The Missing Piece

by Antoine Bello

In 1995 an American billionaire and media mogul - Charles Wallerstein - decides to revive interst in the jigsaw by setting up the' International Speed Puzzle Circuit'. One by one the players on the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0156013371
• ISBN13: 9780156013376
• Release Date: May 2009
• Publisher: Harvest Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

The Missing Piece is a perfect sports satire

I'm surprised by some of the negativity in the other reviews posted here, because Antoine Bello's debut mystery novel is a tremendous surprise, clever, witty, gripping and beautifully constructed. Creating a parallel world where building jigsaw puzzles is one of the big spectator sports, Bello perfectly satirizes how sports are reported, how the participants act and interact with others, the development of prodigies, and then he creates a puzzle itself out of the topic, forcing readers to think far more interactively about the mystery than most books in the genre. It's certainly different, and that might put off some people, but it's a daring and fresh work in the oft-tired mystery world. And if you or anyone you know likes to build jigsaw puzzles, this is an absolute must buy.

Superb

The jacket blurb invokes the magical names Borges and Calvino - and for once such superlative comparisons are almost justified. Borges and Calvino probably would have admired the audacious concept of Antoine Bello's dazzling first novel and it will delight lovers of metafiction everywhere. Ostensibly a murder mystery set against the background of the imaginary 'International Speed Puzzle Circuit', its forty-eight 'pieces' (letters, articles, meeting minutes) ultimately form a meditation on the nature of puzzles - both literary and otherwise. You'll probably work out 'whodunit' well before the final pages, but don't worry: that only makes the sadistic climax more chilling. Refreshingly intelligent and wonderfully original, Bello has crafted a novel which is not only capable of endlessly delighting its readers, but one which, through its unusual structure, challenges the notion of that what it means to be part of the genre. (My only reservation is the number of typographical errors in the Serpent's Tail paperback edition.)