*I received a free copy of this book, with thanks to the author and Angry Robot/Datura Books. The decision to review and my opinions are my own.*
Blurb: In this crime novel, a previous puzzle prodigy returns to the competing world. A thoughtful, low-stakes mystery, perfect for fans of The Queen’s Gambit.
Once a child prodigy of puzzles and logic games, Gillian Charles now barely ekes out a living in Los Angeles. With her sick mother facing eviction from her care facility, Gillian can’t say no when her childhood nemesis, Tommy, shows up at her apartment with a $50k offer. All she has to do is return to the place where it all started, where she swore she’d never set foot again: Miscellany.
Miscellany is a place of wonder and enchantment—a Disney World for puzzle lovers, and one that quickly owns the lives of those who stay too long. Tommy is running the park’s latest big game, and he’s convinced someone is leaking the answers. With investment and expansion in the cards, Miscellany can’t afford a scandal. As a former puzzler who kept her distance from Miscellany for twenty years, Gillian should find it easy to investigate while avoiding Miscellany’s charms and entanglements.But when Gillian arrives, she discovers things aren’t so straightforward..
Her turncoat ex-friend Martin Ellsberg holds the security reins, Tommy’s estranged wife Evelina spins PR webs around the park’s machinations, and the manipulative park founder Sebastian offers her the financial security and intellectual future she always wanted. With her mother’s circumstances growing more dire, and under pressure to sweep the accusations under the rug, Gillian finds childhood games all the more treacherous for adults.
Miscellany is offering Gillian the life she always wanted. But at what price?
The Contest starts with child prodigy Gillian Charles navigating the obstacles of Miscellany’s Wonkaesque prize puzzle course, which promises a huge reward for the winners and the knowledge that all of their hard work, dedication and innate skill is not enough for those that come in behind first place. It’s a tough lesson for a child to learn under the eyes of family, idol and the general public.
The story really starts when we meet adult Gillian, struggling to keep the fraying ends of her life together and powered only by bitterness and a stubborn determination not to let the world see her fail (again). Then one of her fellow prodigies turns up with a job offer that would allow her to not only taste the life she could have had if her Miscellany dreams had come true but the chance to protect future Charlie Buckets and Gillian Charleses who might see their potential unfairly shattered against Miscellany’s maze walls. And the only drawback is she has to go back to what she desperately wanted and lost, and face the people who knew her back then as the woman she is now.
Far from a childhood chocolate factory romp, this book presents a mature, adult look at the effect of such competitions and challenges on children – for good and for bad – in the form of a slow-paced and personal-growth centred thriller. Gillian does investigate the mysteries at the heart of Miscellany, but the focus of the story is more about her inner investigation, as she grapples with her feelings about the competition and how it shaped her life to the current point.
As a fellow puzzle-lover, it was fascinating to see all the different challenges contestants faced and how they fit into the later mystery narrative as Gillian attempts to solve the clues she uncovers. And there are plenty of puzzles everywhere – every conversation is cryptic, guarded and potentially leading her (or pushing her) where others want her to go. In fact, I started to feel like every character was suspect and that they were all playing some complicated game of 3D multi-person chess, with Gillian as everyone’s pawn. Even her friendships are dysfunctional and give off the opposite of ‘found family’ vibes!
Mostly, though, this is a suspenseful and cerebral mystery with a really clever central premise – how would Charlie Bucket have gone back to normal life had he lost the Chocolate Factory at that final hurdle? – and the exploration through the characters of the adult childhood competitors is realistically drawn and raises interesting ethical dilemmas, all leading to the ultimate moral quandary in the finale.
Lovers of long-term strategic puzzle-solving and pursuits such as chess will enjoy the atmosphere of this unique mystery, and it serves as a warning for anyone who ever dreamed of living the Disney- or Willy Wonka Golden Ticket winner life!
Gillian had played violin and piano when she was young, dual threat from age eight to twelve. She’d imagined touring the world and absorbing applause. Even when she’d switched to solving puzzles, she’d envisioned a future without boundaries, opening every oyster life had to offer.
If only she could get out from under. If only anyone would let her.– Jeff Macfee, The Contest
Purchase Link: The Contest on Amazon
About the author
Jeff Macfee is the VP of IT for Gearbox Software and a graduate of Viable Paradise Writer’s Workshop. His short fiction has appeared in Needle: A Magazine of Noir and Shotgun Honey. He lives in North Texas with his wife and the chaos of three children.
Website: https://jeffmacfee.com/
X/Twitter: https://x.com/jmacfee
