The Zero Game by Brad Meltzer - 3 stars

[Joy D]

The Zero Game by Brad Meltzer - 3 stars

Political suspense-thriller set mostly in Washington D.C. in the late 1990s or early 2000s. Two Capitol Hill staffers are playing a game involving betting on Congressional voting outcomes for minor legislation. The game turns deadly, a teenage page becomes involved, and the protagonists search for explanations while evading a hired assassin. While thrillers are not my normal fare, I selected this audio book to pass the time while traveling. I enjoyed a portion of the book but had some issues with other parts.

The positives:
• The beginning included some interesting information about how legislation gets passed.
• One of the protagonists was a young black female. She was written as a strong character, and it was easy to root for her. It was nice to see a young woman of color featured prominently in a book published in the early 2000s.
• The friendship between two protagonists was refreshing, as there are few novels that include friendships between a two people of the opposite sex without throwing in a romance.
• It did the job in terms of keeping my brain occupied during the trip, which made the drive seem shorter.
• Flashing back to the time of widespread use of Blackberries and pagers was amusing.

The negatives:
• The plot contained many holes, which were never adequately explained.
• There seemed to be lots of filler in the form of long stretches of narrative that didn’t lead anywhere or move the plot forward.
• The narrative shifted from one character to another unnecessarily.
• The ending proved unsatisfying.

The audio book was read by Scott Brick. He did a good job of giving different voices to the characters, both male and female. He was easy to understand and follow.

Contains graphic violence and profanity.

Link to my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Nicole R]

I read this one and enjoyed it for what it was. It is the only Meltzer book I have ever read, and was inspired to try something by him because I saw him speak at National Book Fest many years ago (like SEVEN years ago now!) and he was great! He was laid back and funny and entertaining.

I think that helped bump the book up a star for me.

[[deleted user]]

Wonderful review. I have him on a list of authors I would like to read. The blackberries and pagers made me laugh as I read your review. Oh man.

[Joy D]

Nicole R wrote: "I read this one and enjoyed it for what it was. It is the only Meltzer book I have ever read, and was inspired to try something by him because I saw him speak at National Book Fest many years ago (..."

Glad you got to hear him speak, Nicole! I will have to look for more opportunities to interact with authors. I have never been to a book conference.

Rachel wrote: "Wonderful review. I have him on a list of authors I would like to read. The blackberries and pagers made me laugh as I read your review. Oh man."

Thanks, Rachel! Those were the days, LOL.