- Paperback: 271 pages
- Publisher: Felony & Mayhem (April 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1933397683
- ISBN-13: 978-1933397689
- Product Dimensions: 19 x 16.9 x 1.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 272 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,518,676 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
The Game of Thirty is an ancient Egyptian board game in which the movement of pieces, according to the casting of bone dice, foreshadows events in the lives of the players. In Kotzwinkle's ( E.T. ; Doctor Rat ) noir novel for the 1990s, Manhattan is the ersatz playing board, and antiquities dealer Tommy Rennseler is a player whose piece was moved to the square of Rebirth ("your piece dies and has to start all over again") on the night he was injected with cobra venom and disemboweled. High-tech detective Jimmy McShane is hired by Rennseler's daughter Temple to find her father's murderer. Aided by his office mate, Ann Henderson, a chiropractor with a New Age outlook and a talent for Sherlockian deduction, McShane moves around the city/board trying to discover who his opponent is. More murders and a suspect's involvement in child prostitution seem to sidetrack the plot, but in the end, all pieces, players and moves prove necessary to Kotzwinkle's resolution. McShane, Henderson and the supporting cast are fully three-dimensional and memorably idiosyncratic. In this game of 30, the reader is the winner, no contest.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
In Kotzwinkle's ( The Midnight Examiner , LJ 4/1/89; The Hot Jazz Trio , LJ 10/15/89) latest novel, we meet New Yorker James McShane, private detective extraordinaire, a man of wit, confidence, and panache. Assisted by his beautiful office neighbor, a people-smart chiropractor, McShane investigates the murder by evisceration of a wealthy antiquities dealer specializing in Egyptian artifacts. He alternately charms, bluffs, or pushes his way around a short list of suspects, including the dealer's quirky family, a mysteriously ubiquitous sender of warnings, and an old-money pedophile. The author's literate, fluid prose, which sparkles with le mot juste , thus reveals an admirable hero, solid plot, and Egyptian cachet as well as the author's versatility. Sure to be popular. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 2/1/94.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
both modern and nostalgic,
By
This review is from: The Game of Thirty (Mass Market Paperback)
William Kotzwinkle, despite his frequent turns converting blockbuster movies like ET: the Extraterrestrial into novels, is one of the more consistently interesting fantasy writers around. In The Game of Thirty, he tries his hand at a hard-boiled private eye novel and proves quite capable. Jimmy McShane is a former military cop turned NY City private detective. When he is hired to look into the mysterious death of an antiquities dealer, he finds himself getting drawn into a murderous match of wits with the killer, based on the ancient Egyptian Pharaohs' Game of Thirty. Mixing traditional elements of noir fiction--first person narrative, wisecracking dialogue, and urban locale--with nearly Victorian elements, reminiscent of a Sherlock Holmes or Fu Manchu tale--cobra venom, egyptology and the like--and throwing in a New Age heroine as Jimmy's sidekick, Kotzwinkle produces a neat little thriller that manages to be both modern and nostalgic and seems like it would be perfect for the big screen. GRADE: B
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting Until the End,
This review is from: The Game of Thirty (Mass Market Paperback)
The Game of Thirty is a little bit above average when it comes to stories in the mystery-esque genera. The plot is interesting, and although it revolves around a typical "hard guy" main character and "kooky, yet bright" dilettante female companion, the story does not come across as being too cliche. For me the best part about the book was the Egyptian atmosphere, which is centered on a board game - the Game of Thirty. Although at times this game is used to envoke far too much foreshadowing, on the whole it helps the story progress. An antiquities theme runs througout the book, but many other sub plots are developed (generally well), that allow the reader to peak into other walks of life. The worst part of the book is the ending. Readers can guess the ending about 1/2 way through, and the conclusion is completely unrealistic. Still the Game of Thirty is a good read.
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Encahnting and Intriguing read,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Game of Thirty (Mass Market Paperback)
The Game of thirty was a ming boggling and fascinating book. It seemed to lead you into a new dream and keep you there. This book deals with tough issues, deeper than you can imagine, and handles them straightforward, in a New Yorker approach. I definetlty reccomend this book to anyone. It is an intriguing tale that sweeps you off your feet.
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