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5.0 out of 5 stars
Dark, humorous, innovative, absolutely no cliches - flawless, Jun 24 2004
Don't trust anything or anyone! As much as I hate to use cliché's, in this book absolutely nothing is as it seems, and clues hide themselves in the strangest of places. Oftentimes, the solution that seems most obvious is not the solution. What a wonderful book of twists and turns!I was won over immediately by the writing style. At once dark and flippantly humorous, the author has a fine eye for detail, and more than once I found myself laughing out loud, only to be silenced moments later due to a suspenseful turn of events. You'll find, in the beginning, that a dictionary will come in hand, and I urge you to look up any words you don't understand. More often than not, you'll find that the knowledge of the word enriches the reading experience, and the quirkiness of the "big word" is appropriate for the setting. For example, phthisis means pulmonary tuberculosis. And as it's used in the book, it's hysterical. Really. The actual game described in the title is astonishingly innovative; I've never seen anything like it. To say anything about it gives too much away, so I'll hope only that you trust me. The Booklist review, as well as the inside jacket flap, do a wonderful job of setting the scene, so I'll end by saying: this book NEEDS to have a broader reading audience. At the writing of this review, the book ranked 73,034 on Amazon's listing. That must change. I have a very difficult time imagining someone reading this book and not being highly entertained, for there is ample entertainment value, of myriad kinds, on every page. If you take my recommendation, you won't regret it.
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