The Game of Thirty

by William Kotzwinkle

When a wealthy antiques dealer is poisoned and ritually disemboweled in ancient Egyptian fashion, streetwise detective Jimmy McShane is drawn into a pharoah's Game of Thirty by the killer. Reprint.

Genres: Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Fiction

295 pages, Paperback

First published May 31, 1994

About the author

William Kotzwinkle is a two-time recipient of the National Magazine Award for Fiction, a winner of the World Fantasy Award, the Prix Litteraire des Bouquinistes des Quais de Paris, the PETA Award for Children's Books, and a Book Critics Circle award nominee. His work has been translated into dozens of languages.

Reviews

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read a bunch of Kotzwinkle's novels, and they're all pretty quirky and different from each other. This one's a mystery story that's told in a Chandler-esque style, shot through with little metaphors and meditations that are very much a part of of what seems to be an homage to the spirit of the classic noir mystery novel, a genre that holds many more literary goodies than you'd expect. As such, it's a pretty good effort, but it felt a little too light-hearted for what it was aiming at, times.

I'd always thought of Kotzwinkle as a bit of a hippy type, in a good way, and the way Egyptian myth and history are threaded through the novel has a slightly new age-y whiff at times, enhanced by narrative/PI McShane's sideckick, a lovely chiropractor who is all about chakras and brown rice. Precognitive dreams and 'vibes' are taken as seriously as the hard groundwork of sleuthing, but the emphasis is on the hardnosed stuff with the mystical aspects just adding to the overall texture.

The mystery at the heart of this novel turn out to be dark indeed, but the bad guys pay the price and some sort of new beginning is made possible for all the victims. some aspects of the mystery had me guessing until the very end while I figured others out fairly early on.

This isn't really Kotzwinkle's first mystery novel - Fata Morgana is a mystery too, but set in the very different milieu of 19th century Vienna. I'd lost track of his work through the 90s and 2000s, it's interesting to see he's still at it and venturing into new territory.

[Ben Loory · Rating 3 out of 5]

pretty much just a ridiculous book until the last page somehow pulled it all together. kinda took my breath away, but i'm not really sure it was worth the 270 pages that preceded it.

ADDENDUM! a week later and i'm still thinking about this book. and i think maybe i was wrong. looking back, all the pieces are there the whole time, they only look ridiculous because you haven't put them all together. so there's really a point to the sidekick being a masseuse, to the guy's extensive knowledge of women's perfumes, and etc. not that that changes how bizarre and random it all feels when you're reading it, but it is all of piece.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A private investigator is hired by the daughter of a wealthy man who was murdered in the style of an ancient Egyptian. He, the investigator, finds himself playing The Game of Thirty, a pastime of Pharaohs, where virtually anything goes.

[David Macpherson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was enjoying aspects of the book, the detection, the char4acter, the use of egyptian antiques and how New York City was utilized but ultimately it was just annoying. The sidekick, the chiropracter, was not funny, but unpleasant to be around. And the conclusion that we had a multiple personality and that almost every man under suspicion was an evil child molester strained credibility and the heaviness of dealing with child molestation was not harmoniously melded with the light tone of the narration or the characters. An unfortunate mess.

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

another great ride from Kotzwinkle. it starts out like a fairly standard private dick thriller, but steadily builds into a smart, insightful psychological puzzle. Kotzwinkle never fails to deliver the goods to this reader. I had no clue where things were ultimately headed until the author and the story were ready to go there.

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spacey urban detective story with excellent pacing and narrative flow but an unmanageable plot. I like layered stories as much as the next bloke but this was distracting. Fun read either way. Solid 3 stars.

[Malum · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book will give you whiplash. It both has pretty disturbing depictions of child abuse and also some pretty silly humor that almost feels out of place in a noir-style mystery.

Also, any mystery that relies on things like amnesia or multiple personalities to work needs grandmaster levels of skill to pull off without feeling cheap or dumb, which Kotzwinkle doesn't manage to pull off.

