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End Game
"A stylish mystery featuring a bright, appealing cop who's drawn away from investigating the murder of his partner when a bizarre serial killer engages him in a clever game of chess in which the pawns are real people and the chess board itself is the Upper East Side of Manhattan".A high-tension game of cat and mouse that turns Manhattan into a giant chess board.
- GenresChess
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 13, 2010
One of my very few 5-star authors, given the number of authors I've read. Unfortunately, after End Game, Stryker wrote two more books. The first one was Deathright and introduced a new character. It was two stars, at best, and I never bothered to read the follow-up.
Makes you wonder what happens...
Makes you wonder what happens...
January 27, 2016
PLOT OR PREMISE:
A body is found with the letter "P" carved into its forehead. P stands for pawn, and it is dumped in upper Manhattan, using the streets as a chessboard. The Knight and Bishop follow. And the chess-game begins. Inspector Regal has been chosen by the killer to play the game, which he does through moves placed in the New York Times. As long as the game is interesting, no more bodies. But Regal is not a very good chess player, the game becomes dull for the killer, and another body appears. But Regal has an ace in the hole: a retired master player named Billy Abbott who left the chess world behind and disappeared before it took over his life. Abbott tells Regal the moves to make the game interesting, and for awhile, he does -- even turning the game around and winning. But having Regal win the game is not the object of the killer who targets Regal personally. A series of sub-plots involve a cop working for Regal who had been killed during the line of duty while hunting down Panamanian drug runners, and a female cop who loved him and wants justice; a political side with Regal butting heads with his departmental rival who is in charge of both investigations; and a personal side, with Regal suspecting his wife of having an affair with a power mogul. This is the second "Dev Strkyer" novel, a nom-de-plume for Warren Murphy and Molly Cochrane.
.
WHAT I LIKED:
I love Murphy and Cochrane's work, and this one is no exception. Well-written, the chess strategies are well-mixed, and the story moves along fast enough with a lot of sub-plots mixed in to keep life interesting when the bodies are on hold. Even the political manouevering is interesting. The ending, although pat, is not a typical "everybody lives happily ever after" finish.
.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
The climax is *too* pat, and too action-oriented rather than detection-based. I knew who the killer was long before they were revealed, and I'm not even sure why the authors chose to reveal the killer when they did, other than the realization perhaps that the reader already knows by then so the mystery is really gone. The only question was when and where they were going to be caught, if at all. As well, Stryker doesn't really play fair with the reader at the start in terms of the depiction of the killer, but I still figured it out before the end despite the intentional misdirection.
.
BOTTOM-LINE:
You'll never look at chess as boring again
.
DISCLOSURE:
I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I was not personal friends with the author, but I did follow him on social media.
A body is found with the letter "P" carved into its forehead. P stands for pawn, and it is dumped in upper Manhattan, using the streets as a chessboard. The Knight and Bishop follow. And the chess-game begins. Inspector Regal has been chosen by the killer to play the game, which he does through moves placed in the New York Times. As long as the game is interesting, no more bodies. But Regal is not a very good chess player, the game becomes dull for the killer, and another body appears. But Regal has an ace in the hole: a retired master player named Billy Abbott who left the chess world behind and disappeared before it took over his life. Abbott tells Regal the moves to make the game interesting, and for awhile, he does -- even turning the game around and winning. But having Regal win the game is not the object of the killer who targets Regal personally. A series of sub-plots involve a cop working for Regal who had been killed during the line of duty while hunting down Panamanian drug runners, and a female cop who loved him and wants justice; a political side with Regal butting heads with his departmental rival who is in charge of both investigations; and a personal side, with Regal suspecting his wife of having an affair with a power mogul. This is the second "Dev Strkyer" novel, a nom-de-plume for Warren Murphy and Molly Cochrane.
.
WHAT I LIKED:
I love Murphy and Cochrane's work, and this one is no exception. Well-written, the chess strategies are well-mixed, and the story moves along fast enough with a lot of sub-plots mixed in to keep life interesting when the bodies are on hold. Even the political manouevering is interesting. The ending, although pat, is not a typical "everybody lives happily ever after" finish.
.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
The climax is *too* pat, and too action-oriented rather than detection-based. I knew who the killer was long before they were revealed, and I'm not even sure why the authors chose to reveal the killer when they did, other than the realization perhaps that the reader already knows by then so the mystery is really gone. The only question was when and where they were going to be caught, if at all. As well, Stryker doesn't really play fair with the reader at the start in terms of the depiction of the killer, but I still figured it out before the end despite the intentional misdirection.
.
BOTTOM-LINE:
You'll never look at chess as boring again
.
DISCLOSURE:
I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I was not personal friends with the author, but I did follow him on social media.
July 26, 2016
Inhoud: Het eerste lijk wordt gevonden in een vuilnisbak in een van de sjiekste wijken van New York, het tweede niet ver daarvandaan. Pas bij het derde slachtoffer realiseert hoofdinspecteur Paul Regal zich dat de bizarre moorden verband houden met de mysterieuze telefoontjes die hij sinds kort ontvangt.
Plotseling doorziet Paul Regal welk morbide spel de moordenaar speelt. Hij wordt door de moordenaar uitgedaagd voor een luguber partijte schaak! De straten van New York fungeren als bord, de lijken als schaakstukken.
Regal heeft geen flauw idee waarom de moordenaar nu juist tegen hèm wil spelen, hij weet alleen dat hij geen keuze heeft. Regal zal het spel moeten meespelen tot het bittere einde, en terwijl de seconden op de klok langzaam wegtikken, blijkt een dramatische ontknoping onvermijdelijk...
Waardering:
Een ongelooflijk goed geschreven boek. De spanning wordt opgebouwd en brengt je naar een eind waar je van geniet. Dat was mijn gevoel toen ik het boek las. De waardering van drie sterren heeft te maken met het feit dat ik voor de rest weinig tot niets kan vertellen over hoe ik me voelde bij dit boek.
Overige boekinformatie:
Uitgeverij: Areopagus
ISBN: 90.5108.130.8
268 pagina's
Plotseling doorziet Paul Regal welk morbide spel de moordenaar speelt. Hij wordt door de moordenaar uitgedaagd voor een luguber partijte schaak! De straten van New York fungeren als bord, de lijken als schaakstukken.
Regal heeft geen flauw idee waarom de moordenaar nu juist tegen hèm wil spelen, hij weet alleen dat hij geen keuze heeft. Regal zal het spel moeten meespelen tot het bittere einde, en terwijl de seconden op de klok langzaam wegtikken, blijkt een dramatische ontknoping onvermijdelijk...
Waardering:
Een ongelooflijk goed geschreven boek. De spanning wordt opgebouwd en brengt je naar een eind waar je van geniet. Dat was mijn gevoel toen ik het boek las. De waardering van drie sterren heeft te maken met het feit dat ik voor de rest weinig tot niets kan vertellen over hoe ik me voelde bij dit boek.
Overige boekinformatie:
Uitgeverij: Areopagus
ISBN: 90.5108.130.8
268 pagina's
September 4, 2015
interesting read. its always fun reading detective novels set in the 90s. They are usually misogynistic, and technology is a foreign concept. a fun blast to the past.
July 23, 2008
Very good murder mystery
July 23, 2008
This is the version of this book i actually read.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews