Customer Reviews

The Game

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As is often the case, Mycroft Holmes, who is ill and abed, turns to his detective brother to do what the entire British Secret Service cannot, track down Kimball O'Hara, who has disappeared into India. Of course, Kimball, who is the original for Rudyard Kipling's Kim, has always been disappeared into India. He has been a British agent, worked for the betterment of his adopted country of India, and been something of a mystic. He is often missing, but this time Mycroft is convinced that there has been foul play.

Holmes is selected because he spent time in India during his own great disappearance, has met O'Hara, and, I suspect, because his wife is Mary Russell. Mary is every bit Holmes equal, and in some ways his better. First as a team, and then separately, they adventure to Northern India and the Principality of Khanpur, where they must face corruption, insanity, and sedition in an adventure that becomes quite a bit more than a rescue mission.

King does her usual best to mix plenty of fact into her fiction, so that 'The Game' becomes a travelogue and a sociological record in addition to an adventure. There is less deduction in this novel than in some of her other Russell/Holmes stories. Due mostly to the fact that the clues always lead in one direction and the real excitement becomes the tricks, feats, and disguises that enable the team to survive and conquer. King also excels at developing a supporting cast, and as one might expect from a book set in India, that cast is almost numberless.

My only real criticism is that the story is very slow paced. Indeed, it is timed more like a travel diary than an adventure novel. I'm comfortable with an author that lavishes a wealth of detail on an interesting story, but for those that prefer a brisker pace this may be a bit off-putting. Kings ability to capture both the culture of the Asian subcontinent and the artificiality of the British presence, right at the time when India was in a crisis between the desire for independence, the influence of the Raj, and the menace of a Russia looking hungrily over the Himalayas.

The Game offers a new setting (India) with the typical well researched backdrop and fun, interesting new characters that characterize Laurie R. King's Mary Russell series. Very satisyfing. The entire series is well written and engaging.

This is an improvement over the previous "Justice Hall," but it's still a disappointment compared to the first couple of King's Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes stories. It almost reads like two different authors wrote the first 80% and final 20% of the book respectively. The front 80% groans under the weight of enervatingly lavish, detailed descriptions of places, events, and politics in India: nothing much happens, and we get introduced to some amusing characters whom you know Will Assume Unexpected Importance Later. This part of the book is impressive in terms of the research that must have gone into it, but for those who like *mysteries*, it's a long slog, very much like "Justice Hall."

In the second part of the book, after Russell and Holmes meet up again in the context of the Maharajah's castle, plot details get neatly resolved with the same handiness and speediness with which the action suddenly moves along. Too many coincidences here, and too many telling details from earlier in the book unresolved. Do we suspect a rush job on the ending to meet a publication schedule?

I liked this book very much. The details of life in a prince's palace were fascinating, particularly the pig sticking. The book moves right along for one so richly detailed. I enjoyed the first portion somwhat more than the end; I had the feeling it was wrapped up to fit into a specific page count and could have been much more detailed; a slightly too "pat" resolution. However, several story lines were left unfinished and I look forward to seeing them carried forward in the next intallment. I recommend this book, but would start as a new reader of Laurie King with the Beekeeper's Apprentice.

While "A Beekeeper's Apprentice" remains my favorite of this series, this book is just a pleasure to read. History, adventure, mystery, and just plain fun.

Thank you Laurie King! I wish I could erase my memory and read it again immediately! Perhaps reading Kim instead will help me get by until the next installment. Please don't keep us waiting long.

Laurie King has created a marvelous mystery series featuring Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes. King's plots are tightly constructed and intricate, her characters vivid and true to the lore of the original Holmes, and her mastery of the English language compels me to say that her books are well worth their price. A statement not often true - since book store shelves are currently weighted down with so many trite, bland, predictable books.

I feel that I should also mention King's mastery of location. King has done her homework and gives riveting and exquisite detail to each setting in the series. Whether you find yourself nestled within a cozy cottage sipping tea; shivering from the chill tramping through the morning mist on the moor; struggling through a crowded bazaar assaulted by a cacophany of street vendor cries and the aromatic scents of spices for sale; awakening to the swish of camels' feet and the creak of leather against wood leaving the Bedouin camp; being charmed by the tingling of goat bells pulling carts down dusty lanes; or absorbed by the lushness and darkness of Kipling's India - you will never be disappointed or dismissive of each book's background.

