The Game of Thirty (1994)
William Kotzwinkle, despite his frequent turns converting blockbuster movies like ET: the Extraterrestrial into novels, is one of the more consistently interesting fantasy writers around. In The Game of Thirty, he tries his hand at a hard-boiled private eye novel and proves quite capable.
Jimmy McShane is a former military cop turned NY City private detective. When he is hired to look into the mysterious death of an antiquities dealer, he finds himself getting drawn into a murderous match of wits with the killer, based on the ancient Egyptian Pharaohs' Game of Thirty.
Mixing traditional elements of noir fiction--first person narrative,
wisecracking dialogue, and urban locale--with nearly Victorian elements,
reminiscent of a Sherlock Holmes or Fu Manchu tale--cobra venom, egyptology
and the like--and throwing in a New Age heroine as Jimmy's sidekick, Kotzwinkle
produces a neat little thriller that manages to be both modern and
nostalgic and seems like it would be perfect for the big screen.
(Reviewed:02-Jan-00)
Grade: (B)
