The Omega Game

VOYA

Twenty people with nothing in common awaken in a luxurious hotel on a tropical island. None of them has any memory of why they are there or how they got there. Drifting together for a meeting, each with a theory about what has happened, they discover lists of rules with their signatures at the bottom. They are participants in a mysterious game in which they can change the rules but must then follow those rules or forfeit. One player decides not to play and ends up viciously murdered. Suddenly, the stakes seem high indeed, and their "keepers" seem all too real. The body count rises, and fingers begin pointing. Is one of their number a "keeper" enforcing the rules or merely a murderer? The rules change as fast as their perception of the game. Steven Krane is a pseudonym of S. A. Swiniarski, a writer of vampire thrillers (The Flesh, the Blood, and the Fire [DAW, 1998]), who also writes science fiction thrillers under the name S. Andrew Swann (Fearful Symmetries [DAW, 1999]). Fans of those books might find this one diverting but a bit flat. Plot twists abound in this Survivor meets The Most Dangerous Game thriller. The descriptions can be workmanlike, and a perceptive reader will catch the author manipulating the mostly stock characters—a recovering alcoholic with something to prove; a delinquent with a smart mouth; a crazy lady who just might know what is going on. Teens who wish to relegate "perceptive reading" to the English classroom, however, will enjoy this book. The page-turning finish makes it worth purchase for libraries with a large population of leisure-reading thriller seekers, adult or teen. VOYA CODES: 3Q 4P S A/YA (Readable without serious defects; Broad general YA appeal;Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12; Adult and Young Adult). 2000, DAW, 387p, pb. Ages 16 to Adult. Reviewer: Timothy Capehart VOYA, February 2001 (Vol. 23, No.6)

Internet Book Watch

Imagine waking up in a strange but luxurious room on a tropical island with a beautiful ocean view, but not knowing how or why you are there. Twenty people varying in age, social class, race, and gender, share no memory of how they arrived on the island, where they are, or when they will leave. No one seems to know anyone else. Each one has a contract for them that is signed stating they agree to play the "game" or forfeit. After a heated debate, one of the group members walks away insisting he is not a player and will find an escape from this trap. The next time the other participants see this person he is dead with the nineteen others all having a solid alibi. Everyone agrees that those individuals who mysteriously transported each of them here killed the dissident. As one after another of them die, the mood of the survivors turn from fear to ugliness as mob rule takes control of them. The Omega Game is an exciting action adventure drama that takes the Douglas movie, The Game and places it inside the plot of Lord of the Flies. Readers will finish this novel in one sitting because they need to know what is the game, who is behind it, and why is it happening. Though no Red Badge of Courage, this novel is a fun reading experience that will send fans of Bolan seeking out other works by author Steven Krane.
—Internet Book Watch