Shell Game [Paperback]

Douglas Terman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1985

Hardcover: 447 pages Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition (March 1985) Language: English

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Poseidon Press, 1985.; 1St Edition edition (1985)
• ISBN-10: 0671532928
• ISBN-13: 978-0671532925
• ASIN: B001NBYWZO
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The TERMANator!, April 24, 2004

By 

Scorpio69 (Hawaii, America's Paradise) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shell Game: A Novel (Hardcover)

Terman wrote from a POV (and time) that saw the big, bad Soviet Union edging toward global domination. He could not have known that the Soviet Union was destined to simply rot and crumble. In any case, the fact that it did in no way diminishes any of his works. They are just ripping good yarns!

`Shell Game' is set in Cuba pre/post the Castro revolution, leading up to the Cuban missile crisis. Two brothers wind up on opposite sides of the post-revolutionary struggle, with a woman they both love caught in the middle. The story is very well developed and it beats Tom Clancy, et al, hands down. Brocassie, the main character, is not some cardboard-cutout Jack Ryan-type. He is fully three dimensional, as are all the other characters - like his brother Julio, along with his (and his brother's) life's love, Alicia.

There are so many threads in the story that are so expertly woven together that one can overlook certain implausible aspects of the plot (just a few, really). A more outstanding contemporary adventure novel I have not read (except for Terman's other books!).

As with Terman's other books, the characters are offbeat and interesting. You are swept along with them in high adventure and enormous events - like, the potential end of the world in a nuclear holocaust, for example (see also: First Strike), or a struggle for freedom in a post-holocaust Soviet police state-America (see: Free Flight).

I will next dive into Terman's book `Enemy Territory'. Given the outstanding quality his other books (all of which I have read), I do not expect to be disappointed.

'Shell Game' is such an outstanding adventure story and it is so well written (as are Terman's other novels) that I cannot believe it is out of print. [NOTE: It is available used online - try ABE or Alibris -- I got a very nice hardback copy for only a buck!].

Do yourself a big favor and buy all of Terman's books - they are terrific reads!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You won't be able to put this one down, April 5, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Shell Game (Paperback)

The author's descriptions are so vivid, during an airplane ride into Cuba I found myself gasping for oxygen the same as the character I was reading about. Full of intricate details and twisted plots -- I keep looking for more by this author, but haven't found an

5.0 out of 5 stars Details ......, June 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Shell Game: A Novel (Hardcover)

I live in the American West and am a Pilot. Mr. Terman's descriptive naration is amazing! I have stood on bluffs outside of Dillon Montana while employed by a siesmic exploration crew and, he made feel as though I were there again. Just east of St. George Utah there is a deserted strip .. as he outlines, I know the place.I will bet that the mountains of Cuba are just as he says. Great plot! Lots of well developed side stories! Truely a very well done historical novel.