Country: USA
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 449 kb (eOriginal, will be release in paperback in December)
Buy it here
Francis Scott Fitzgerald is one of those writers that everybody likes. The beautiful and luxuriant way he paints subtle emotions and small windows of beauty is unequaled (to me, at least). Mystery is a genre that everybody likes also. It's fun and it feel rewarding to try and investigate the case alongside the characters and sometimes catch the culprit before they do. Those two pillars of fiction were unlikely to even meet, but they do, under the pen of Anne R. Allen, who was a pretty unlikely suspect herself. The star blogger and chick lit writer gave a shot to this exotic combo and holy cow, is it ever good. THE GATSBY GAME is not just a good mystery. It's a very good novel, period and it has something for every reader. It doesn't matter if you read only hardboiled fiction or Sophie Kinsella, you will love THE GATSBY GAME.
The novel starts in a Hollywood scandal and a courtroom imbroglio caused by the mysterious death of Alistair Milbourne, friend of actress Delia Kent. Some call it a suicide, some call it a murder. In fact, it's subject of controversy, what Alistair Milbourne was to Delia Kent. Nicky Conway, the nanny of Delia's daughter Pandora is the narrator of the story and is involved with Alistair herself. In the midst of the scandal, Nicky is going back to reexamine her tormented relationship to Alistair to train and understand what could have happened to him. The reader is then introduced to Alistair, to who he really was. A bohemian charmer with a recurring obsession with Jay Gatsby. While Alistair is sometimes a vision of the perfect love, he also often appears lost and melancholic, longing for something, a tragic story he can never get.
I have so many things to say about this novel, I'm not sure where to start. Let's talk about the story structure. The chaotic beginning, where Alistair's death is auctioned to what would make the best gossip is actually a nice setup Allen uses to illustrate the pull Alistair has on the lives of the other characters. It starts in complete chaos, exposing the dark side of the characters, not unlike a Jim Thompson novel. Then the focus shifts on Nicky's memories of Alistair and THE GATSBY GAME turns into this very classy mystery, set in an ivy league environment. That structure has for effect to illustrate with great strength the fall of the relationship in between Nicky and Alistair and therefore give the reader a sense of impending doom from the start. It's a very melancholic read, not unlike THE GREAT GATSBY (I'm not comparing the novels here, only their tone).
But the showstopper of THE GATSBY GAME is Anne R. Allen's set of characters, who are all jumping off the page. What made it so good here and what made it fun to read for any type of reader, despite its chick lit roots, is how Allen portrays men. Her male protagonists don't follow the romance clichés, in the sense that they aren't female fantasies, but real genuine seducing men. Alistair Milbourne is not your bare-chested, long-haired dreamy vision of love, he's a seductor. He's pleasant in social situations and he makes the girls feel pretty and yet, there's something wrong with him. A sick, desperate need to please and to be loved. He has tremendous pull over the lives of others and it makes you genuinely care about his relationship to Nicky, but his obsessive need for attention is turning a lot of people against him. Scorned lovers, jealous boyfriends, exasperated relatives, etc.
Anne R. Allen's THE GATSBY GAME is a romance wearing a mystery suit, but it's a great, genuine and entertaining novel about relationships. Nicky Conway (anybody spotting the subtle reference in her name?) is a great lead who's endearing in her innocence and then in her gradual disillusion with Alistair's ways. THE GATSBY GAME is a superb character study, from the perception of someone who's deeply in love. Alistair Milbourne is a character that will stay with reader, the way Jay Gatsby did, as an ill-fated dreamer in a ruthless world. THE GATSBY GAME is a subtle, graceful novel, a larger-than-life love story and a smart mystery. Think of it as a soap opera, with the crazy intrigue and the insight on the lives of rich people, but with characters you care about. Amazing read.