"This action thriller never slows down"
Before he died, brilliant online game maker Archibald
Grimaldi developed the most popular role playing game yet
when he created PSW (Play, Survive, Win). The participant
would answer questions about themselves and if approved
would be assigned as a Target, Protector, or Assassin. The
Target would run around the cyber city seeking clues and
safeguarded by the Protector while the Assassin tries to
kill the Target before the opponent solved the puzzle.
Grimaldi placed in motion a real world version of his hit
Internet game. Former counterterrorist marine Major Matthew Stryker
applied to PSW years ago, but never played. He was
assigned to protect Jamie Tate with twenty thousand
dollars deposited in his bank account. He ignored the
assignment and the money until he learns that someone he
assumes an Assassin murdered the Target Jamie in real life
He is sent anther 20K and told the Target for him keep
safe is Melanie "Mel" Prescott, who has played
successfully on line PSW. She rejects the role of real
life Target as a hoax until Matthew risks his life to keep
her safe leaving behind a corpse as they flee for their
lives from a mentally unbalanced Assassin. This action thriller never slows down once Matthew
realizes that the PSW game is played for real. In some
ways, the story line will remind the audience of the movie
The Tenth Victim, but has it owns freshness. Matthew is a
delightful skeptical Protector while cryptographic
aficionado Mel refuses to become a victim. Julie Kenner
writes a tense suspense novel that will grip the audience
from start to exhilarating final countdown. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted May 25, 2005
SummaryAs if a recent break-up, scrounging for rent money, and
lusting after designer shoes weren't enough to make graduate
student Melanie Prescott's life challenging, suddenly she's
practically living The DaVinci Code. A mysterious stranger
is sending obscure codes and clues her way and she soon
discovers she has to solve them in order to stay alive. With
stakes like that, her dissertation on "the derivation and
primary characteristics of codes and ciphers used by
prevailing nations during wartime" is looking a little less
important than it was yesterday. Right now she's just
worrying about living to see tomorrow. The only bright spot
in the whole freakish nightmare is Matthew Stryker, the
six-foot tall dark and handsome stranger who's determined to
protect her. Well, that and the millions of dollars that
will be her reward if she survives this deadly game. And
she'd better survive. Because that's a heck of a lot of
money to be able to spend on shoes and handbags and
sunglasses and dresses, and, well, it's hard to be
fashionable when you're dead.
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