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Killing Games #1
Killing Games
Edgar Tobias works as a freelance computer programmer in the city of Anver. Desperate to escape his deceased fathers’ fame as a hit singer-songwriter duo, he left the city of Kasyova and the arts behind. He doesn’t know he’s about to be targeted in a vicious murder game where the prize is a million dollars in cryptocurrency to the first person who can capture his murder on video.
Reis Asher lost everything in the Anverite civil war ten years ago, including their mother. Their father created the agreement known as Unification, which joined Anver and Kasyova to create the Twin City-States of Anver-Kasyova, ending the civil war and ushering in a new era of peace and prosperity.
When they discover the Killing Game, they know that it represents a threat to everything they hold dear and set out to stop it. But powerful forces are at work that refuse to be undermined by one stubborn soul and their sense of justice.
Someone wants Edgar dead, and they’ll stop at nothing to see him six feet under… even if that means Reis and other innocent bystanders get caught in the crossfire.
Reis Asher lost everything in the Anverite civil war ten years ago, including their mother. Their father created the agreement known as Unification, which joined Anver and Kasyova to create the Twin City-States of Anver-Kasyova, ending the civil war and ushering in a new era of peace and prosperity.
When they discover the Killing Game, they know that it represents a threat to everything they hold dear and set out to stop it. But powerful forces are at work that refuse to be undermined by one stubborn soul and their sense of justice.
Someone wants Edgar dead, and they’ll stop at nothing to see him six feet under… even if that means Reis and other innocent bystanders get caught in the crossfire.
198 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 5, 2021
26 people want to read
About the author
Reis Asher
22 books16 followersReis Asher lives in rural Pennsylvania with his husband and 3 cats. He is the author of the nonbinary thriller Killing Games, published by NineStar Press, and the Nick Fabian series of transgender detective novels. He is transgender and bisexual, and doing his best in these tough times.
He chose his pen-name based on the main character in Killing Games, and owns the fact that it's probably cringe to name oneself after a fictional character. So of course, he did it twice.
Catch him on Bluesky @landale.bsky.social where he's happy to interact. He's no longer on the Social Media Website Formerly Known as Twitter because he needs to preserve what little sanity he has left.
He chose his pen-name based on the main character in Killing Games, and owns the fact that it's probably cringe to name oneself after a fictional character. So of course, he did it twice.
Catch him on Bluesky @landale.bsky.social where he's happy to interact. He's no longer on the Social Media Website Formerly Known as Twitter because he needs to preserve what little sanity he has left.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 20, 2021
This novel builds on its dystopian premise with a kind of devastating precision-- it’s so easy to visualize, and be drawn into, the world the author describes. It’s one filled with people who would commit murder for money-- to pay a child’s medical bills, to get rid of student loans, or just to enjoy the thrill. It’s a place with politics that are complicated but relatable, and it’s easy to see the cultural divide between the two city states supposedly now unified as a reflection of some familiar real-world tensions, as one society privileges art and performative, communal living and the other technology and self-reliance. (I’m not saying this is a perfect equivalence, but I definitely see the modern STEM/ humanities divide reflected here). Now ostensibly unified into one society, fissures and scars from the civil war remain, and, to avoid spoilers, I’ll just say that they’re deeper, and more consequential, than many people want to see or admit. It’s also a world with ordinary people capable of moments of extreme heroism, which is more impressive than a world full of heroes-- people like Reis, who is complicated, adrift and yet willing to stand on principle, and then for an attraction that could become love, even when things get really, really bad. I loved Reis, and their narrative arc just became more compelling over time. Edgar I was more ambivalent towards at first-- he’s privileged in so many ways (until the moment he isn’t, I suppose, and being the target in a murder game is probably one of the most extreme ways to lose that privilege) and his lingering strain of fatalism was understandable but also maddening. Of course, this just made it more exciting to witness him evolving away from that fatalism.
There’s so much to like about this novel: a fascinating setting and an intricate, deeply troubled but still compelling society; characters who are nuanced, interesting, and capable of really surprising you; a romance that is the very definition of hard-fought; a plot with plenty of twists and turns, most of them literally life-or-death. Definitely worth a read.
*I received an ARC of this book and voluntarily composed an honest review.
There’s so much to like about this novel: a fascinating setting and an intricate, deeply troubled but still compelling society; characters who are nuanced, interesting, and capable of really surprising you; a romance that is the very definition of hard-fought; a plot with plenty of twists and turns, most of them literally life-or-death. Definitely worth a read.
*I received an ARC of this book and voluntarily composed an honest review.
March 29, 2023
Ten years ago, ideologic and politics created the Anverite civil war. The war created: people against people, parents against children and destruction and death of major proportions. Then came the Unification. For those in Anver, that survived, the lives of many seem to have gone back to normal. It’s as if they had forgotten all the devastation of a war that seems to have just ended. Some even made the adjustment to live among the Kasyovans.
Reis Asher, twenty-five, has not even begun to forget what the war brought. He lost his mother to this needless war. His father now suffers with dementia. A father who fought wars and was an important man. What Reis has left of his fathers is his sniper rifle, which he knows how to use. One thing Reis always believed was standing up for what was right and what he loved.
Edgar Tobias, twenty-nine, had training to fight in the war, but didn’t. He now lives in a building that was once a hospital. So many hospitals were turned into housing after the war. Edgar had to take a stand for his self respect and quit his job at Central. He just couldn’t deal with his manager propositioning him. Now, he works freelance from his apartment developing mobile apps for irritating clients. Edgar is Kasyovan but likes living in Anver. He loved his famous parents but Edgar avoids the notoriety as much as possible.
