The Game

by Derek Armstrong

Book Overview

In this darkly humorous thriller, reality television becomes too real when a killer with a message preys on the contestants of America's number one TV show. A high-stakes game is played on the set of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1601640013
• ISBN13: 9781601640017
• Release Date: April 2007
• Publisher: Kunati Inc.
• Length: 348 Pages
• Weight: 2.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

The Game

Derek Armstrong's novel, The Game, was brilliant! Once I started, I couldn't put it down. When I did put The Game down I couldn't stand the suspense and had to come rushing back to see what happened next. This was a thrilling rollercoaster ride, one that I know I'll be riding again! Bane was a true character with his dark wit, quirky habits, and family man persona. With each new chapter his character grew. I absolutely loved the twists and turns of his life! This book is a must read. I'll be watching for Bane's next thrilling adventure in MADicine. E.L. Morin [...]

The Thriller is Definately a Thrill Ride!

Derek Armstrong's, The Game is the perfect summer read. It's dark, satirical style makes it hard to put down. Who can resist the sleazy world of reality TV woven into a tight plot and riveting ending? Alban Bane, lead detective and single dad is one of those well-defined characters you won't quickly forget. Single dad with a smart mouth, Bane is called in on a gruesome case and he must face his own demons as he enters the set of Haunted Survivor, the latest TV reality game show. Get ready for headless corpses and bloody good prose. What I found particularly alluring is that The Game seemed to echo what's so creepy about reality TV, but he did so by making it so captivating, you couldn't help yourself but to keep reading. Thus, proving the point. The Game has movie deal written all over it.

Chilling and Compelling

The Game is a perfect fit for this era of reality television. In Derek Armstrong's new novel, a serial killer is knocking off members of the cast and crew of Haunted Survivor, a top rated reality show. Alban Bane, the lead detective, discovers that these murders are virtual copycats of those committed by Tyler Hayden, a serial killer Bane arrested years earlier. The catch is that Bane had just witnessed Hayden's execution. From there the plot really gets complicated. And interesting. Although the story is complex, with twists and turns coming from all directions, Bane is the driving force that makes The Game compelling. I really like this character; he's intelligent, determined and very funny. Right up there with John Corey, Nelson DeMille's wisecracking NYPD detective. If you enjoy a dark thriller with an offbeat sense of humor, get in The Game. Dan Ronco is the author of Unholy Domain and PeaceMaker

THE GAME IS HUGELY CINEMATIC ... PLAIN FUN, TOO

Fathering two teenage daughters, you'd think detective Alban Bane would have enough to agonize about, but in "The Game," a hugely cinematic thriller with hilarious dark comic moments, we find him quickly dealing with headless corpses. Not that headless corpses give you much trouble because they're usually real still and don't talk back and you don't have to worry about making meaningful eye contact with them, it's just that this scrappy, witty cop is pretty motivated to find out how they lost so much weight real quick ... especially after he gets a creepy letter inviting him to come find out. This is an irresistible story that centers around a new American reality television show called "Haunted Survivor," where a boiling-pot mix of soon-to-be-dead-but-they-don't know-it-yet contestants see how long they can survive in an old Vermont mansion spooked by its former occupant, a mass murderer, who left the planet in the first chapter by execution by lethal injection. Survive and get one million dollars, but these contestants are having a hard time surviving. They're having an easy time getting slaughtered, though. You've got to love a novel that crystallizes, in a single line, our squirmy fascination with this sort of thing, delivered by Haunted Survivor's uptight producer who finally becomes good and unhinged at the end of the story herself, "We're assuming," she said, "America's fascination with reality television and crime will continue." Oh, it will, lady. It will. And you've got to love a thriller, like all great literate thrillers, that makes you feel pretty sure you know who the killer is ... but guess what. Depending on how you lean, Bane pulls for the Boston Red Sox, so this gives him a dangerous or desperate quality, or both. The poor cop's pretty beat up by the end of the story, but he knows how to take a bullet and a good stabbing and bleed all over the place as he attempts to save one of those pesky teenage daughters of his who got caught up in the slaughter. Bane doesn't know it, but one of the best fight scenes you'll ever read ... and there are a bunch of them in The Game ... is being videotaped by the show's sinister creator, and later shown as a news clip as a testament to Bane's professional viciousness. Good job, Dad, saving your daughter's head like that. Videotape is okay for now, but from the first few lines of The Game, you can see this book on the big screen, too. Of course, by the time the movie comes out you'll know who the killer is ... but who cares. We're fascinated with reality television and crime and we just can't help it ... because it's so much bloody fun. Todd Sentell, Author of TOONAMINT OF CHAMPIONS: How LaJuanita Mumps Got to Join Augusta National Golf Club Real Easy