In other words, King writes good solid entertaining literature. Not drivel.

I liked The Game, but I thought it could have been better. In my opinion, it's definitely not up to the the level of the first two books, which I think are the hands-down best of the series. It was a little disappointing, though still a good read.

It felt, to me, like it should have been longer by about 100 pages, most of that going into character development and the second half of the story that took place in India. The mystery seemed a little too simple. There were a lot of characters, which is not a bad thing, but a lot of them weren't fully developed and could have been used more successfully. There's also at least one unresolved plot element (those of you who've read it may have caught this-- the emeralds? Where did they go? We know from BEEK that they survived, yet there's no mention of sending luggage home or anything to explain where they went in between the time H & R leave the cruise ship and the beginning of BEEK.) Overall, it felt like the shadow of a greater work.

On the other hand, I really enjoyed the portion of the book dealing with Holmes' and Russell's time on the cruise ship. That was the best part of the book, definitely what I've come to expect. It just didn't go anywhere spectacular. The suspenseful action near the end was also good, and very entertaining. It would make a good general-audience movie, I think.

My main critique is that there seemed to me to be only one level to the story. In the past installments, there's been at least two, usually three or four levels to the story, creating an integrated whole, but in this one, the extra levels were fragmentary at best. This was a straightforward action-adventure, and there's nothing wrong with that, except in contrast with the more substantial novels in the series.

So, yes, this is an essential read if you're obsessed with the Mary Russell series, like me. But, no, this is not the best book you'll ever read.

Laurie R. King's latest Mary Russell novel is marketed as " a novel of suspense," and that is a very accurate description. This is by no means a whodunnit, but it is an exciting story with a couple of flaws that keep it from being first-rate.

This story takes Mary Russell and her illustrious husband, Sherlock Holmes, to India in 1924. They are searching for a missing British agent named Kimball O'Hara, the adult version of Rudyard Kipling's Kim. O'Hara has disappeared somewhere in northern India and the trail is cold. Nevertheless, Russell and Holmes set out to find him, and of course they do.

One of the great strengths of this series is that it is NOT a Sherlock Holmes knock-off. These are stories about Mary Russell, and Sherlock Holmes appears at appropriate moments. Mary begins by learning another exotic language in record time-- this time it is Hindi-- and the couple wander through northern India as itinerant performers, magicians and jugglers. Eventually they split up, and Mary resumes her real identity (without giving away that she is Mrs. Holmes) to visit a maharaja with his own zoo, a collection of dwarves, and a love for the sport of pig-sticking. Mary starts out with a low opinion of this "sport," but her introduction to pig-sticking is one of the best parts of the story.

Mary is sure that the maharaja is up to no good, but she has to make a hasty exit before she gets enough proof. She and Holmes join up again, then Holmes is dragged off by the maharaja's minions. Of course, it's up to Mary to get him back and find Kimball O'Hara, which she does. And yes, the maharaja really is up to no good and gets his comeuppance, as well.

After a rather slow start (an overdose of history and politics to get everyone up to speed), the story moves along quickly and is fun to read. As usual, the part that has the couple masquerading as performers is very entertaining, and along the way one learns much about Indian culture and customs.

The weaknesses are an overabundance of characters, most of whom are underdeveloped and turn out to be superfluous anyway, and too great a reliance on coincidence to provide information and solve problems. Everything in the story happens just too easily. No obstacle is too difficult to be overcome in a couple of pages. That cost the book one star, in my opinion, but if you aren't very picky about things like that, you may find the book better than I have rated it.

It would be easier to list what this book doesn't have than what it does. There's everything but the kitchen sink, and that's a good thing, for this stellar, atmospheric, well-thought-out book is at the top of my list. With writing reminiscent of Jackson McCrae's BARK OF THE DOGWOOD and a plot worthy of Elmore Leonard (think GET SHORTY) or some Grisham novel, THE GAME will surely be a bestseller. Highly recommended for anyone with a pulse.