Game of Thirty, The [Mass Market Paperback]

William Kotzwinkle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1995

When a wealthy antiques dealer is poisoned and ritually disemboweled in ancient Egyptian fashion, streetwise detective Jimmy McShane is drawn into a pharoah's Game of Thirty by the killer. Reprint. AB.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The Game of Thirty is an ancient Egyptian board game in which the movement of pieces, according to the casting of bone dice, foreshadows events in the lives of the players. In Kotzwinkle's ( E.T. ; Doctor Rat ) noir novel for the 1990s, Manhattan is the ersatz playing board, and antiquities dealer Tommy Rennseler is a player whose piece was moved to the square of Rebirth ("your piece dies and has to start all over again") on the night he was injected with cobra venom and disemboweled. High-tech detective Jimmy McShane is hired by Rennseler's daughter Temple to find her father's murderer. Aided by his office mate, Ann Henderson, a chiropractor with a New Age outlook and a talent for Sherlockian deduction, McShane moves around the city/board trying to discover who his opponent is. More murders and a suspect's involvement in child prostitution seem to sidetrack the plot, but in the end, all pieces, players and moves prove necessary to Kotzwinkle's resolution. McShane, Henderson and the supporting cast are fully three-dimensional and memorably idiosyncratic. In this game of 30, the reader is the winner, no contest.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

In Kotzwinkle's ( The Midnight Examiner , LJ 4/1/89; The Hot Jazz Trio , LJ 10/15/89) latest novel, we meet New Yorker James McShane, private detective extraordinaire, a man of wit, confidence, and panache. Assisted by his beautiful office neighbor, a people-smart chiropractor, McShane investigates the murder by evisceration of a wealthy antiquities dealer specializing in Egyptian artifacts. He alternately charms, bluffs, or pushes his way around a short list of suspects, including the dealer's quirky family, a mysteriously ubiquitous sender of warnings, and an old-money pedophile. The author's literate, fluid prose, which sparkles with le mot juste , thus reveals an admirable hero, solid plot, and Egyptian cachet as well as the author's versatility. Sure to be popular. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 2/1/94.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 295 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (October 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553573853
• ISBN-13: 978-0553573855
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,904,412 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

William Kotzwinkle is a celebrated satirist in the US as well as being author of several favourite books, including ET the Extra-Terrestrial and of course, the New York Times listed bestselling Walter the Farting Dog. He lives on an island off the east coast of America.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars both modern and nostalgic, November 22, 2000

By 

Orrin C. Judd "brothersjudddotcom" (Hanover, NH USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Game of Thirty, The (Mass Market Paperback)

William Kotzwinkle, despite his frequent turns converting blockbuster movies like ET: the Extraterrestrial into novels, is one of the more consistently interesting fantasy writers around. In The Game of Thirty, he tries his hand at a hard-boiled private eye novel and proves quite capable.

Jimmy McShane is a former military cop turned NY City private detective. When he is hired to look into the mysterious death of an antiquities dealer, he finds himself getting drawn into a murderous match of wits with the killer, based on the ancient Egyptian Pharaohs' Game of Thirty.

Mixing traditional elements of noir fiction--first person narrative, wisecracking dialogue, and urban locale--with nearly Victorian elements, reminiscent of a Sherlock Holmes or Fu Manchu tale--cobra venom, egyptology and the like--and throwing in a New Age heroine as Jimmy's sidekick, Kotzwinkle produces a neat little thriller that manages to be both modern and nostalgic and seems like it would be perfect for the big screen.

GRADE: B

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fast paced mystery that has you playing "the game"., November 22, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Game of Thirty, The (Mass Market Paperback)

"The Game of Thirty" is a well written and enthralling mystery that blends a wide array of characters into a wonderful whodunnit. Ancient Egyptian artifacts, New York jewelers and pedophiles make this a read you can't put down

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Until the End, April 29, 2000

By 

"neutral" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Game of Thirty, The (Mass Market Paperback)

The Game of Thirty is a little bit above average when it comes to stories in the mystery-esque genera. The plot is interesting, and although it revolves around a typical "hard guy" main character and "kooky, yet bright" dilettante female companion, the story does not come across as being too cliche. For me the best part about the book was the Egyptian atmosphere, which is centered on a board game - the Game of Thirty. Although at times this game is used to envoke far too much foreshadowing, on the whole it helps the story progress. An antiquities theme runs througout the book, but many other sub plots are developed (generally well), that allow the reader to peak into other walks of life. The worst part of the book is the ending. Readers can guess the ending about 1/2 way through, and the conclusion is completely unrealistic. Still the Game of Thirty is a good read.