Game

by A.K. Shevchenko

It has been twenty-five years since the four friends left school, burdened with the dark secret of a game that ended in tragedy. Now, driven by love, loss and loyalty, they meet to play Tony's game once more. Tony, the mastermind, has planned the moves that will take each player across continents. The rules are the same, but they have grown up, and the stakes are much, much higher. They will be forced to open a forgotten page of history: the Crimea conference of 1945, where three world leaders divided up the world and created a new map of Europe after the Second World War. How are the secret talks of those leaders connected with this dangerous new game? And why has Tony decided to play again?

320 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2012

Reviews

[Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

If only this book that came out in 2012 had been a huge international best seller then the horrible war currently going in the Crimea and the Ukraine in general may never of happened. As The Game at the heart of this very clever book is to alert the world to the secret parts of the Yalta agreement signed by Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt at the Livadia Palace in Yalta in 1945 that are approaching the end of the agreement, as it seems Putin has pre-emptively struck to take control of the strategically important Crimean peninsula.
While being a great adventure read this book also gives lots of history and insight into why the region has been fought over since Greek and Roman times.

[Matt · Rating 1 out of 5]

Easily one of the worst books I have ever read. It claims to be a "thriller" but there are no stakes whatsoever. In the rare times when the main characters face some kind of opposition, it's usually solved within a few paragraphs.

The plot is utterly nonsensical and uninteresting. At the end you just think "So what?" The characters are uninspired and easily forgettable, despite the author bashing you over the head so often with their descriptions of 'logical' or what-have-you.

Overall, I feel worse off for having read this book.

[Nastya Podhorna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ні про що... Книга зовсім не відповідає очікуванням (аннотація позаду дійсно дуже зацікавлює, але як виявилось - марно). Естетично чи художньо красивих моментів на 330 сторінок набереться максимум у сумі сторінок 10.... Я розумію, що англійською ця книжка була написана у 2012 році, але оці всі плани по створенню різних держав і республік у Криму так, наче він всить у повітрі і є територією Російської імперії, яка знічев*я вискочила з минулого і просто повисла, після 2014 року мають якийсь гіркувати-цинічний присмак.... Підбір персонажів - як у фільмі Тарантіно "Омерзительная восьмерка" - жодного хоч скільки приємного.... І ще більше нереальною виглядає їх раптова стрибкоподібна еволюція - і те. що раніше так оберігало і зміцнювало їх комплекси - їх же від них враз позбавило...? Особисто мені хотілося просто швидше дочитати....

[Nick Kovronskiy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Коли мова заходить про онлайн-казино, знайти надійне та веселе місце може бути справжньою проблемою. Є багато варіантів, але не всі вони забезпечують той досвід, який ви шукаєте. Особисто я добре попрацював із https://school27.ks.ua де ігри справедливі, а платформа зручна для навігації. Незалежно від того, новачок ви чи досвідчений гравець, важливо почуватися комфортно та впевнено на сайті, який ви використовуєте. Саме такий досвід спонукає мене повертатися, і я думаю, що іншим це також сподобається. Тільки завжди пам’ятайте про відповідальну гру!

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

Whatever made the editor think that this was a good book to publish obviously didn't think it through.
This should have remained on the slush pile.
Why on earth was this book published at all? The plot made no sense at all. The characters were on their own - they didn't make any sense either in a group and the Game was never really explained and the author's obsession with Odessa is cloying. And still didn't make any sense at the end of the book at all.
It was as if the author just decided to do character studies and forgot that she needed to write a story/have a plot/some form of conflict/ANY semblance of something/ANYTHING happening in the novel. Instead we are treated to some mysterious guy's ego/mysterious manipulations of re-assembling a group of friends to play a GAME which spans 3 continents. Why?

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

After having been to Odessa myself, I found the backdrop extremely well developed and detailed and enjoyed the various different public school characters that I could relate to.

The historical aspect was very intriguing and I had no idea that this aspect existed and therefore this strain of the story kept me hooked the whole way through.

The unique descriptive methods of the author were also refreshing and I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the development of childhood friendships, the Yalta Conference as well as Odessa.

[Zoe Radley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is wow... was expecting it to be a heavy handed thriller full of clichés and not much story, but something drew me in anyway, and boy did it deliver. I was not expecting the heart and soul of the characters to leap out at me or the cities they each visit to also become a character itself. This is still a thriller but a thriller with heart and soul, and one I will definitely re-read again.

[Rachel Bustin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book started off a bit slow for me. I found it hard to follow the story and which character was in which country/city. It wasn't my cup of tea but im sure others would find it thrilling!

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant read

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

The majority of this book is back-story making me question why the back story isn't the main story.

[Rob Messenger · Rating 2 out of 5]

(one of these two stars was for the mulberries...)