SOLVED. Old Sci fi? book where strangers meet to compete for a large sum of $ [s]

[Connie]

A rich eccentric offers contestants a way to win a large sum of money.
He picks each contestant.
They come from all walks of life and all have their own reasons for going.
I remember there was a woman contestant who joined because she had a sick child. Another contestant was a man and they formed some type of relationship during the contest but I don't remember what it was.
They had to go through mental and physical challenges. The only one I remember was they were given LSD - or maybe only she was.
I don't know when I read this book. It could have been in the late 80's early 90's.

Hope this rings a bell with someone! :)

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

What makes it sci-fi?

[Connie]

Not 100% sure it was sci-fi. lol I had to pick a genre and that's the most likely since I read a lot of sci-fi.

[Kris]

Connie, how were the contestants notified of the competition?

What's the location (country/region/city/small town/within a mansion)? Did the contestants have to travel far?

What's the tone - e.g., thriller, horror, mystery, murder mystery, adventure?

[Natalie]

The Running Man by Richard Bachman (Pseudonym for Stephen King)? Might not be exactly this but it sounds similar.

[Rachel]

possibly Bright Young Things?

[Connie]

Sorry neither one of those. But thanks for trying! :)

[Connie]

I found it on the Science Fiction & Fantasy Forum. If anyone is interested, it's called The Devil's Game and it's by Poul Anderson.

Thank you and Happy Reading!

Connie

[Connie]

PS. How do I mark this as solved?

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

The Devil's Game

You can use the edit link and the dropdown box to move it to the Solved: Adult Fiction folder - otherwise a mod will do it.