When Edgar attempts to take a shower before his morning begins, he finds the water scalding hot. As much as he doesn’t want to he calls Chris, the maintenance manager. He has his reasons for finding Chris irritating but he still goes with Chris to help him with the water heater in the basement. Shockingly, Chris tries and almost succeeds in killing him.
When Reis get’s word of the Killing Game, he researches it on the dark web. He knows this is wrong in so many ways and what it will turn people into. He sees the picture of the victim and he knows he has to do what is right and protect this person. When he finds the victim, they find themselves caught up in a terror filled, dangerous and deathly run for their lives.
Reis Asher creates a spectacular dystopian world surrounding two different cities: Anvers and Kasyovan. Both cities have their own separate interests in what their citizens thrive for, but it’s still possible for both to blend and survive. It’s a fast paced, twisted, intense, and danger filled story with political corruption and evil men with intentions to destroy a city and it’s citizens.
Reis and Edgar are two of the most opposite and wonderful characters that will pull on the heart strings. They are men from different cities, that will struggle and fight to find their own meaning in a world turned upside down. They will find themselves doing the impossible to survive and live for a romance that is heartbreaking and beautiful.
The author will be very clear in describing the two cities: Anver and Kasyovan and the differences between them. There’s also interesting stories of: the Soulmates, Al and Glenn, parents of Edgar; Teon Escher and Sebastian and Leah. Agents of the Bureau: Emily Vos and Gareth Grady, where will they stand. There’s also the evil of the Killing Game and Tony Anvas.
In 2021, Reis Asher published “Killing Games” and I look at this as a big achievement for them. They use their own name for the main character and the use of the pronouns (they/them/their) that make this novel even more compelling. I was totally immersed in this novel from the very first page. As I stated at the beginning, this is a spectacular and brilliantly written novel. I am so glad I read it! Even more I was overjoyed to see “Killing Nightmares,” the continuing story of Reis Asher and Edgar Tobias.
Reis Asher, twenty-five, has not even begun to forget what the war brought. He lost his mother to this needless war. His father now suffers with dementia. A father who fought wars and was an important man. What Reis has left of his fathers is his sniper rifle, which he knows how to use. One thing Reis always believed was standing up for what was right and what he loved.
Edgar Tobias, twenty-nine, had training to fight in the war, but didn’t. He now lives in a building that was once a hospital. So many hospitals were turned into housing after the war. Edgar had to take a stand for his self respect and quit his job at Central. He just couldn’t deal with his manager propositioning him. Now, he works freelance from his apartment developing mobile apps for irritating clients. Edgar is Kasyovan but likes living in Anver. He loved his famous parents but Edgar avoids the notoriety as much as possible.
When Edgar attempts to take a shower before his morning begins, he finds the water scalding hot. As much as he doesn’t want to he calls Chris, the maintenance manager. He has his reasons for finding Chris irritating but he still goes with Chris to help him with the water heater in the basement. Shockingly, Chris tries and almost succeeds in killing him.
When Reis get’s word of the Killing Game, he researches it on the dark web. He knows this is wrong in so many ways and what it will turn people into. He sees the picture of the victim and he knows he has to do what is right and protect this person. When he finds the victim, they find themselves caught up in a terror filled, dangerous and deathly run for their lives.
Reis Asher creates a spectacular dystopian world surrounding two different cities: Anvers and Kasyovan. Both cities have their own separate interests in what their citizens thrive for, but it’s still possible for both to blend and survive. It’s a fast paced, twisted, intense, and danger filled story with political corruption and evil men with intentions to destroy a city and it’s citizens.
Reis and Edgar are two of the most opposite and wonderful characters that will pull on the heart strings. They are men from different cities, that will struggle and fight to find their own meaning in a world turned upside down. They will find themselves doing the impossible to survive and live for a romance that is heartbreaking and beautiful.
The author will be very clear in describing the two cities: Anver and Kasyovan and the differences between them. There’s also interesting stories of: the Soulmates, Al and Glenn, parents of Edgar; Teon Escher and Sebastian and Leah. Agents of the Bureau: Emily Vos and Gareth Grady, where will they stand. There’s also the evil of the Killing Game and Tony Anvas.
In 2021, Reis Asher published “Killing Games” and I look at this as a big achievement for them. They use their own name for the main character and the use of the pronouns (they/them/their) that make this novel even more compelling. I was totally immersed in this novel from the very first page. As I stated at the beginning, this is a spectacular and brilliantly written novel. I am so glad I read it! Even more I was overjoyed to see “Killing Nightmares,” the continuing story of Reis Asher and Edgar Tobias.
March 25, 2023
Two great main characters, an eerie dystopian world, and action scenes that will make your heart race all combine into a book you won’t want to stop reading once you start. The war is over…or is it? There are those that are unhappy with how the war ended, and they’ve decided to spread a little chaos – by picking random targets and marking them for death. I loved Reis and Edgar so much – they’re unique but mesh so well together. Edgar seems so sweet and unassuming, and Reis has such a strong moral compass, putting their life on the line for someone they barely know. I don’t want to give too much away, but if you enjoy dystopian stories with strong if unlikely leads, you’re going to love this. Looking forward to book two!
May 23, 2025
Neither the plot or the writing was good. And naming a character after yourself is ick.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews