Excellent plot redeems somewhat unlikable characters in ...

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	• Gentlemen and Players : A Novel Joanne Harris, 2006 - 432 pages average customer review:based on 56 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Stunning psychological thriller!

Think "The Talented Mr. Ripley" or "American Psycho"...but very well written.

Or "The First Deadly Sin" with its alternating narratives from the point of view of the hunter and the hunted.

Brilliant once it gets rolling

Once you are fully immersed in the story of Roy Straitley and his mysterious adversary, this is a hard book indeed to put down. It may be yet another entry in the age-old British class struggle motif, but it is an unusually good one. As the antagonist's rather self-important ramblings about revenge evolve into sometimes-horrifying action and the final goal looks more plausible, it becomes just about impossible to resist one more chapter to see if somebody makes a mistake or stumbles on to the right secret. The frequent emergence of newly revealed tidbits from various characters' pasts adds quite a bit to the appeal as well.

The only problem I had with the book is that it drags a bit at first. The first hundred pages are a bit of a slog to get through, and the two characters' voices are not as distinct from one another as they are clearly supposed to be (and are later on in the novel). This is well worth making one's way through, though. I also found the story's biggest plot twist easier to spot than Harris probably intended it to be, but your mileage may vary on that one. Either way, it's an enjoyable read overall.

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Excellent plot redeems somewhat unlikable characters in ...

(***** = breathtaking, **** = excellent, *** = good, ** = flawed, * = bad)

... a murder mystery set at an exclusive British boys' school. Longer review available at ImpatientReader-dot-com.

Masterfully Written Mystery

Set in all-boys school, St. Oswald's, Gentlemen & Players is narrated by the school's oldest and most beloved Classics professor, Roy Straightly, by the former caretaker's child, and by a mysterious and nefarious troublemaker out to destroy St. Oswald's. This malevolent narrator's identity is kept secret until the staggering ending.

Roy Straightly loves the school and his students and hates to see tradition supplanted by more modern means of education such as the dreaded computer. A foreboding feeling permeates the air of St. Oswald's as Mr. Straightly begins his 99th term at the school. To start with, Mr. Straightly has lost his office to the ever-invading German department; there are a slew of new teachers that don't quite sit well with Mr. Straightly; and an odd series of mishaps and scandals begin to rip apart St. Oswald's at the seams. Something sinister is happening at St. Oswald's and Mr. Straightly must try to figure it out before his beloved institution is decimated by whatever evil forces are working against it.

Gentlemen & Players is a suspenseful mystery that will leave you shocked with it's stunning resolution. Joanne Harris' writing is deft and masterful. As a narrator, Mr. Straightly is intensely observant and immensely entertaining. This novel is steeped in academia and will be a sure hit amongst those who count Donna Tartt's The Secret History as a favorite novel.

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