The Game

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DePolo, August 1, 2007 (view all comments by DePolo)
Like Ben Elton?s Dead Famous (2001), this offbeat mystery features a Big Brother?like reality TV show, a murder, and a cantankerous detective, Alban Bane, who must overcome his revulsion for everything and everyone connected with the show if he is to find out whodunit. There?s also a touch of the hit TV series House here, too: like the small-screen physician, the cranky, pain-pill-popping Bane adds a delightfully sarcastic tone to the action. But, for all of that, the novel somehow manages to avoid feeling derivative. Armstrong?s abundant enthusiasm for his material, combined with the semi-satirical plotline, compel us to keep reading, and his prose style keeps us chuckling. The sleuth who disdains the world in which he finds himself is an idea as old as Raymond Chandler, but Armstrong injects the trope with new vigor. This is a series to watch from a new publisher to watch. ?David Pitt, Booklist Magazine

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Films & Books, August 1, 2007 (view all comments by Films & Books)
This review appeared in the Films & Books April issue:
REVIEW RECOMMENDATION: MUST READ
Fathering two teenage daughters, you?d think detective Alban Bane would have enough to fret about, but in The Game, a hugely cinematic thriller with hilarious dark comic moments, we find him quickly dealing with headless corpses. Not that headless corpses give you much trouble because they?re usually real still and don?t talk back and you don?t have to worry about making meaningful eye contact with them, it?s just that this scrappy, witty cop is pretty motivated to find out how they lost so much weight real quick ? especially after he gets a creepy letter inviting him to come find out. This is an irresistible story that centers around a new American reality television show called ?Haunted Survivor,? where a boiling-pot mix of soon- to- be- dead- but- they- don?t know -it- yet contestants see how long they can survive in an old Vermont mansion haunted by its former occupant, a mass murder, who left the planet in the first chapter by execution by lethal injection. Survive and get one million dollars, but these contestants are having a hard time surviving. They?re having an easy time, however, getting slaughtered. You?ve got to love a novel that crystallizes, in a single line, our squirmy fascination with this sort of thing, delivered by Haunted Survivor?s uptight producer who finally becomes good and unstrung at the end of the story herself, ?We?re assuming,? she said, ?America?s fascination with reality television and crime will continue.? Sure does, lady. Sure does. And you?ve got to love a thriller, like all great literate thrillers, that makes you feel pretty sure you know who the killer is ? but guess what. Depending on how you lean, Bane pulls for the Boston Red Sox, so this gives him a dangerous or desperate quality, or both. The poor cop?s pretty beat up by the end of the story, but he knows how to take a bullet and a good stabbing and bleed all over the place as he attempts to save one of those pesky teenage daughters of his who got caught up in the slaughter. Bane doesn?t know it, but one of the best fight scenes you?ll ever read ? and there are a bunch of them in The Game ? is being videotaped by the show?s sinister creator, and later shown as a news clip as a testament to Bane?s professional viciousness. Good job, Dad, saving your daughter?s head like that. Videotape is fine for now, but from the first few lines of The Game, you can see this book on the big screen, too. Of course, by then you?ll know who the killer is ? but who cares. We?re fascinated with reality television and crime and we just can?t help it ? because it?s so much bloody fun. www.filmsandbooks.com

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Dan Ronco, author of PeaceMaker, May 26, 2007 (view all comments by Dan Ronco, author of PeaceMaker)
The Game is a perfect fit for this era of reality television. In Derek Armstrong?s new novel, a serial killer is knocking off members of the cast and crew of Haunted Survivor, a top rated reality show. Alban Bane, the lead detective, discovers that these murders are virtual copycats of those committed by Tyler Hayden, a serial killer Bane arrested years earlier. The catch is that Bane had just witnessed Hayden?s execution. From there the plot really gets complicated. And interesting.

Although the story is complex, with twists and turns coming from all directions, Bane is the driving force that makes The Game compelling. I really like this character; he?s intelligent, determined and very funny. Right up there with John Corey, Nelson DeMille?s wisecracking NYPD detective.

If you enjoy a dark thriller with an offbeat sense of humor, get in The Game.

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Product Details

ISBN:

9781601640017

Author:

Armstrong, Derek

Publisher:

Kunati Inc.

Subject:

Thrillers

Subject:

Mystery & Detective - General

Publication Date:

April 2007

Binding:

Hardcover

Language:

English

Pages:

348

Dimensions:

9.20x6.32x1.10 in. 1.40 lbs.