The Park

Evenstad Media Presents #1

by Voss Foster

12 Contestants
20,000,000 Dollars
1 Survivor

The Park: Evenstad Media's newest reality show. There are no laws. There are no rules. The only goal is to stay alive. But in Evenstad's arena, things are far from simple. Outfitted with strange new weapons, trapped in the dark, afraid for their lives, it's only a matter of time before somebody takes the first shot.

And all the while, the world watches. Some in disgust, some rapt, but all feeding Evenstad, and all oblivious to the horrors they're helping fund. By the time anyone notices, will there be time to put an end to it? Or will it be too late?

234 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 29, 2014

Reviews

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review originally posted at RabidReads.com.

I learned about this book when librarian Robin Bradford (@Tuphlos) tweeted about it during her #collectiondevelopment. The tweet included the cover and “So if the The Purge was real, on tv, and a gameshow? Great cover. Netgalley.” Now, I rarely go on Netgalley, especially for new-to-me authors. I usually only pick up books for authors I already know. This however, really caught my eye and I was in the mood for something completely different, so I decided to take the chance.

The Park is a really interesting idea. Basically, Evenstad Media has “randomly” chosen 12 people from 12 completely different backgrounds to play the game. They are put into a trailer park, each with a medallion that can be used as a weapon of some kind. Some are stronger than others, but there is a timer that will prevent them from reusing the weapon too quickly. The more powerful weapon, the longer between each use. There are also other of these medallions hidden around the park. Whoever is still standing at the end of the game, wins.

Now, I haven’t seen The Purge or any of the movies like that. I have read The Hunger Games, and this kinda has that feel to me. 12 players and play until there is one survivor. There are no children. The players are all adults. From the age of low 20’s to mid 80’s and everywhere in between. There is no preparing for the these games. The players just wake up there with a note pinned to their chest. The media corporation has more up their sleeve than just a gruesome reality show.

The story is told entirely from journal entries from the players, emails from the executives at Evenstad Media, and blog posts of people watching this game show. This is the part of the story that I didn’t like. I think I would’ve enjoyed the story more if it were told in a more traditional fashion, I might have enjoyed it more. I just didn’t feel that close to any of the characters and I think it was because of the journal entries. We really don’t get to see actual interactions between each of the characters. We don’t get to see any of the action scenes. There is also very little dialogue.

All in all, this was a very interesting story. It was a new take on science fiction and thriller that I think has some promise. I’m just not sure if this type of storytelling is meant for me. I’m just a very character driven reader and I didn’t connect the characters as much as I would like. It was a page turner though. I would recommend that if this is something that sounds interesting to you, that you check it out. At the time of this posting, The Park a free ebook download, so you can’t beat that price to check out this story.

**Book was provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley. This review is my opinion and was not requested or provoked in anyway.

[Shelby · Rating 3 out of 5]

What comes to mind when reading The Park are The Hunger Games and Saw. Although really their only similarities are having to kill for ones own survival in a sick game. The Park is about 12 randomly selected people who wake up in a huge, dark trailer park with a note stuck to their fronts telling them they have to kill or be killed. None seem to be naturally born killers, so they start to pair up and create relationships with these strangers who got stuck in the same mess. Some magical medallion weapons are placed with each person and hidden among the park and the uncertainty and fear of these other strangers with these dangerous weapons turns most these human beings into murderers until their is only 1 survivor.

---

Oh my goodness. That cannot be the end of the book. Evenstad is evil and I was expecting the winner to retaliate in some way but they just...? Nothing? Just pretend it never happened? Donate the money? No, that was probably Evenstads plan all along, not to give the winner all that money. Evenstad is so evil...people weren't even allowed to express their opinions, is it no longer a free country?! I'm so upset with this evil family even though it's only fiction. I'm glad there will be a sequel to The Park because Evenstad seriously needs to get what's coming to them.

