Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner
Game
Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Conrad Williams
Class/Genre: Mystery Horror
Earthling, Feb 2004, $14.00
In London Eachus abducts Liam and informs the lad’s sister Rache and his girlfriend Fi that they are to do his
bidding to the exact letter or he will slowly drain the blood from his hostage. He orders them to murder three
people he holds culpable for his doing time in prison.
At the same time that Fi and Rache follow orders starting with butchering a pig, Ness seeks to save her former
lover Oban from a brutal tragedy because she is afflicted with the curse of being an Arrester who foresees
something bad happening to him. While the three females travel their two paths, Eachus keeps seeing a vision of
a kid who he fears to the core of his darkened soul as he believes if he meets this boy he meets his doom. The
women will soon interconnect as Oban is a chosen one of Eachus even as the blood drips out of Liam one pint at a
time.
GAME is a gripping dark horror (is that an oxymoron?) that hooks the audience into reading this novella in one
sitting as fans will wonder who will be left standing in Conrad William’s 24 hours of terrorist extortion. The
strong story line contains two prime subplots that interweave in an exhilarating climax plus a smaller strand
involving Eachus and the kid. The key is that Eachus comes across so amoral that the audience can vividly
picture him draining blood from Liam. Though the use of a late circumstantial quirk enables one last climatic
twist to occur, readers of extremely sinister psychological and physical horror tales will want to join the
ladies on their “joyride” through London.
Harriet Klausner
Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner
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