Book Review – Game by Anders de la Motte: Number one in a number one trilogy. I dare you to try it!

Last year, I had an idea for a story.  For the second time in two weeks I’d picked up a phone someone had left on a train and being an honest person, tried to reunite it with its owner.  I wondered what might happen if the phone’s owner was not just an innocent and forgetful commuter, or even worse, whether I’d mistakenly picked up a phone that someone else not so pleasant was meant to pick up.

I was quite intrigued to see the write up for Game, the first in a trilogy.  By a happy co-incidence, it was delivered to my Kindle when I wasn’t working, so I had a day free to read the book.

Herik Pettersson (HP) is a waster.  Bright, but unmotivated, he works occasionally, preferring to live on the fringes of crime.  He has little contact with his sister Rebecca, who works as government bodyguard, although he does get in touch when he needs money! HP is travelling on a train, badly hungover and groggy, when he finds an expensive looking smartphone.

The bleeping messages invite HP to take part in a game, challenging him to steal an umbrella from another passenger.  HP readily accepts and is quickly drawn into The Game.  Adoring feedback from other Gamers plays to his ego and spurs him to take on more tantalising and daring challenges.

One challenge however crosses a line for HP when he finds it’s endangered his sister Rebecca’s life.  Appalled by the consequences of his actions, HP breaks Rule 1 and the Game Master expels him from The Game.  HP soon realises that The Game is not just about daring adventure challenges, but far more serious.  HP is torn between wanting to escape from The Game, and a desire to rejoin The Game to get the adulation of his Game followers.  He finds The Game is all pervading, difficult to escape from and because of his transgressions against The Game, threatens not just him, but Rebecca too.

I thought the book was great.  De la Motte has developed a story and plot where the characters are real and their actions completely believable, although as a reader, you kind of guessed what the consequences of certain decisions would be.  The conspiratorial strand of the plot unfolds at a pace that makes it credible to the reader rather than seeming to be just another paranoid fantasy novel.  The book had a fast pace, which was enhanced by the action moving between HP and Rebecca’s points of view.  Some of the twists, particularly in the last part of the book are simply excellent.

I started the book at 8am, had only a short break before picking it up again, and finished it early afternoon.  I’d thoroughly recommend this novel and plan to buy the second book in the trilogy, Buzz, which will leapfrog other books already on my reading list.

Romancrimeblogger

PS - In case you're not sure whether to try the book, the first five chapters are available free on Kindle: 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Game-free-sampler-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B00EXB6ZH4/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1389213486&sr=1-4&keywords=game+motte