Rating: 
Summary: EXTRAORDINARY
Review: I thought I was a true fan until I read this book -- NOW I am a true fan. I read this book in several hours because I couldn't put it down. You find yourself devouring the book like a satisfying meal. This is absolutely the best read around and the best spent money for today. Read this one first if you haven't read his others - and you will be devoted.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Read
Review: Brad Meltzer pulls through again. The first couple of chapters were a hard read. I do not come from a strong government background so I almost put the book down, but once I got past the first couple of chapters, I became addicted and it is one of my favorite books. The action sequences literally keep you pinned in your seat. You did it once again, Mr. Meltzer!!
Rating: 
Summary: Meltzer is getting better and better...
Review: I read the Millionaires first, which despite it's absurd ending, I enjoyed. I read First Counsel(which honestly did not stay very long in my mind) and The Tenth Justice next (have not read Dead Even) and it was clear that Meltzer had a ways to go--good ideas, some sloppy execution...however, if you line up the books in the order they written, he has grown. This was a really interesting and original story. The best part of the book is the "game" (hilarious and ingenious) and the inside look at Congress (his research is outstanding). The characters, Matthew, Viv, and Harris are among his best. It is cool see a multicultural cast of characters. The problem? Well, the biggest was the fact that the two chase scenes are FAR too long. He had this problem in other books, but these went on and on. It would have been better to hear more about the Midas Project (I need to be vague so as not to ruin the book) and the political stories behind it. I would have enjoyed more character driven issues and less running around. And, as another reviewer so smartly noted, the dust jacket gets many things wrong--particularly Viv's age--which is 17, not 16. I must commend Meltzer on his restraint in plot twists--there is a whopper early on--but he uses them wisely--another sign of growth. I hear he has recently moved to Florida. I hope he does not lose his ear for the political or urban thriller.
Rating:
Summary: Sometimes less is more!
Review: I really did like this book, and I found it exciting and highly compelling. I did think, though, that some of the scenes were way too long. The climax scene in the tunnels under the Capitol near the end of the book was full of violence. It just went on and on forever and got extremely physical and rough. The sequence of the events in the old gold mine in South Dakota was very descriptive and exciting, but it also was too long. I wish he had devoted some of those pages to tying up a few loose ends at the end of the book. I thought that he hurried through the last few pages, and it left me wondering about quite a few things that were not adequately explained. One other strange thing that I noticed was about the blurb on the book jacket. Whoever wrote that had obviously not read the book because it is not correct. Once you have read the book, you will see what I mean about the correctness of the jacket. Maybe a picky thing, but I noticed it and it should be changed in later editions. Lots of people read those blurbs before deciding whether or not to read a book. All in all, I would recommend THE ZERO GAME to others. I have read all of the other Brad Meltzer books and have loved them.It was a great effort from a popular author.
Rating: 
Summary: Needs more thought, less action
Review: I really like Brad Meltzer's work and was excited to pick up Zero Game. But I'm disappointed: the whole book reads like the script to the movie he hopes to sell. Way to much violence--and in bone-crunching, gravel-slicing-into-face-as-person-slides-head-first-into-ground detail. Too much running around, not enough mindplay. As usual, he's a great researcher, characters are likeable, and he paints a good picture. I'm still a fan, but I'll skip the movie.
Rating:
Summary: Fast read,,,good plot twists
Review: 1) As usual with this author, he has a good set-up plot and then action spins out of control to (almost) uncomfortably tense moments. (You're glad it's not you down there.) 2) The dialogue has improved substantially since "First Counsel" (Hist first book.) 3) Instead of giving away most of the plot at the beginning and making the rest of the book a chase (which he usually does as in "The Millionaires") he saves key plot points for the middle and the end. 4) The chase/action scenes might be a little long, but they read very quickly. 5) The man seems to know his subject matter (well to me, anyway.)
Rating:
Summary: Sometimes a Little Knowledge Can be a Deadly Thing
Review: Matthew Mercer works on Capitol Hill writing Interior Appropriations for Congressman Cordell. The committee the congressman serves on decides where and when discretionary monies are spent. His best friend Harris Sandler is a Senate staff member and deals with the orientation of Congressional pages. Harris is the kind of guy everybody likes, confident, sure of himself and he likes to play games. Like pinning the Lorax, the Dr. Seuss character who speakes for the trees "for the trees have no tonuges," on Congressman Enemark's lapel when he's not looking. The congressman is the Dean of the House and Congress's longest serving Member and according to Matthew, "He'd clearcut Oregon, hang billboards in the Grand Canyon, and vote to pave over his own garden with baby seal skins if he thought it'd get him some cash." Matthew is bored and cynical, looking for excitement, so when Harris introduces him to a clandestine game betting on the likelihood of various pieces of legislation being passed, he plays. It's a harmless little betting game centered around how many votes there will be on a particular bill. One day the bet concerns a trivial government land sale that Matthew has the power to control. It's a sure thing and Matthew and Harris bet their savings. The way the game works, each person invites one other person to play, so each player knows only two others, the rest of the players are kept anonymous. But the game hides an explosive secret and turns deadly when someone close to them winds up dead. Now they realize the rules have changed and that they're about to become the game's next victims as a ruthless killer is on their trail. They turn to the only person who they can trust, a young and idealistic black Senate page named Viv who, because she can move around the Capitol undetected and in and out of private offices without raising suspicion, turns out to be the perfect person to save their bacon. THE ZERO GAME was an excellent read, but Mr. Metzer writes in the first person present tense and that took me a whole chapter to get used to, but once I did I was caught up in the book and the game, unable to quit till both were finished, plus as an added benefit I relearned how government really works. Something I think I learned back in college, but sadly forgot, however it's something I'm certainly going to remember the next time I go to the polls. Review submitted by Captain Katie Osborne
Rating: 
Summary: DUD
Review: Waste of time, get it from the library if you have to read it. If you're looking for a great thriller to read, pick up Joseph Finder's Paranoia.
Rating:
Summary: So Disappointing- I waited for this book for two years!
Review: Let me start off by saying this- every other book by Brad Meltzer was AMAZING. This one stank. It seems like 75% of the book was very verbose fight scenes and a long, drawn-out chase. I hardly saw any "political thriller" aspect to this book like some other reviewers seem to think there was. In addition, the characters were never developed enough to even care about them. Take it from someone who loved Meltzer's other books for their spontaneity, crisp dialogue, and fun premise- this book has none of it.
Rating:
Summary: into the Toilet
Review: Brad must have some young chldren. The first two chapter use "potty " humor add infinitum. He also overdoes the kid book analogies. It is so tiresome and booring that you do not have patience for the rest of the story.
From the first page, you just want to throw away the book. Don't wast your timne or money. Read anything else
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