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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Effective Action/Espionage Thriller, September 28, 2004
Greg Rucka is spinning a series of novels off his Oni Press comic-book series about adventure, personal lives, and office politics in the British secret service. His first effort, A Gentleman's Game, promises well for the venture, and it is interesting to see how the characters translate from the graphic format to the prose novel.
Rucka's great strength is in creating flawed yet highly compelling characters. His protagonist, the intense and deadly Tara Chace, made a terrific spy in the comics and easily carries the lesser burden she shoulders in the novel, where one of the villains -- a British citizen turned terrorist, equally compelling -- gets nearly equal time. The novel also follows Tara's bitter, hostile, chain-smoking, gold-hearted boss, the great Paul Crocker, as he does his best to navigate the treacherous shoals of intelligence office politics to clear the way for his agents. New characters, like an amusing pair of Israeli spymasters, and old favorites from the comics like Tom Wallace and the stolid Poole, are equally interesting and welcome.
Rucka has a deep knowledge of his subject, and while his descriptions of weapons can become tiresome (he's the kind of guy who knows, and thinks we have to know, how many foot-pounds of pressure people put on triggers and the brand name every gun anyone has), his acronym-laden spy jargon is convincing and adds flavor to the text.
Rucka may always be a better comic book writer than novelist because he seems weakest when he describes places, people, and action -- things an artist can easily cover him on. But even at his weakest, he is perfectly adequate, and much of this book finds him at his best. There may have been one fight too many towards the end (another possible holdover from a comic-book sensibility), but any weaknesses in this book are minor compared to its strengths. Chace and Crocker are terrific characters, the setting and plot are convincing, and the story is gripping. I picked up A Gentleman's Game right after work and I didn't even put it down to cook and eat. It's intelligent entertainment; I can't wait for the next one.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Riveting novel drawn from Rucka's graphic novel series, October 15, 2004
Greg Rucka has been making a name for himself in the suspense genre for several years with his series of novels involving the enigmatic Atticus Kodiak. Rucka, however, is arguably best known to readers of sequential art collections (that would be comic books to you, fan boy!). He has been toiling mightily in that area for some years now, working on such A-list characters as Superman, Batman, Grendel, Wolverine and Wonder Woman. He has made what is arguably his greatest contribution to that genre with his own creation, a series of graphic novels titled QUEEN & COUNTRY, which involve the inner workings of a branch of a British intelligence agency. It is from the latter that A GENTLEMAN'S GAME, Rucka's latest novel, is drawn.
The focus of A GENTLEMAN'S GAME is Tara Chace, Minder One for The Division of Operations. She is, in less polite terms, an assassin, who is very good at what she does, which is to take out the bad guys --- the terrorists, who have the destruction of Great Britain on their minds and in their hearts. Chace does her job well and finds herself being offered up as a sacrificial lamb by the very agency, and country, to which she has sworn loyalty. Rucka deftly guides his reader through a complex plot, where agents are considered to be expendable commodities.
One of the more fascinating characters here, as in the QUEEN & COUNTRY books, is Paul Crocker, Director of Operations and Chace's superior officer. Crocker is a political animal who somehow maintains a balancing act between protecting the interests of Great Britain and those of his agents, even while one goal is at odds with the other. While one may occasionally differ with Rucka's worldview, he has a canny vision with respect to the manner in which the world ultimately works. While Rucka is quick to give credit to others when it comes to his insight, he is ultimately the channel through which this vision is communicated, and in such a riveting manner.
A GENTLEMAN'S GAME can only increase the width and depth of Rucka's readership. For those unfamiliar with his novels, there are the Atticus Kodiak books (among others) to explore. For those unfamiliar with his sequential art stories, QUEEN AND COUNTRY graphic novels await. And if you've been fortunate enough to read all of Rucka's work to date, you have the pleasure of anticipating his next novel. Recommended.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A great spy thriller, November 19, 2004
Besides being known as a comic writer, Greg Rucka also has a career as a novelist, best known for his Atticus Kodiak thrillers. So it makes a certain amount of sense for him to combine his two worlds by writing a novel based on his creator-owned Queen & Country series. This presents us then with two questions: How does A Gentleman's Game work as a spy thriller, and how does it work as an extension of the comic book?
As a spy thriller, it works very well indeed. As the main protagonist, Tara Chase is a great character, highly competant but flawed. The plot is a doozy: following a terrorist attack on the London subway system, Tara's SIS section is called upon to retaliate against the terrorists. I won't spoil the plot any further, except to say that there are a couple of great twists that come just at the right time and are as logical as they are surprising. In fact, one of the greatest joys of the novel is that none of the characters have to act like idiots in order for the story to work. While characters may make bad decisions, they are not stupid decisions. I have no idea how accurate the details and settings of this novel are, but it certainly has the feel of authenticity and that Rucka has done his homework. His prose is detailed but doesn't get bogged down, and he can write action as well as the quieter moments. Given that this is based on a comic with which a majority of the readers will be unfamilar, there is a good deal of info-dumping in the first 50-100 pages to get things set up, but it is integrated into the plot and never feels like a plot summary.
A Gentleman's Game also works well as the next chapter for the Queen & Country series. While it is not necessary to be previously familiar with Tara Chase and the rest of the cast from the comic, fans of the comic will find much here to enjoy. Unlike many novels based on comics where the author has to pretty much put things back in place by the end of the book, since Rucka owns Queen & Country he can do whatever he wants, and by the end of A Gentleman's Game things have definitely changed in Tara's world. Rucka uses the opportunities inherent in the novel format to flesh out Tara's world and to give us insight into her internal life and the lives of those around her. This is a both a deeply personal story and a large plot-driven story; and while it would not have been impossible to tell in comic form, it would have had to have been very different, given the difference in the two mediums.
In closing, if you are a fan of spy thrillers, you will enjoy A Gentleman's Game, and if you are a fan of Queen & Country, this novel is a not-to-be-missed installment in the story of Tara Chase.
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