Book Review — The Game

 

Title: The Game
Author: Matt Shaw
Genre: Extreme horror
Pages: Oversize paperback, 134
ISBN: 978154826729
Opening Lines: "The hammer connected with Colin MacGregor's head with a satisfying crunch that splintered his skull into fragments beneath the skin."

Rating

"A not so secret show aired via a private satelite on the dark web, where contestants are forced to fight one another and navigate their way through a maze of unspeakable horrors.

"In this episode it's Victoria's turn. A woman plucked from her normal life and dropped directly into hell, unaware she is being watched all across the world.

"The producers don't know if she will survive and they don't care. All they care about are the viewing figures. More gore, more ratings.

"The game was start . . ."

~ Jacket copy

Waking up in a room with a stranger and a mysterious note on the only door out is not exactly how Victoria planned to spend her day. After people break into her house, kill the family dog, and kidnap her Victoria isn't sure what to expect. The fight through a rudimentary, half-assed version of Jigsaw's puzzles did not top her list. Yet, here she is . . . But will she survive the harrowing experience?

As the back says, The Game is the special needs love child of Saw, Running Man, and 21. Heralded as the author of extreme horror, I decided to give Matt Shaw a try. I mean, hey, my husband bought the book awhile back, it was short, and I needed something quick between books.  The premise sounded entertaining, and people online said it would have my stomach roiling.  I assumed I could handle it.

This book not only fails to live up to the hype of extreme horror, but it also fails to live up to Matt Shaw's hype. The format of the book is interesting—breaking sections up between Victoria, ads, and the host. However, the execution is sadly lacking. First, Shaw never met a dash he didn't love (or a comma splice he could walk away from). Second, for the love of everything holy, please vary your sentence length! Short sentences help the pacing. They can control the speed a which you read. The longer sentences allows you to add sensory detail, imagery, and the stuff to cause our gore to rise. Falling back on extremely long sentences ends up in verbal vomit, especially when the author fails to include figurative language. In addition, if it's extreme horror, why shy away from the extreme aspect? For example, when Victoria is in the third room, Shaw pulls away and focuses on the host right as it started tool get uncomfortable. We're only drawn back right as Victoria completes the task. Make the audience live in the discomfort!

If this book is indicative of Shaw's work, I'll pass.  This book was a snooze-fest and a huge letdown. If you're looking for extreme horror, this is not the book for you. The Summer I Died was a brutal, visceral read that will fulfill the extreme horror need.