Volk's Game [Import] [Paperback]

Brent Ghelfi (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Faber and Faber (2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0571236774
• ISBN-13: 978-0571236770
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,489,792 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Brutal but engrossing, July 9, 2007

By 

L. J. Roberts (Oakland, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Volk's Game: A Novel (Hardcover)

First Sentence: "What do you know about art, Volk?"

Alexei Volkovoy, "Volk," must balance between to masters; Maxim, a Russia mafia kingpin, and The General, to whom Volk is indebted. They command Volk to steal a painting newly found behind another in the basement of the Hermitage. But the theft quickly goes bad. Men are killed, Volk's lover kidnapped and being tortured. Still Volk must retrieve the painting before they kill his lover.

Ghelfi draws a picture of Russia and Red Square that has changed my way of looking at those areas. Alexei Volkovoy, "Volk," is an interesting protagonist. Ghelfi has also done an excellent job in creating Volk, making him a fully-developed character in spite of brutal nature of the story. Volk may not have many scruples, but he does have them. Volk, and his ladyfriend, Valya, are what life, war and survival have made them. The story is unrelentingly dark and does include torture of women but the characters are not nice, law-abiding people. This is not a pleasant book, but it is a good one and I'm not sorry to have read it.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fast and thrilling., July 3, 2007

By 

Daniel A. Scott "Just honest!" (Philippi, WV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Volk's Game: A Novel (Hardcover)

This is a fast and thrilling tale of drugs, sex, murder and mayhem. If you like action with intelligence thrown in, then this is for you. Volk is not only tough, he's also smart and a little sadisitic as well, just what this book calls for. Can't wait for his next rampage!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Ambitious Thriller, June 27, 2007

By 

R. Rinaldi (Salt Lake City, UT) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Volk's Game: A Novel (Hardcover)

This is a cool thriller -- an action-packed story in an exotic setting with compelling characters. But it is way more than that too. The writing is so good it almost transcends the genre. The author's insights about good and evil in this contradictory "post-postmodern" world are powerful and thought provoking. This novel is almost literary in its ambition to reveal what it means to be human, even in a place and time where just about everything and everyone works to strip humanity away.

And Ghelfi's way with language is hypnotic. Corruption of the soul and human degradation has rarely been so evocatively, even lyrically described. So when reading Volk's Game, you find yourself in the middle of a fast moving page turner, anxious to find out what happens next, but at the same time you want to slow down and linger with each vivid paragraph. It's like stopping for a quick bite at a dingy eatery in the concourse of a faraway airport and discovering a four-star quality meal. To extend the analogy, this novel is a juicy, blood red filet mignon, a carafe of hearty Bordeaux, and a dark (very dark) chocolate soufflé dripping with gooey raspberry sauce. It is so richly rewarding you don't mind taking your time. You can always catch a later flight -- rarely do you get to savor an edifying guilty pleasure like this.