Contest

I think Matthew Reilly's action thrillers are addictive.  Even though my book club friends wouldn't even listen to my recommendation of his recent book, The Great Zoo of China (See my posts of 3/21/15 & 4/10/15.) once they heard the word dragon, they missed a vastly entertaining novel.  Contest (#513) is the book that began it all.  Hard to believe that Reilly had to self-publish the original book.  Now that he's been "discovered" the copy in my library is his slightly rewritten version, with all the action taking place in the New York Public Library.  Since he wanted to make the book more authentic for American readers, he substituted a real New York landmark for the original fictional library building.  My only nitpick is that I wish that while he was at it, he had cleaned up the stray Australian/British English usage that occasionally pop up: bonnet for car hood, coronial instead of Medical Examiner, exclusive and expensive public school for private academy, etc.  Now I'm done, and on to the good stuff.

Imagine a gladiatorial contest in which there are seven combatants.  Only one contestant will survive to leave the labyrinth where the action takes place.  In this case, it's the New York Public Library.  Stephen Swain, a New York based radiologist, suddenly finds himself within the confines of the Library, hugging his seven year old daughter Holly.  He has no idea how they got there, but he soon learns that he must keep himself and Holly alive in order to escape.  When he finds out just who it is he is pitted against in this uneven contest he must struggle to keep his wits about him and against all odds, find a way out.

The plot of this novel is absolutely absurd and entirely engrossing.  If they ever made a film version of this book, the movie goer would never be able to relax, even for a moment!  That's the author's intent: non-stop action, and does he ever succeed!  Need something to totally take you away from your own problems?  Any of Matthew Reilly's books could be just the ticket.  Can't wait to see what he does with a young Tudor Princess Elizabeth invited to Turkey to participate in a contest of chess masters in Tournament!