The Zero Game by Brad Meltzer

I came by The Zero Game several years ago at a writing conference I attended in Ft. Lauderdale.  Brad Meltzer spoke.  He was quite the funny and entertaining speaker as I recall.  I took that as a good sign and a good excuse to buy an autographed copy of his book.  Well, I'm learning.

The Zero Game is fair in my mind.  It's full of mystery and intrigue set in Washington, DC amid the political world.  Harris and Viv are very complex yet likeable characters.  Yet I constantly found myself rereading in order to follow what was happening.  It's full of action and I had trouble keeping track of who threw the punches and where they landed.  Maybe that's just me wanting a story that was more subdued.  The tension stayed at a fever pitch through the entire 400 plus pages.  Stories with that much pressure wear me out.  I try not to let my own personal preferences skew my reviews but it's not always possible.  Brad Meltzer is a highly successful author, but his writing just doesn't appeal to me.

So even though this is an autographed copy, I'm going to pass it along.  I rate it a 2 out of 5 so there's no reason for me not to find it another good home.