Conrad Williams Game

Game

Conrad Williams

Earthling, Feb 2004, $14.00

ISBN: 0974420328

In London, Eachus abducts Liam, and informs the lad's sister Rache, and his girlfriend Fi, that they are to do his bidding to the exact letter, or he will slowly drain the blood from his hostage. He orders them to murder three people who he holds culpable for his doing time in prison.

At the same time that Fi and Rache follow orders starting with butchering a pig, Ness seeks to save her former lover Oban, from a brutal tragedy because she is afflicted with the curse of being an Arrester, who foresees something bad happening to him. While the three females travel their two paths, Eachus keeps seeing a vision of a kid who he fears to the core of his darkened soul, as he believes if he meets this boy he meets his doom. The women will soon interconnect, as Oban is a chosen one of Eachus, even as the blood drips out of Liam one pint at a time.

GAME is a gripping dark horror (is that an oxymoron?) that hooks the audience into reading this novella in one sitting, as fans will wonder who will be left standing in Conrad William's 24 hours of terrorist extortion. The strong storyline contains two prime subplots that interweave in an exhilarating climax, plus a smaller strand involving Eachus and the kid. The key, is that Eachus comes across so amoral, that the audience can vividly picture him draining blood from Liam. Though the use of a late circumstantial quirk, enables one last climatic twist to occur, readers of extremely sinister psychological and physical horror tales, will want to join the ladies on their "joyride" through London.