[Martin Bikar · Rating 3 out of 5]

A number of interesting characters, takes place almost exclusively in New York City. The board game is hard to follow. Plot points happen one after another resulting in a somewhat surprising reveal. The child abuse element is disturbing, which makes it not the most easily recommended book, but it does have some humor in it, too.

[Angela Woody · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is suspenseful with well developed main characters. The Egypt lore adds more depth and interest to the story. I will note, I found the ending a little too convenient. I still enjoyed it, but very predictable.

[James S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty terrible writing. Anytime an author refers to testicles as “McNuggets,” that’s probably a good time to stop reading that book.

[Rusty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wish I could give half stars as this one would rate 3 1/2 stars but since I cannot I moved reluctantly gave it 4 stars. This is a good, good read. During the first hundred pages, I felt like I was reading a book version of the television series, Dragnet, but as the novel moved along I lost that feeling (perhaps because I became so involved with the tale). However, I did unravel the plot about two thirds through the read.

It begins with a wealthy antiquities dealer named Tommy Rennesler being murdered in a bizarre way. He is injected with cobra poison and his organs are removed, an ancient Egyptian ritualist killing method. His daughter, Temple who is tall and beautiful with world class legs, hires one Jimmy McShane, private investigator, to find her father's killer.

As the investigation unfolds, Jimmy uncovers a child prostitution center and several wealthy men who frequent its services. Other murders are committed and Jimmy has three attempts on his own life. Interwoven into the novel's story is Jimmy's romance with Henderson, a lovely chiropracter, who shares office services with his own and Temple's disfunctional family. The investigation continues and Jimmy discovers a mysterious Rex who serves as a go-between Temple's father, his brother and the disreputable sellers they encounter.

Several suspects make McShane's list: Rex; Temple's mother, Helen; an antiquities collector named Brand; her father's brother; and the mysterious 'Cobra,' an unknown but vicious killer. Read this one yourself and see if you can uncover the plot before the unexpected ending.

[Tony Gleeson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Try to put aside any image you might have of WIlliam Kotzwinkle as the popularizing guy who wrote novelizations of "Superman" or "E.T." There's another Kotzwinkle out there as well who has written some terrifically quirky novels, and this is perhaps one of his best. It begins as a tale-- written in somewhat Chandlerian fashion-- of a private investigator hired to find the murderer of a wealthy dealer in antiquities. His client is the mysterious and oddly fascinating daughter of the dead man. A host of colorful characters emerge as the plot unwinds. The requisite anonymous threats, enigmatic characters, and dead bodies appear at the proper moments. This had the potential to be a derivative snoozer. But Kotzwinkle keeps this from becoming a predictable genre piece. He invests the story with a slightly uncomfortable aura of uncertainty and weirdness. First of all, there is the backdrop of the Egyptian Game of Thirty-- also known as Senet-- that seems to be presaging every event in the detective's life. There are the enigmatic hints dropped by various characters that at first seem to make no sense. Then there are the unexpected twists and turns as the seeker approaches his solution. Bingo-- it all ultimately makes sense.
As delightful, perhaps, as a novelization about E.T. might be, I'm very happy that Mr. K turned his considerable and unusual writing talents to stuff like this.

[Hedgewitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this quirky contemporary hard-boiled Private Eye novel. It falls among the few that deserve to be compared to Raymond Chandler, but it has a modern flair and a way with characters and situations that is totally and distinctively its own, including some New Age satire along with a bit of the old Maltese Falcon. The plot involves a high society (sometimes black-market) purveyor of antiquities, his ritual murder for a priceless stolen Ancient Egyptian artifact, his highly dysfunctional family, the predictable attractive, enigmatic daughter who engages the PI, and who turns out to be not so predictable, as well as various and sundry baroque and engaging embellishments, not least of which is the title game. The setting is an atmospheric, dystopian-feeling modern day New York, and the main and even minor characters, particularly the female ones, are original and both amusingly and/or disturbingly real. The protagonist is a tough but articulate 'thinking man's' private detective, who is drawn deeper and deeper into the murk of the case, and teased by the ancient Egyptian Game of Thirty, which seems to be a cross between chess, backgammon and the I Ching, and which echoes, even predicts every development in the case. Highly recommended for its ability to suspend disbelief, and for a high level of both writing and imagination.

