If your idea of a good thriller is a masterly combination of action and intrigue, where the stakes are high and the tension builds and builds till you can barely read fast enough to get to the explosive climax, then look no further than Death Game.

With a scenario that explores the seductive and insidious world of internet gaming, linking this seemingly harmless teenage fixation to the training of military operatives and the more sinister consequences of perestroika, Death Game is both timely and relevant, and a sharp reminder of the startling vulnerability of ordinary American citizens.

Cooper O’Brien has just seen, on videotape, her teenaged brother Jimmie shoot another boy in cold blood. As an FX special effects technician trained at USC film school, she would know if a tape’s been altered. But despite her best efforts, she can find no indication that the tape’s been tampered in any way. Still, there’s no way she can believe that Jimmie is capable of killing anyone. And it’s not as if the boys even knew one another—there just isn’t any connection between Jimmie and Stephen, the boy he’s supposed to have killed. Except that Stephen, the dead boy, is the son and heir of Walter, a millionaire businessman with whom Cooper had a fling a while back. Is Cooper herself the connection?

With Jimmie now on the lam and everyone convinced of his guilt, Cooper must somehow prove his innocence before the police gets to him. Her investigations lead her from friend to foe as she gathers clues in order to solve the puzzle of the seemingly senseless murder of a young boy. The stakes, already high, are raised even higher as Cooper uncovers link after link in a chain of escalating evidence that point to forces beyond internet gaming to the recruitment and training of military assassins, to a chilling aspect of 21st century terrorism—the attack of a highly visible symbol of the West, expressly with a view to maximizing the loss of civilian lives.

The author, Cheryl Swanson, has penned a stunning debut novel with all the hallmarks of a great thriller. Characterization, intrigue, and pace—Death Game has it all. Death Game boasts a strong yet very human protagonist. Cooper O’Brien might be vulnerable inside but she’s also smart and streetwise. Even in the throes of physical jeopardy, she keeps her head and her big talk. Yet her vulnerability is shown in several telling passages, with the first person point-of-view narrative putting you right in Cooper’s shoes.

Secondary characters are just as well-developed. Even Jimmie, absent for most of the story, is well portrayed. Having been subjected to a demanding yet emotionally absent father (not unlike his purported victim Stephen), he has since lost both parents and has been acting out at school.

Likewise, Stephen is dominated by an over-achieving and distant father, and is, moreover, friendless. Perhaps the author has a point—not all teenage internet gamers are at risk, but those who are emotionally unstable (through no fault of their own) could easily be exploited through their obsession with violent online games. No doubt there are many such lost boys glued to their computer screens in our disintegrating society, fixated dangerously on abject violence.

The intrigue is played out through almost the entire novel, and it is not until almost the very end that the reader finally sees the bigger picture. The unflagging dramatic tension is sustained throughout—that is, until it’s racheted up several more notches as we plunge headlong into the thrilling climax.

I particularly enjoyed the dialogue, but there are many incidences of fine writing that made me read a passage over again. For example, here’s Cooper looking for Jimmie among a group of homeless teenage drifters:

Doug was buzzed—naturally. Still mainlining, although he’d run the alphabet soup with hepatitis and didn’t have enough of a liver to keep a cat alive. I snagged a few other throwaway kids, steeling myself to resist their stories of deteriorating health and craving for drugs.

And here, Cooper is reflecting on her estranged husband:

When you’re young, you think things can be patched together again. You think you can reshape the past, keep the good things, discard the rest…How little I knew in those days about love. How little I knew about the heart’s infinite capacity for pain.

Death Game may not be a high-testosterone, roller-coaster type of thriller, full of car chases and explosions, but if you’re looking for a thoughtful, well-crafted thriller that will keep you guessing till the last clue’s in place, with a strong-willed protagonist who’s so real you finish the book thinking that she must exist somewhere on Earth, then give yourself a break and read Death Game at the earliest opportunity.

Highly recommended.


Recommended: Yes