Review: The Perfect Game by Stephen Paul
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Summary
In a dark Manhattan alley, a young woman suddenly collapses from a brain hemorrhage. The statistics say it’s rare to have happened to someone so young and healthy, yet all signs point to natural causes. But when Kyle Vine, the man she was supposed to meet that night, learns she wasn’t the only victim, he knows there’s something more going on and soon discovers a mysterious link to the sudden success of a journeyman pitcher for the New York Yankees.
As the lethal brain bleeds continue to strike, Kyle and the woman’s eccentric uncle work together to unravel a mystery unlike any the world has ever seen in order to stop a ruthless killer from striking again.
Stephen Paul’s debut supernatural suspense thriller, The Perfect Game, is a fast-paced gripping ride that will continue to keep readers on the edge of their seats while trying to figure out who’s behind the deadly episodes, how they’re doing it and, perhaps most shocking of all, why.
Review
I am obsessed with this book and don’t think any other explanation will capture what I am feeling. The Perfect Game by Stephen Paul is, well, perfect. It has every element a reader craves in a novel. It is the perfect length with the right amount of mystery, suspense and even an element of science fiction. As the summary alludes to, the events that transpire within the novel are completely shocking and unexpected. When you first start reading, you think the book is veering one way, but then it becomes completely different.
I was hooked from the first page of The Perfect Game, mostly due to the main character Kyle Vine. He is a relatable character, dealing with a divorce, legal problems and his nonexistent love life. We are allowed peaks inside Kyle’s mind, showing us what a guilty conscious he carries for things he could not have changed. It makes the reader more sympathetic, and while you want to have negative thoughts about him because he tries to date a student, you simply only see him in a positive light.
Possibly the most exciting part of the entire book is the unexpected science fiction element around the killer of the novel, which the characters would argue was not science fiction. However it is interpreted, the killer was utterly fascinating. The most unique part about him was the separate, short chapters where we were granted a peak into his mind. These chapters kept the mystery interesting but I was also using them to try to guess who the killer was by the clues his inner monologue gave the reader.
The Perfect Game is undoubtedly one of my favorite books and I am extremely excited to recommend it and to begin to make people aware of Stephen Paul’s amazingly unique story. This novel will appeal to so many readers due to its wide variety of genres within it, and I hope it takes off and reaches its maximum potential as an amazing book.
Reviewed by Rachel Keane
Book Information
Publisher: Telemachus Press
Publication date: 2/21/2014
Format: eBook
