Customer Reviews

The Timer Game (Grace Descanso, Book 1)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I thought THE TIMER GAME was a decent read. This is a medical thriller with a lot of forensic elements, and it's written in the fast-paced style that may remind you a little of Dan Brown's novels.

The heroine of this novel is Grace Descansco, who is a former pediactric heart surgeon who dropped out of medicine due to a tragic event in her past (which is not revealed until late in the book). Grace has a lot of struggles to deal with: she works a ton of hours for the San Diego crime lab, she's trying to raise a five-year old daughter on her own, she has an immature mother who makes her life more difficult, and she is a recovering alcoholic.

Eventually, Grace's daughter gets kidnapped by a madman, and she must play an elaborate treasure hunt to save her. The last two thirds of this book is essentially about Grace racing against time to solve the clues, while at the same time uncovering the motives behind the madman's actions. Again, this book has a bit of a DA VINCI CODE vibe, with all the riddles and clues sprinkled throughout the story.

THE TIMER GAME is decent popcorn entertainment. I didn't find much of the plotline particularly credible, but it does build suspense in the second half. The novel starts pretty slowly, and you have to read one hundred pages of setup before the plot really gets moving. Grace is a likable enough protagonist, but I found much of the characterization in this novel kind of flat. The writing is solid and clear, although not very stylistic.

Overall, THE TIMER GAME is an entertaining enough diversion. If you like your books fast-paced and plot-driven, you might want to give this one a try.

Smith has been a playwright, and an essayist for National Public Radio. She lives in San Diego, California, the setting of The Timer Game. The book's web site had some innovative "webisodes" covering events that happened five years before the book begins, and it is unique way to get to know the characters and what has shaped them.

Grace Descanso works as a crime-scene technician in San Diego, California. She is a struggling single mother of five-year-old Katie. Her best friend is her AA sponsor, Jeanne. Grace had been a promising pediatric heart surgeon, when she suddenly quit medicine and went through a horrific struggle with alcohol. The event that triggered this change happened when she was working in a tiny clinic in Guatemala, over five years ago.

Grace is called to a crime scene on her day off. At the crime scene, a meth house with blood spatters, she follows a cop and another crime scene investigator out back. There she finds them with their throats slit-dead. The deranged murderer attacks her, and she grabs one of the fallen men's guns and kills him. Before she does, however he delivers a chilling message, "He's after you, Grace, the Spikeman. You better run." Grace is put on administrative leave.

She is celebrating Katie's fifth birthday, trying to keep her life normal, when odd things start happening. A package appears in the backyard. Who brought it? It has a bloody doll inside. Then Katie is taken from the upstairs bathroom, and Grace is forced to play "the timer game" to find her. This is a variation of the timer game she plays with her daughter, depositing clues around the house and using a timer to keep track of the time it takes to solve the clues. Only this timer game covers the city, using strangers to hold various packages for Grace if she solves the clues in time. She is not allowed to call the police, and the Spikeman seems to know her every move-he seems to know Grace very well.

Will she find Katie in time? What could she have done in the past to cause someone to hate her so much?

Armchair Interview says: This edge-of-the-chair thriller will keep you up until you finish it.

I dont generally read books like this, but it was so interesting,and I live in sandiego, so it was fun to know the locations she talks about. I would recommend this to anyone. :)

I really liked this book. I have read so many of these psychological thrillers/mystery novels and it's refreshing to read one where I couldn't guess the ending five chapters into the book.
It starts out a little slow in the beginning but the novel still got me hooked because at the slower pace I was able to get the know the lead characters a little better. When the game begins, the pace picks up and I found it was hard not to feel the same time pressure the protaganist was under - I had to finish this book! I find medical dramas to be an interesting read and I liked the medical theme that formed the basis of this story.
All in all, a great weekend read.

A fun, fast-paced, engrossing novel that is suspenseful, engaging, and thought-provoking. It is well-researched, realistic, and very current. It will appeal to parents, enthusiasts of crime novels, and anyone interested in health care or biotech. This book is hard to put down - it pulls you in and you won't want to put it down till the twists and turns all get resolved - though the psychological tangles still keep you pondering the story long after you've finished reading!!!

Though she refuses to tell anyone what happened in Guatemala, whatever did motivated Grace Descanso to quit as a pediatric cardiologist. She turned to alcohol as a means of forgetting, but got her act together to raise her infant daughter Katie, who is about to turn five years old. Single mom Grace lives in San Diego where she works as a crime scene technician.

At a murder scene, an attacker kills her colleagues, calls her names, and reminds her that Spikeman is coming for her. When he comes at her with a knife, she grabs the gun of dying rookie police officer Chip Page and kills the assailant. Soon afterward someone kidnaps Katie; the frantic mom assumes Spikeman is taunting her with enigmatic clues that take her to the Center for BioChimera biomedical research institution and hospital. Desperate she also asks her former lover reporter Mac McGuire to help her save her Katie.

This is an exciting suspense thriller that readers who enjoy solving clues will appreciate the mad dash to uncover the medical tie between San Diego and Guatemala and who is Spikeman; some armchair sleuths will figure that out as the link is obviously Grace. Fans will enjoy following the harassed Grace and Mac as they play in Spikeman's twenty-four hour treasure hunt with the prize if they succeed in winning the contest being a still alive Katie.

Harriet Klausner