Once upon a time, King and Koontz were my DROP
EVERYTHING AND READ THE LATEST BOOK authors, but after one disappointing read
and another, I started looking for new GoTo authors. Hunter Shea quickly became
one of them, especially with his cryptid novels. The other is Jonathan Janz.
While I haven't read everything Janz has written, I am working on remedying. To
date, Janz has not disappointed me. Which is why The Dark Game, Janz's latest, quickly moved to the top of my TBR
pile.
The Dark
Game tells the tale of ten writers hand-chosen by Roderick Wells, a
celebrated but reclusive writer, to compete in a summer-long contest for a cash
prize and a publishing contract. These ten writers have been chosen not only
for their talent, but also because they each possess a dark secret, secrets
that will be revealed as the competition progresses. Like all competitions,
there are eliminations, but unlike other competitions, these eliminations are
private. The remaining contestants are told who has been eliminated, and
they're somewhat put off by the fact the the departing contestant didn't bother
to say goodbye.
Early on, one might think they know where the
story is headed, and chances are good that they'll be wrong. And that's one of
Janz's strengths. He'll lead you into what you think might be a rehash of
something you've read before, but then he'll rip the rug out from under you
when you least expect it, leaving you in uncharted territory where you fumble
along with the characters to figure out what the hell is really going on. But
not to worry; you'll be in good company. Janz fleshes out his characters fully,
and there are those you instinctively like and want to fall in with, while
others you take an immediate dislike to and hope they'll be one of the ones
eliminated early on. But if that were to happen, you would end up with a dull
story, so you know some of the bastards are going to stick around.
At first glance, The Dark Game comes across as a potential reality show, only there
are no cameras, but you'll soon learn it's so much more than that. There are
ghosts aplenty haunting the characters, ghosts from their own pasts and ghosts
from those who have gone before. So you might think this is a simple haunted
house novel, and in a way you'd be right, but it's more. Janz pulls in enough
otherworldly and supernatural elements to keep you on your toes and keep you
guessing. Who is the actual bad guy here? Is it the contestants and their dark
secrets awakening something within the house? Is it the house itself? Or is it
their host? Or some of the other apparently minor characters who eventually
take on more importance as the story progresses?
The story moves along at a brisk pace, and each
chapter ends with enough mystery to keep you reading. You'll be telling
yourself, "Just one more chapter. Just one more chapter." And before
you know it. it's 4 o'clock in the morning and you have to be up in three hours
to get ready for work. Yeah, it's that good. So do yourself a favor and sign up
for the game. You won't be disappointed. If you've read other books by Janz,
you'll know by now that he just keeps keeps getting better, so The Dark Game is Janz at his best (to
date). I can't wait to see what he comes up with next.
