Book Review: Game Players by Anita Waller

Available here

It's the summer holidays and a group of kids are playing in the woods, when they spot a local thug burying something. So, what do they do?  Well, as kids are kids, they do the exact opposite from what most of us would do and they dig up the package and realise it's drugs.  Now, their dilemma is, what should they do with the drugs? I know, I know you're all yelling 'Dob in the Dealer' - but, well, kids are kids aren't they? And it's not as easy for them to make this decision (It's all to do with their pre-frontal cortex, you know?)  So, they spend time in their den trying to work out what to do .... and it's then that Waller, as only a devious minded crime writer can do, ups the stakes dramatically, making the kids' dilemma even more fraught.   



From there on in, Waller delights us with twist after twist, her acerbic humour and her edge of the seat tension.  She doesn't shy away from the gritty sordid world of gangs, henchmen and drug trafficking, but rather embraces it in a realistic, if sometimes shocking way.  Game Players twists its way into your subconscious and this makes for compelling reading.  
Waller's characterisation is delightful, from the ten year old children, to the couldn't care less father, to the evil criminal.  This book was a delight from start to finish - not sure delight is quite the right word for a novel with a pretty hefty body count -  but you get my drift. You'll love it.  Go on give it a go!