ETs with a mordant sense of drama turn the New York Public Library into "the labyrinth" for an interstellar survival game show in this ungainly thriller from Australian Reilly (Ice Station). Seven players, each from a different world, compete for their lives, combating not only each other but also a monster called the Karanodon. The earthly representative is Dr. Steven Swain, chosen for his courage in successfully fighting off a gang of thugs who invade his operating room. Unfortunately, Swain happens to be holding Holly, his plucky little daughter, at the moment he's transported into the labyrinth, so she goes with him. The most devilish trick the "sponsors" provide is an unremovable digital bracelet, whose face shows how many opponents remain, and will commence a deadly 15-minute countdown should its wearer manage to escape the library's electrified confines. Derivative of Michael Crichton's techno-thrillers as well as Stephen King/Richard Bachman's The Running Man, the book offers constant, nail-biting action, but not a lot of reverence for one of New York City's greatest public institutions.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Australian thriller writer Reilly--Area 7 (2001)--self-published this debut novel in 1996. It now appears, with a retooled story and some new characters, in its first U.S. edition. The premise is wild: an intergalactic contest, the Presidian, is held once every thousand (Earth) years. This time it's taking place on Earth, and seven contestants from across the universe--including Dr. Stephen Swain, our human hero--have been teleported into New York Public Library, where they will hunt one another until only one remains alive. The narrative is rough, bogged down by long passages of backstory designed to transmit great wads of information, but the pace eventually picks up nicely, and Reilly generates a great deal of excitement. It's all riddled with enormous logical flaws, of course, but somehow it works anyway: the novel's sheer audacity pulls us in and keeps us flipping pages. An interesting look at an established novelist's humble but energetic beginnings. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
