a bet that whoever can con Brandt Rush, the richest, most privileged student in the school, out of $50,000 gets to stay at the school. Will starts setting up his con (an online poker scam) with his uncle, who's one of the best grifters in the business, and with the unwanted help of his father.
-
-
Intriguing plot
- By shopper on 12-22-24
By: Joe Schreiber
-
Never Say Necklace
- Love on the Run, Book 1
- By: Jaclyn Hardy
- Narrated by: Sara K. Sheckells
- Length: 3 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Carlie has spent her entire life searching for a necklace that was lost centuries ago. When her work finally pays off, she drops everything to retrieve it. Braden works undercover for an agency going after artifacts throughout the world. But when his latest quest means taking the necklace from the woman he’s been secretly in love with for months, things take a drastic turn. But Carlie and Braden aren’t the only ones searching for the necklace.
-
-
Great adventure romance
- By Crissy on 11-14-20
By: Jaclyn Hardy
-
Book Scavenger
- By: Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
- Narrated by: Jessica Almasy
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For 12-year-old Emily, the best thing about moving to San Francisco is that it's the home city of her literary idol: Garrison Griswold, book publisher and creator of the online sensation Book Scavenger (a game where books are hidden in cities all over the country and clues to find them are revealed through puzzles). Upon her arrival, however, Emily learns that Griswold has been attacked and is now in a coma, and no one knows anything about the epic new game he had been poised to launch.
-
-
Bibliophile? - Check this out!
- By ASW on 03-05-16
-
Secret of the Red Arrow
- Hardy Boys Adventures, Book 1
- By: Franklin W. Dixon
- Narrated by: Tim Gregory
- Length: 3 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Something is not right in Bayport. After a series of unfortunate (yet harmless) pranks, it looks like Frank and Joe have caught their suspect surprisingly early. Their classmate, Seth Diller, has taken his love of filmmaking a bit too far. But shortly after Frank and Joe confront Seth, there are fresh outbreaks of Seth-like pranks. Except these aren't as harmless. After a bit of investigating, the Hardy Boys uncover evidence of the Red Arrow - a group that will stop at nothing to bring chaos and crime to Bayport's peaceful existence.
-
-
Not the Hardy Boys you remember
- By Amazon Customer on 09-13-17
-
Things Not Seen
- By: Andrew Clements
- Narrated by: Daniel Passer
- Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bobby Phillips is an average 15-year-old boy. Until the morning he wakes up and can't see himself in the mirror. Not blind, not dreaming, Bobby is just plain invisible. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to Bobby's new condition; even his dad the physicist can't figure it out. For Bobby that means no school, no friends, no life. He's a missing person. Then he meets Alicia. She's blind, and Bobby can't resist talking to her, trusting her.
-
-
Nostalgia
- By Christian Pierce on 02-24-20
By: Andrew Clements
-
Don't Turn Around
- By: Michelle Gagnon
- Narrated by: Merritt Hicks
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sixteen-year-old Noa has been a victim of the system ever since her parents died. Now living off the grid and trusting no one, she uses her computer-hacking skills to stay safely anonymous and alone. But when she wakes up on a table in an empty warehouse with an IV in her arm and no memory of how she got there, Noa starts to wish she had someone on her side. Enter Peter Gregory. A rich kid and the leader of a hacker alliance, Peter needs people with Noa's talents on his team. Especially after a shady corporation called AMRF threatens his life in no uncertain terms.
-
-
Doesn't hold up for adult listeners
- By M. Reen on 01-03-13
By: Michelle Gagnon
-
Click Here to Start
- A Novel
- By: Denis Markell
- Narrated by: Greg Watanabe
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twelve-year-old Ted Gerson has spent most of his summer playing video games. So when his great-uncle dies and bequeaths him all the so-called treasure in his overstuffed junk shop of an apartment, Ted explores it like it's another level to beat. And to his shock, he finds that eccentric Great-Uncle Ted actually has set the place up like a real-life escape-the-room game!
-
-
fun & suspenseful
- By M. Dalton on 08-02-17
By: Denis Markell
-
Going Wild
- By: Lisa McMann
- Narrated by: Shannon McManus
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charlie Wilde knew her life would change forever when her family moved from the city of Chicago to the suburbs of Arizona...and that was before she found the bracelet. After putting it on, she notices odd things start to happen. Suddenly Charlie seems to have the speed of a cheetah and the strength of an elephant - and that's just the beginning. She would be thrilled about her transformation if she had any idea how to use the device or control her amazing powers.
-
-
Great realistic superhero origin
- By Vash3055 on 06-12-17
By: Lisa McMann
-
The Eighth Guardian
- Annum Guard, Book 1
- By: Meredith McCardle
- Narrated by: Amy McFadden
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Amanda Obermann. Code name Iris. It’s Testing Day. The day that comes without warning, the day when all juniors and seniors at The Peel Academy undergo a series of intense physical and psychological tests to see if they’re ready to graduate and become government operatives. Amanda and her boyfriend Abe are top students, and they’ve just endured thirty-six hours of testing. But they’re juniors and don’t expect to graduate. That’ll happen next year, when they plan to join the CIA - together.