The Park was an interesting read; it kept me on the edge of my seat, wanting to know who would be the next victim and who would be the single person to make it out of the park alive. However, there was a lot of questions that have yet to be answered. I'm confused with this whole Egypt thing and the point of The Park reality show other than it being a commercial to sell CESUs to the world's military. Or was that the WHOLE point? I don't know. I was expecting a lot of my questions to come to light towards the end but they were never answered. I feel like there should have been a better conclusion overall or at least better cliff hangers to drive me towards reading the next book. I'm wondering if maybe I just didn't read the ending right?

I really liked that the book was in journal entries, it made me feel close to each character and as they changed my opinions about them changed. Although sometimes all the dates would get confusing with emails and articles.

It was a very enjoyable book. I didn't want to put it down. I would tell myself I'll just read to the next death, but then I had to read past it to find out who died and it was just really hard to put down. I read the second half of the book in 3hrs. (That's fast for me, I was planning on reading the rest another day lol)

It was sad to let some characters go. (I even may have teared up, perhaps) I can't believe Evenstad is wanting to make The Park 2.

Those bastards.

[Lynn Mccarthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Park is a futuristic thriller it reminded me of the hunger games but different.

12 Contestants are put into a trailer park each get a device to help them, all do different things and there are more hidden around the park if they can find them.
The story is told through emails and each contestant keeps a journal and each day writes down what is happening to them and there feelings, at first i got a bit confused who was who and with the way the story was set out but i soon got the hang of it and found i liked it.
The Company sponsoring the show is giving a lot of money to the winner and each person that dies there family get 50.000 they are making a lot of money with the pay to view 24/7 and the media coverage they said the contestants signed up for the show but they didn't the first they knew about it was when they woke up in the park with a letter pinned to there chest telling them the rules of the game.
I really enjoyed the story.

Thank you Netgalley the Author and publisher for a copy of this book.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Twelve contestants find themselves dropped into a games arena modelled on a trailer park. Attached to each of the bemused contestants is a note explaining a single survivor will win $20,000,000. Food, drink, and a single curious weapon are the only provisions. Let the games begin.

This intriguing speculative novel is an enjoyable mix of Nerve meets Arnold Swarzenegger's Running Man, in which twelve contestants must fight it out to receive a life changing amount of prize money. The concept is simple, but the there is nothing easy about the game play.

The novel is almost entirely of the epistolary kind, as the plot unfurls largely via the journals of the contestants, bolstered by transcripts of emails, online blogs, news stories, ads, and corporate letters, so you have to put together all the little details of the plot yourself. And there is a lot of unsettling psychological fun to be had in the process.

The most interesting parts of the novel follow the shifting allegiances amongst the contestants, as the pressure of the game leads to murder, mayhem, and fracturing mental health. There is a lot more going on here that a cruel tv game intended to draw in millions for Evenstad Media - a side order of real-world domination for one thing - which mixes up the premise nicely too.

This a quick read, which really provokes your thoughts, and for the most part, the format works well. I would have liked a retrospective from the winning contestant to tie up the loose ends at the end of the novel though - particularly given their bold decision!

I rather enjoyed this. The series continues with further novels that follow the theme in different game settings (a mall, an inn, and in some tunnels), which I have not ventured into, but if this kind of sci-fi thriller is your bag then they are probably worth a punt.

[Emma Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the synopsis the comparisons to The Hunger Games are obvious. 12 people put in a closed location and have to fight to the death.

However I was presently surprised by how not like The Hunger Games it was. There were still similar elements of course, but this book was a fresh take on that scenario, and I really liked how the story was told through journal entries, e-mails and news reports. Looking forward to reading the other books in the series.

Note: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Elena Linville-Abdo · Rating 1 out of 5]

You can find this review and more on my blog.

The Park is the perfect example of how to bomb what could have been an interesting story.

The premise is fun, even though it's been done before. We've had something similar in Hunger Games or Battle Royal, but there is always a way to put a new spin on an old story.

Evenstad Media kidnapped 12 randomly selected people and put them in an enclosed trailer park with cameras everywhere. Only one can come out alive and win the big price. If done well, it could have been an action packed adrenaline ride or a grim illustration of human greed and our society's unhealthy fascination with reality shows and violence.

So I was actually very excited to pick up this book after I read the short summary on NetGalley. I love dystopian stories like that. Unfortunately, the author made some bizarre narrative choices that totally ruined this book for me.

