Indeed, from the start, Straitley's narration alternates with the voice of someone who has serious grudges against the school, grudges that go back to almost fifteen years before, and this person, who thinks it is pay-back time, has managed to join the staff of the school and will stop at nothing to bring St Oswald down...

Gentlemen & Players, is a very clever and well-plotted novel, packed with suspense and great twists. The two main characters are really fascinating, one as the revengeful villain with an intricate personality, and the other an old-fashioned teacher who refuses to uses computers, a man at the same time stubborn and facetious, severe and compassionate, and a good judge of human nature, but not impervious to error...

Gentlemen & Players reminded me a little of The Flanders Panel, by Arturo Perez-Reverte, for the tightly-plotted story but also for its allusions to the game of chess, and because both authors have managed the difficult task to write a thriller with a sense of humor. Joanne Harris, whose other novels I have yet to read, writes very convincingly and has done a very good job misleading the reader...

Rating:

© Discussing Books, 07/05/2007