-
-
Great premise for a storyline, weak execution
- By Sherrilyn Dolman on 05-15-14
-
Found
- By: Margaret Peterson Haddix
- Narrated by: Chris Sorensen
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With the same heightened suspense and intrigue that made her Shadow Children,/i> books - including Among the Hidden - best-sellers, acclaimed young adult author Margaret Peterson Haddix presents the first entry in a thrilling new series. Thirteen years ago, a plane materialized out of thin air with 36 babies on board and no one at the controls. Jonah and Chip, passengers of that mysterious vessel, are now caught in the middle of a deadly struggle between the FBI and a sinister, unseen force.
-
-
This Book Serves as an Introduction to a Series
- By Allison on 01-11-09
-
The Bear & Mandy Logan Series, Books 1-3
- Close to Home - Under the Surface - The Last Stop (Bear & Mandy Logan Boxed Set, Book 1)
- By: L.T. Ryan, K.M. Rought
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer, Andrea Emmes
- Length: 21 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Step into the world of Bear and Mandy Logan, a father-daughter duo bound by loyalty, survival, and a shared past shadowed by danger. From Wall Street Journal bestselling author L.T. Ryan and K.M. Rought, these first three pulse-pounding thrillers take you across small towns and forgotten communities, where mysteries run deep and justice is anything but simple.
-
-
Beautiful story about a fathet and daughter full of intrigue, danger and love
- By diane G. on 02-20-25
By: L.T. Ryan, and others
-
A Duet for Home
- By: Karina Yan Glaser
- Narrated by: Sura Siu, Preston Butler III
- Length: 6 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the New York Times best-selling creator of the Vanderbeekers series comes a triumphant tale of friendship, healing, and the power of believing in ourselves told from the perspective of biracial sixth-graders June and Tyrell, two children living in a homeless shelter. As their friendship grows over a shared love of classical music, June and Tyrell confront a new housing policy that puts homeless families in danger.
-
-
Amazing story!
- By Joshua M Brown Kramer on 04-08-24
-
The Harlem Charade
- By: Natasha Tarpley
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harlem is home to all kinds of kids. Jin sees life passing her by from the window of her family's bodega. Alex wants to help the needy one shelter at a time but can't tell anyone who she really is. Elvin's living on Harlem's cold, lonely streets, surviving on his own after his grandfather was mysteriously attacked. When these three strangers join forces to find out what happened to Elvin's grandfather, their digging leads them to an enigmatic artist whose missing masterpieces are worth a fortune.
-
-
Emotional
- By Maria Uribe on 08-06-18
By: Natasha Tarpley
-
Falling for Korea
- By: Piper Jean
- Narrated by: Laura Lockwood
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
California teen Sydney Moore doesn’t know why she’s been shipped off to spend her senior year in Korea with the wealthy godparents she barely knows. What was her mom thinking? The Kims are never even home. And their son, the guy that’s supposed to help Sydney adjust to school at the elite Daeshim Academy, is totally MIA. As soon as Sydney can scrape together enough for a ticket, she’s flying home.
-
-
Intense kdrama writer!
- By Robert Jones and Wendy on 12-18-23
By: Piper Jean
Critic reviews
"This first in a series of five novellas that follow a single storyline introduces the first participant in a contest that seems too good to be true. African American James takes care of his beloved grandfather, who is dying of a disease that's treatable with an experimental method not covered by insurance. Desperate, James enters a contest offered to him online by someone calling himself the 'Benefactor'. If James can complete 10 tasks before any other contestants, he will win $10 million. James agrees but soon grows suspicious that the Benefactor is up to no good. James must break into lockers, deliver mysterious packages, and, later, actively commit a crime. When he gets even the smallest detail wrong, the Benefactor threatens him.... Atwood weaves together the first three novellas, all of which follow different contestants, until a common narrative emerges. Although the novellas are numbered, they could be read in any order. Extremely short and written quite simply, they emphasize page-turning suspense..... Despite the book's brevity, James comes across as an admirable character even as he struggles to extricate himself from a seemingly impossible situation. Highly engaging, with more to come." (Kirkus Reviews)
"These are the first three novellas in the series The Contest; they need to be read in order. The mysterious Benefactor ropes in teens across a multicultural spectrum, each with a dire financial issue, by promising a prize of $10 million to the first one to complete a series of ten tasks, some less threatening than others. James's grandfather is dying from cancer, and only an expensive experimental drug offers hope in Stay in the Game..... The books create a thrill-seeking sense of impending disaster, and readers will root for the characters as they begin to unite to discover who the Benefactor is and what he/she really intends to do with the information they steal. The series offers a perfect choice for adolescents who struggle to find easy-to-access plots with believable characters." (VOYA)
"In this first book in the Contest series, written at a fourth-grade reading level, African American high school senior James Trudeleau receives a mysterious email from an anonymous 'Benefactor', who challenges him to compete in a contest with a $10 million prize - money that could pay for an experimental treatment for his dying grandfather. James reluctantly complies, struggling with his moral compass as he performs increasingly dangerous tasks. Breathless pacing and an exciting cliffhanger ending offer solid hooks for readers to seek out the subsequent volumes (Raise the Stakes, Break the Code, and Turn the Tables), all available simultaneously." (Publishers Weekly)