Raising the Bar (out of print for several years now so I recommend just finding yourself a .pdf) is a book about the development of Half-Life 2 and bits of Half-Life as well. Geoff Keighley has also written a few “The Final Hours” books about the development of Portal 2, Titanfall, and Half-Life: Alyx, though I think all are digital-only.

I’d play the demo and read the Steam reviews and decide that for yourself. Personally, I’d probably pass on the game no matter the price, but we’re all different.

Can confirm.