A Book Review - The Dead Game by A. Bates (Point Horror)

I'm trying to work out why I don't read this book more often - I always think of it as one that I don't like much - and I can only conclude that I'm put off by the dark, depressing cover, because it's really quite a good book. In a departure from the usual sharp delineation between victims and perps that you usually find in these books, The Dead Game is set around a trio of friends who decide that they want revenge against a bunch of schoolmates who they feel cheated them out of something that was rightfully theirs - good grades, class rank, athletic winnings, etc. They devise a game where they make 'hits' on the cheaters - the hit taking the form of a public embarrassment, preferably one that will expose them as the cheaters and liars that they are. But the hits go wrong, with things having more serious consequences than expected - one ends up in hospital, and another dies - and when they call an end to the game, someone continues playing until all the targets have been taken out.

I liked this book for a number of reasons: the inventiveness of the plot, the passion of the characters, and the lessons that they come to learn. The characters are vibrant and relatable with strong voices, and right from the beginning I was drawn in by them. I felt their pain and their anger at the unfairness, and how I hated those cheating rats who'd robbed them. Although I've never been a vengeful person myself, I could understand their feelings, and I wanted their targets to pay. As the book went on, the characters' righteous anger was overtaken by fear, confusion and eventual regret and remorse, and those were palpable too.

By the end of the book, our wannabe-vigilantes have had their trial by fire, and learned that there are more important things in life to worry about than class rank and athletic prowess, and that you can't take revenge on cheaters and liars and other rotten people without becoming a bit of a rotten person yourself. Lessons that we could all do with a recap on sometimes, I think.

Verdict: An intriguing plot, vibrant characters and morals to be learned make this a gripping read.