The Zero Game

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Thriller, A Fun Read!
Review: No summary of the book here, if you want that, look at one of the other reviews.

This is the first Brad Meltzer book I have read. I could not put the book down...finished the 460 pages in two days. If you are a fan of John Grisham type thrillers, you will enjoy this book. I will be waiting for the movie to come out and reading some of Meltzer's other works.

Rating:
Summary: You'll Have Zero Time for Anything Else Once Read 1st Page
Review: This is the second Meltzer novel I have read, the previous being The Millionaires and although that was great this is ten times better. Once you start this sensational thriller the fast pace and short chapters keep you turning pages until the end.

Working for congressmen, Harris and Matthew have discovered a secret thrilling game that is played inside Capitol Hill. Unimportant bills are bet upon to see if they will be passed or not. It is a secret game where they do not know any of the other players other than the person before them in the chain who brought them in. Matthew bets most of his life savings on what he knows will be a sure thing and paranoia makes him follow the page (courier) with deadly outcomes. Harris notices that his link to the game was also murdered and narrowly avoids an assassin named Janos who seems unstoppable. He is now on the run and enlists the help of a 17 year old page named Viv who isn't too happy when she learns of the danger he's put her in. Together they must uncover the secret of the bill which started this chain or events and expose it before they are both dead.


Rating:
Summary: An intriuging thriller
Review: The blurb states..."two friends realize they are no longer players... and turn to the only person that can..." Anyone who's gone past the first few chapters knows that one friend disappears early after a careful introduction. So, did the blurb writer even read the thing?

The idea was original: Aides and perhaps Congressmen are engaged in a game of betting on certain political events. It starts simply, from vote counts to inserting language to making laws, and each "bet" is procured with taxi receipts in which a zero is added to each bet ($100 = $1000), the Zero Game. My quarrel is with the execution. Two buddies are Congressional aides. Typical liberals, they talk about the environment, housing, public projects and spend tax money like it's monopoly dough. But for all their idealism they engage in this "game" and are cynical of ALL politicians who are (surprise)venal, after power, willing to trade votes for sex, controlled by lobbyists, etc. Why in the world they continue in the face of all this is beyond me.

One friend is soon murdered, contradicting the blurb that clearly states he's part of the chase, and a 17 year old page, Viv, is tapped for help. She is tall, black and depicted just as you would expect: Sassy, religious, full of spirit, in awe of mama, etc. Yet despite the stereotyping, she steals the show, emerging as the strongest and most realized character. Harris (surviving friend) learns that Matthew was murdered, then someone tries to murder him and the chase is on. Great action, racing through DC, the Smithsonian, Congress, up to S Dakota to an abandoned mine where a secret lab is located.

A blind lobbyist, a friend of the two, shows his true colors; the evil hit man is given a sympathetic hearing. I loved the "secret" but it fails on three levels: Scientific, psychological and literary. Why would the Arabs develop plutonium in the US when they could do so elsewhere? And this is yet another James Bond-like scheme in which no one talks and the US government has no clue. Yet, despite the criticisms, I liked the book. I only wish the author would have used his talents to create more authentic and less predictable characters. Maybe he can have Matthew brought back from the dead and team with Viv.