Monday, December 2, 2013

Review: Game by Anders de la Motte





Game
: a competitive activity involving skill, chance, or endurance on the part of two or more persons who play according to a set of rules, usually for their own amusement or for that of spectators
Courtesy of Dictionary.com.,LLC

After seeing someone has left a phone on the train, what do you do? Do you try to flag them down in an effort to return their property or do you turn it on and consider yourself lucky to have found such a treasure? Before you can really figure what to do, the phone buzzs. Lo and behold, the person on the other line is asking if you want to play a game. Then suddenly, without knowing how to respond, the phone addresses you by name. How does the person on the other end sending messages know that you've found this phone? Figuring it's some funny joke, you agree to play The Game.

Henrik Pettersson can't believe his luck when he finds a phone on the train. Instead of leaving it alone, he answers the call of The Game Master. Because HP is unlike the average person, he's the perfect candidate for The Game. He's a slacker, not really worried about the consequences of his actions, narcissitic, and impulsive. He lacks any real family or emotional connection to any one person.

Swedish author Anders de la Motte's Game is fast paced and takes off like a rocket. He places HP into action almost immediately and never gives the reader a chance to get bored with The Game. Even when the novel shifts to a woman named Rebecca Normen. We don't know her connection to the progression of the story except that she's no-nonsense, tough, smart, and driven as a "personal protection coordinator".

Because Game barely slows down for HP to catch a breath, his profile is given to readers through a glimpse of his file. This file is what was used to determine HP's qualifications of being a participant in The Game. It's may seem like cheating but Anders de la Motte does well in developing the Rebecca Normen character. She's the more enjoyable of the two main characters. After some time I found HP to be draining. He's dense and de la Motte never showcases the intelligence that was used as a determining factor in his being asked to join The Game. He's only able to get into contact with much smarter people. That's his only redeeming quality.

Since HP isn't the brightest crayon in the box, nor does he think things through, I found it especially hard to back him 100%. Once he finds out the extent of what he's gotten hisself into, it's not all that obvious that he appreciates it. He almost takes for granted the long reach of the people he's involved with. He's frustrating to no end.

Overall, I will be reading the next novel Buzz in the Game trilogy because I did like book 1 a lot. Game is engrossing and will appeal to fans of thrillers and suspense. The idea of someone being idiotic enough to do whatever a phone tells them just for a short time of recognition and praise is always an interesting topic in the age of social media and our phones being the source of everything that is anything. I am looking forward to finding out who wins the game. Will it be HP or The Game Master?   ***

Copy provided by Simon & Schuster via Netgalley

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