Games

by Bill Pronzini

First edition bound in yellow cloth. A VG+ copy in a VG dust jacket. There is a small inked number on the front fly and some rubs to the upper edges of the covers. The dust jacket is price-clipped. Tanning and soiling to the panels and spine.

217 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Mystery Writers of America Awards "Grand Master" 2008
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1999) for Boobytrap
Edgar Awards Best Novel nominee (1998) for A Wasteland of Strangers
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1997) for Sentinels
Shamus Awards "The Eye" (Lifetime achievment award) 1987
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1982) for Hoodwink

Married to author Marcia Muller.

Pseudonyms:
Robert Hart Davis (collaboration with Jeffrey M. Wallmann)
Jack Foxx
William Jeffrey (collaboration with Jeffrey M. Wallmann)
Alex Saxon

Reviews

[tam truong · Rating 2 out of 5]

Could’ve been so good, but written terribly
The ending was incredibly boring given all the lead up.
The writing wasn’t bad but everything was too methodical, planned out and Jackman wasn’t really given any obstacles to really overcome. Also—the POVs were all over the place. Just wasn’t my vibe. Also would like to mention there was so many Vietnamese references that subplot was so weird, whatever 2 stars.

[James S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great premise, poor execution. The main character and his mistress visit a secluded island for the weekend. They think they're alone, but of course they're not. They slowly realize they are sharing the islands with killers. Great premise, could have been a great suspense novel. What ruins it is the precious writing. So many things could and should have been cut - endless dream sequences, boring interior monologues, lengthy descriptions of nature, not to mention the pretentious quotes that open each chapter, from Nietzsche no less. I like this author, so I'm going to chalk this one up to youthfulness.

[Dominic DiCenzo · Rating 2 out of 5]

A whole lot of words for a really crappy ending. Skip this one and stay with the Nameless Detective series!

[Cat. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The next on my list of books by Pronzini. We meet David Jackman, Senator and power-broker, as he decides to take his mistress with him to his childhood vacation home on his family's island off the coast of Maine. Within hours of their arrival, they find out they are not alone on the island, and the people with whom they are sharing it seem to be intent on causing them harm.

The majority of the book is suspense distilled down to its essence: what do these people want? How can Jackman and Tracy escape from them? How well does he remember the geography of the island? Why do their trackers seem to be able to anticipate his every move?

In the telling, it's a fun story, but at the end I just felt cheated by how quickly the denouement is handled. Very much the literary equivalent of "wham bam." Oh, well. It was, as Tracy would say, fun while it lasted.