----- Author Overview -----

Matthew Reilly isn’t known for Tom Clancy caliber plots, Lincoln Child’s talented storytelling, or Dean Koontz style scares, what he does quite well is drop you into a non-stop action fest that will keep you flipping pages like mad or impaling the book in disgust depending on your feelings toward pulp fiction. Don’t confuse his books with anything resembling high-art, it’s more like a pre-written screenplay for a Jerry Bruckheimer film. If you thought Hostage, The Island, or Alien vs Predator were good movies then keep reading… this might be your kind of book.

Contest was actually first released by Reilly as a self-published work back in 1996 before his breakout hit Ice Station went public. Matthew re-wrote sections of Contest for this printing, not only increasing the complexity and amplitude of the fight scenes but moving the location of the book from the fictional New York State Library to the factually accurate New York Public Library. Other details were added to make the book a little more interesting, at least Reilly learned a few writing tricks in the last five years while penning Ice Station, Area 7, and Scarecrow.

----- Story, plot, whatever dude… -----

Remember what I said about Reilly writing screenplays? It all about the action for Matt, and he makes sure not to let little things like character development or dialog get the way. Contest is merely a vehicle for some of the most intense battles an unsuspecting human has ever found himself in. That said, here’s the background for Contest.

Stephen Swain is a successful MD specializing in neurology, cat scans, and MRI imaging. His life was perfect until a drunk driver took his wife away two years ago. His life is now focused primarily on his adorable daughter Holly, now 9 years old and looking more and more like her mother every day. On a recent shift at the ER an undercover cop was wheeled into the operating room for a gunshot, since the active doctor was in another room and involved in an operation, Steve was pressed into service as the attending MD. Unsurprisingly the gang which was busted by the undercover cop wasn’t too happy about a narc in their midst and decided to finish the job. Five thugs burst into the ER and started searching for the wounded officer. As fate would have it two of them ended up in the same room as Dr. Steve and the officer. Steve opts to take action instead of being shot where he stands and proceeds to attack thug #1. In the scuffle he ends up under thug #1 and is shot at by thug #2. Dr. Steve wrestles for the gun and manages to twist the weapon around and shoot thug #1 in the head. Seeing his compatriot is now very dead, thug #2 runs away and the attackers flee. This may seem an odd way to start the book, but it all makes sense later.

The Presidian: Unbeknownst to the hapless humans on Earth, the sporting event of the millennium is about to take place here on earth, and Steve is going to be the star first-string player for humanity. Once every 1,000 years an intergalactic competition takes place between the alpha-beings of 7 different planets. December 2002 marks the 7th Presidia and the 3rd time humans have been included as contestants. A quick note, humans were the first contestants killed in the last two Presidia. We now jump back to our intrepid Dr. Steve as he grabs a snack in the kitchen. He’s killing time until the big Redskins/Giants game starts in an hour or so when Holly (his daughter) climbs into his arms for a quick hug goodnight. As he gives her a squeeze a flash of white light explodes around him in a circle. Papers fly off the kitchen counter and utensils rattle and shake as the light grows brighter. A final flash and Steve is suddenly cast into complete darkness, only the shaking arms of his daughter let him know he’s not dead. It’s completely black, midnight in a cave, black coffee with extra-black blackness. A dim green light appears next to him as a male voice announces in ceremonial tones; Welcome contestant, I am Selexin your guide.

Steve soon learns there are seven contestants involved in the Presidian, victory is achieved when only one being remains alive (if one survives) and has found the exit porthole. All exits, windows, doors, and holes of any kind have been sealed with an electrical field of 120,000 volts. Steve was chosen as representative for the human race due to his quick-reactions (in the ER), creative thinking and problem solving, and his combat actions in the recent hospital invasion. Steve’s still completely confused as he looks down and realizes his 4-foot tall guide has snapped a thick band around his wrist which has a glowing green light and a small screen with the words Incomplete 2. Selexin explains this is a status screen that keeps track of how many contestants are alive, whether the failsafe has been initiated, and whether or not the wristband is still inside the contest arena. If someone manages to get through the electrical force field around the library the wristband will initiate a 15 minute countdown, if the contestant doesn’t get back inside the force field a small thermonuclear explosion will terminate the wristband and anything it’s attached to. The failsafe is hidden somewhere in the library and is a deadly creature known only as "Karanadon". If one contestant manages to defeat the other six, he still has to destroy or avoid the Karanadon and make it to the exit portal. As he looks across the parking garage and sees two creatures appear in flashes of light Steve’s wristband now beeps, flashes, and reads Initialized 7. Both creatures turn slowly towards him... the games have begun and only one will win... to win one has to survive... to survive one must kill... welcome to the Presidian.

----- Bottom Line -----

Matthew Reilly definitely has a way with action scenes, while he isn’t eloquent and articulate all the time, his books definitely give you a feeling of tense suspense and anxiety. My favorite of all his books is still Ice Station, but Contest is a much more focused thrill ride. Call me a fiction-deluded idiot but I thought the plot was pretty cool. The seven creatures chosen by Reilly to grace his book are original enough they don’t seem derivative or copied and pasted from other sources. I’ll just say there’s a few original creatures than have a slight advantage over a human with no guns.

If you want to be a party pooper you can probably guess how many of the battles are going to go and maybe even what the ending will be, but if you let the story take you at its own pace it’s much better. I think Matthew Reilly says it best when he describes the reason he likes putting scary critters in his books: "I wish I could think of some loftier purpose, but the true reason for the big scary animal elements is very simple: they're there to eat people. I think there's nothing better in a book or movie than to see someone running from a big scary creature.

I give this book a four-star rating only because I like my cheesy action-fiction extra cheesy. Fans of non-fiction or people easily disappointed by poorly explained plot elements should look elsewhere. Reilly’s books are a guilty pleasure that I don’t deny yet also don’t brag about. If you like his work you’ll also like books by Jeff Long, James Rollins, and on a more realistic level Stephen Hunter.

Related Links:

Matthew Reilly: Area 7
Matthew Reilly: Ice Station

Carsten Stroud: Black Water Transit
Lincoln Child: Utopia
Dean Koontz: The Taking

Thanks for reading and feel free to comment!
Openroad

Recommended: Yes