The Zero Game

Rating:
Summary: Another fastpaced story from Meltzer
Review: Matthew Mercer has been working in politics in Washington D.C. for the last eight years for a congressman but the job is getting old not much fun any more and he is ready to call an end to this career. Now Harris Sandler is works on Senate side of congress and happens to be Matthews mentor and friend since Matthews freshman year in college.Harris changes Matthews mind when he introduces Matthew to a new game that seems perfectly harmless.

The idea for the game a game that has been going on for years is that they bet on the outcome of votes and some times getting pranks to happen by the congressman while the congressman do not even know they are part of it.

Matthew is also on the appropiations committee where they decide who is going to get how much money for which projects so when a chance comes up for Harris and Matthew to bet on the game and matthew promising victory and a fat return because he is on this committee Harris and him put down a fat sum of money on the game.But with all this going out somewhere around 20,000 dollars Matthew gets nervous and follows the page who picks the package up.Part of the reason he gets nervous is that the only one he knows that is in the game is the one who braught him in Harris.Well following the page gets Matthew killed and causes Harris to find out how and why and who is behind the game and is it really so harmless.

Unlike some of the other reviews i thought this was a great book and very fastpaced with a surprise ending it was a diffenet page turner when i got about 2/3's of the way into i could not read the pages fast enough to find out what happens

Rating:
Summary: Most refreshing
Review: The most refreshing aspect of this good read was the fact that there was no romantic story stuck in between the actual plot. I know this might be a turn off to some women, but for me it was a plus.

And while the plot is at times a little hard to believe, just suspend that idea that says it has to be totally real and enjoy this book.

Also recommend: The Da vinci Code, Three Junes, Bark of the Dogwood

Rating:
Summary: Interesting but Made for Hollywood?
Review: Some interesting insights into congressional happenings as far as lobby influence and "staff/page" influence. I found the characters fairly realistic; but the chases and skirmishes were totally unrealistic. Result: The action became science fiction.
As long as one likes fast paced, unbelievable action tales, one should enjoy this.

Rating:
Summary: Great characters drive an intriguing plot
Review: With "Zero Game," Brad Meltzer does a nice job of creating characters that drive the story, rather than vice-versa. If you're tired of plot-driven novels with thin, and often cliché, characters, then you're likely to dig this one.

If you're into writers like Meltzer, John Grisham, James Patterson, etc., then there's a new writer you should check out: Greg Ippolito. His new novel, "Zero Station," (the "zero" sharing is completely coincidental) is absolutely terrific, and an excerpt is available online for FREE. He's still a relative unknown (a friend turned me onto his work)...but this is a must-read. You can check him out and read the excerpt at: www.ZERO-STATION.net. Don't miss it!

Rating:
Summary: Zero Game
Review: Either the person who wrote the description on the book jacket did not read the book, or if Brad Meltzer wrote it, he forgot that he killed off his main character early on. The description includes the dead character as one who is still alive and "in a frenetic chase from the secret tunnels under the Captiol to an abandoned gold mine halfway across the country, the TWO friends ...on the run, THEY turn to...the only person they can trust: 16-yr.-old..." AMAZING! The one character is dead BEFORE any of this happens! This was the beginning of many disappointments and confusion for me. If this had been the first Brad Meltzer book I had read, I would never choose his books again.

Rating:
Summary: Meltzer Fan Disappointed
Review: I must agree with the reviewer drgoldstein2. I too, am a long-time Meltzer follower and fan and I was seriously disappointed in this book. As others have said, I had eagerly anticipated this book due to the description. And if that had been the book which had been written, I probably would have loved it, but it wasn't. I would have like to have seen more about "The Game" and how it's played --- surely that could create suspense and tension --- and I would have liked to see the chases reduced and kept in DC. Mr. Meltzer does his best when he keeps his stories to the politics and the politicians. I also found the pairing of the 2 main characters very implausable and rather uninteresting and unbelievable. From the beginning, the book reminded me strongly of the author's previous title "The Millionaires" and perhaps that was part of the problem -- felt like I'd been there, done that.

One disappointment from an author won't turn me off entirely, so I'll look forward to the Mr. Meltzer's next book, but perhaps without quite so great an anticipation.

Rating:
Summary: HORRIBLE
Review: Absolutely one of the most boring books of the year. 460 pages of pure crap - a watse of anyone's time.

Rating:
Summary: Not even in your dreams - but fun to read
Review: I was turned off by Metzler in the first book I read of his,The First Counsel. I then read later efforts and adjusted my thinking. This book is fine as long as you suspend belief in the ultimate objective, i.e. believing the plot. However, there is a lot of insight in this book in to the working of the legislative side of the government which is instructive and interesting...and as I have said...if you buy into the plot that he sets, the rest is easy. I did have a problem with how he told this story. In the first person for two of the characters, one of whom is murdered, and then back to the third person. Maybe it works for others...it didn't for me. However this is NOT a bad book. It is just a bit different and if you like the author...go for it.

Rating:
Summary: Meltzer's First Failure
Review: (Beware: plot disclosure). Brad Meltzer is obviously a very smart guy, a former lawyer-turned writer. His books have that "insider" flare that really grabs the reader, at least in his first books. But now he's managed to commit a cardinal sin of novelists: killing off his narrator. In addition, THE ZERO GAME is little more than one big chase sequence, in and out of Washington. He gives very brief glimpses of Congress, and they're fun, but unfortunately they are not enough to sustain the novel. I'll look forward eagerly to Brad Meltzer's next novel, but sadly, this one just doesn't work.

Rating:
Summary: good premise...then boring
Review: Because I hated "The Tenth Justice" so much, I swore I would never read another Meltzer book again. Whoops, I bought it because the blurb seemed intriguing. My mistake. I see it's on the best-seller list...I guess a lot of us made a mistake. I liked the initial premise...a betting game played by Washington
participants. Noone knows who the other players are. But as the game progresses, it just seems a hook to draw us into an "I-don't-care-about-this-mine" plot. OK, learned my lesson...no more Meltzer ever!