[La Livrophile]

Après avoir adoré «Midnight examiner», j'ai essayé quelques livres de William Kotzwinkle, mais j'ai été déçue. Je me suis finalement décidée pour «Le jeu des trente» parce que le résumé était intéressant, et parce que j'apprécie la façon de lire de celle qui l'a enregistré. Je pense qu'il y a une autre raison pour laquelle j'ai accepté d'essayer de le lire: j'ai arrêté de m'attendre à ce qu'un livre de cet auteur me fasse autant rire que «Midnight examiner». Je suis contente, car ce roman m'a plu. Il n'est pas aussi hilarant que «Midnight examiner», mais l'auteur glisse quelques notes d'humour, et elles sont toujours à propos. Par exemple, l'apparition de Viola est toujours synonyme d'amusement, même si cela se teinte de gravité. Le chapitre 1 aussi est cocasse. Tout cela n'est pas source de fous rires, mais de sourires. Comment ne pas glousser à la mention de la prophétie de l'omelette?[...]Lire la suite sur:

[Kenneth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fast paced whodunit, an antiquities dealer named Tommy Rennseler has been found murdered, by an injection of cobra venom. Private Investigator Jimmy McShane is hired by his daughter, Temple Rennseler, to investigate - she is convinced, she says, that the New York City police have given up solving it and she really wants to know who did it. The hunt leads McShane into the dark side of the antiquities trade, particularly ancient Egyptian artifacts, and the discovery of a child prostitution ring. Oh, and somebody is trying to kill him. And every so often, several characters are casting dice and moving tokens around an ancient Egyptian board game called the Game of Thirty, which seems to foretell your future.

[LJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE GAME OF THIRTY - VG
Kotzwinkle, William - standalone

P.I. Jimmy McShane is hired to find the murderer of a Manhattan antiquities dealer, who met his death while engaged in the Game of Thirty, an ancient game played by the pharaohs. What our streetwise-and-weary hero discovers is that the killer is all set to play the game one more time, with McShane as his chosen opponent--or ultimate victim.

Kotzwinkle is the author of E.T. are ones I really liked this book. A New York PI, and Egyptian game the story is about child abuse and it is violent but with an offset of humor.

[Cat. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A hard-boiled PI takes on a murder case the police haven't been able to resolve for the victim's daughter. Her dad was killed, and then eviscerated, in his living room. He was a dealer in ancient artifacts, as is his daughter, and was involved in some shady trades one of which involves child prostitution. However, the main story was a little too obvious to me. Still, very interesting. The game of thirty interests me. And the ending was rather fairy-tale happy, in a good way.

[M.D. Navalinski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kotzwinkle was at the top of his game in the mid 70s with The Fan Man and Fata Morgana. Game of Thirty, written in 94, is an oft-humorous nor tale with a zany handful of suspects. Well-paced, clever and entertaining to the end, this is a nice introduction to an excellent author flying below the radar....

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read the other reviews of this book here. While I recognize that (as they say in boxing) styles make fights — and that not all tastes are compatible — I also have to say this. I picked this book up today, on a late Sunday afternoon, and simply couldn't put it down. Yeah. I recommend it.

[Skye · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh. Thought this would be a fun p.i. story with ancient Egypt overtones but it turned into an episode of Law & Order: SVU.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

well done story and characters. A bit like Dan Brown set in Egypt instead of Europe.

[Verusex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quirky, fun take off of Noir Detective novels. Bright and fun if a little too cute. Great use of Egyptian mythology.

[Aziza Aouhassi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Très bof!..

[Ginger Heskett]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14345266