Those survival stories where it's a fierce battle of one against all have to grip the reader immediately and keep their unwavering attention until the end. This is best accomplished if the book is narrated in first person present tense. That creates the illusion that you are right there with the character, and the present tense implies that whatever is happening on the page is happening in real time. So your heart starts pumping when the character gets into a sticky situation because you don't know if he or she will survive it in one piece. That's what makes readers turn the pages. That's what makes them engrossed in this kind of story.

But what do we have in The Park? For some reason, the author chose to tell this story entirely in the form of emails and journal entries. Which… just doesn't make sense. A journal entry is by definition written after the scene its recapping already happened, so there is no suspense, no action. If the character is here to write the journal entry, we already know that they survived whatever encounter they've been through, so there is no worry about them. Also, I don't know about you, but I don't enjoy reading a summary of an action scene after the fact. Drop me in the middle of a fight and I'll be engaged, but try to tell me about it after the dust already settled, and I will probably fall asleep before you are done.

That's by itself wouldn't be a deal killer if the characters in this book had a distinct voice, but unfortunately they don't. I don't understand why the author chose to tell the story through at least 12 different POVs (or even more, since we have the 12 participants and the people in Everstad, the media, etc.) It's hard to pull off even 2-3 distinct POVs before all protagonists start sounding the same, but 12+? That would be a feat worth of the Guinness Records book.

Unfortunately, that feat didn’t happen here. The characters have no voice. Zero. Nada. They all sound the same. They are so similar in fact, that I was quickly confused whose entry I was reading and what their previous entries were about. Add to that the fact that we get almost no background on any of the 12 participants and no real character development and you have 12 cardboard cutouts that I, as a reader, found very difficult to root for.

So no memorable characters to root for and no action to speak off makes for a very boring story. I finished it, because I don't write reviews for books that I didn’t finish, but I will not recommend this book. There are plenty of other stories in this genre out there that are better written.

PS. I received and advanced copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Mary Hartshorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book reminds me of The Hunger Games but with some major differences. In The Hunger Games each community was aware that someone would be sacrificed to this game visible to all. In this book though none of the contestants were aware, and the millions of subscribers watching this ‘game’ thought it was just a movie with great graphics. The family members thought that their loved ones signed up of their own free will and some tried to understand why they would do this. Voss Foster did a great job in showing how despicable people suffering from greed can be. Niels Evenstaad did not care who he hurt, or killed as long as they made a lot of money from the millions of viewers following this new show. These ‘contestants’ are not people to him, and have no rights, families, or needs. They are simply faces, stereotypes, ethnic groups etc. chosen to get the most ratings.

Each of the contestants are slowly going crazy in this show, as they try to survive the loneliness, denial, and lastly each other. Some have embraced the ‘game’ and what it requires them to do, while the others go crazy, or simply hide and bide their time. The Park and the hidden undertones in this book are truly disturbing, and hard to ignore! If you enjoyed The Hunger Games then you just might like this book!

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I requested this book this morning, finished it by afternoon (with my Tween child close behind me) and am now reviewing in the hope that others can find this gem. If you wished Suzanne Collins had written more about the thoughts of the other contestants in the Hunger Games, read The Park. It'll tell you.

It's an edge-of-your-tablet thriller about a reality show where only one will survive and claim the prize by killing the others. And it's a puzzle about a family that seems to want to both arm the world, and rebuild it. It's a conspiracy where dissenters outside the game are killed, too.

It's written in a combination of diary entries by the contestants, and emails and news articles by others involved in the game. Very readable. Despite its similarities to The Hunger Games and, even more so, Battle Royale, this was original enough to stand on its own.

I do wish the contestants' individual voices had been a little different in their journals. And I wanted to know more about the backstories (maybe a later version can insert more tv-guide-like summaries). And, especially, I want to know more about the motivations/endgame of the family who created the weapons and ran the game. Sequel, please?

I received my e-copy from NetGalley (thank you).

[Denise MacDonald · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very quick read. I was absorbed in it and just had to finish it. Like it said in the book, people will watch the show because it is like driving by a bad car accident, people are unable to look away. The same thing goes for actually reading it. It was disturbing that I couldn't put it down, at the same time it fascinated me, I needed to know who won the game.
I have read several books now with the same type of premise; kill or be killed, survive the reality show type deals. This one was one of the better ones. Although there were so many questions I had that were never answered. What was society like outside The Park? Why was this even allowed to happen? Why didn't more families of the players come forward with questions? Did the players actually give consent? There were so many questions left unanswered it almost guarantees that there will be a second book.
The characters were somewhat boring, there was nothing that set them apart from each other. All their diary entries could have been made by the same person, there was nothing to make any one stand above the other. Yet it still worked.

[Maria Beltrami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Figlio più o meno legittimo di Hunger Games, di conseguenza nipote de La lunga marcia, presenta diversi punti di contatto col suo progenitore per quanto riguarda la psicologia dei protagonisti, mentre gli effetti speciali assomigliano a quelli del parente più prossimo.
Le motivazioni sono, come sempre in questi casi, sordide.
Avrei preferito che l'autore chiudesse meglio i fili della trama, perché, anche se è chiaro che questo romanzo è stato inteso per fondare una serie, il risultato sarebbe stato più godibile.
Ringrazio Voss Foster e Netgalley per avermi fornito una copia gratuita in cambio di una recensione onesta.

More or less legitimate son of Hunger Games, consequently grandson of The Long Walk, has several points of contact with its progenitor regarding the psychology of the characters, while the special effects resemble those of the next of kin.
The reasons are, as always in these cases, sordid.
I would have preferred that the author closed better the plot's threads, because even though it is clear that this novel was intended to establish a series, the result would have been more enjoyable.
Thank Voss Foster and Netgalley for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

[brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

While this will get comparisons to the Hunger Games series (which itself ripped out Battle Royale), I think I actually enjoyed The Park more, although it was not as well executed. I enjoyed the reality tv aspects and the inclusions of the tv guide type summaries, blog posts, and email dialogues. However, I felt like it just wasn't fully developed enough - I wanted to know more about pretty much everything, and the ending just kind of fizzled out for me. At the beginning of the book, I had a bit of trouble keeping the characters separate, which can be traced to the issue that the characters are not fully fleshed out enough -- I would have found it clever if there had been an introduction to the characters in the beginning, perhaps written in the style of a magazine article that introduces the new cast of a reality show. Overall, it was a quick read that left me intrigued but ultimately wishing it had been better executed.

[Julie (Bookish.Intoxication) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this novel from NetGalley.

Well I've finally finished this book, I'm not sure what I read, but I've finished it. The whole novel is pieced together in a way that reads like a tv show. Although that sounds intriguing, it really wasn't. I thought this would be a 'Hinger Games' style, and I was both wrong and right.

The writing is the only reason this is getting two stars, it is cleverly written, all the different perspectives and voices really ring true to being different people. However the end is highly dis-satisfying, the winner was obvious from early in the book and even now, as I've finished it, I am in a stage of 'what have I just read?'.

I think there will be people out there who really love this novel, I am just never going to be in that demographic.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book. The only thing that I hated about it was that there were no chapters, instead there are journal entries from each contestant. Each entry is about a page to a page and a half. At first it made the story feel a bit choppy, however once you get to know the characters the story doesn't feel as disjointed. This was a cure, quick read that kind of reminded my of the Japan film Battle Royale but less gory.

[Cassie Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. The concept is good. It's well written. I do wish the individual's voices were more distinct and different. They all felt very similar to me. I enjoyed the way it was set up. I do want to know what general society was like and why they allowed this show to go on as it did. So many questions!

[Polly Krize · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A very quick read with an intriguing plot. The only problem I have with it is the dearth of character description. It would have been better to have known more about each contestant, wherein you could root for your favourite.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looking for an adult version of The Hunger Games/Battle Royal type story? This epistolary is a quick fast-paced read.
Loved the twelve characters' individual voices, though the villans were a little over the top for me.
The series cover art is really good.

[Karina Halt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing wrong with the book, just not my cup of tea.