Friday 27 February 2015

PARTY GAMES by E J Greenway



4 out of 5 stars

Political drama

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE


E J Greenway's debut novel is a neat tale of political intrigue and treachery that starts with a dramatic event then goes back in time so that the reader can discover how events build up to this end - such a clever idea.

As her bio will tell you, Greenway works in the political world and clearly knows what she's talking about.  I liked the way the novel shows such things such as the management of PR for the politicians; yes, I know we all know that the leader of the opposition doesn't really revel in taking part in a school cookery class, but it was fun to read about it, too.  

The book is paced well and intelligently written, and I became increasingly aware how difficult it must have been to conjure up a completely fantasy political landscape, though how much is fantasy I suppose we don't really know.  It did make me wonder about the real people behind the public faces.


I do think that this would be enjoyed most by readers who have an interest in the political world; my knowledge is scant and some of the terms went slightly over my head.  There are a lot of characters to process from the beginning, but obviously the world in which the story takes place determines that it will include many characters, and if you read it in long sittings, as I did, rather than dipping in and out of it, this should cause you no problem as they are clearly defined.  If books about political intrigue are your thing, I think you'll love it.  Also now available is the sequel, Power Play :)




2 comments:

  1. Thanks, Terry! So pleased you enjoyed it, I know politics can be a complete turn-off but wanted to make it more about the people than the politics itself if I could. PG was my baby for so long and although I feel I've come a long way since then with the sequel I still have huge affection for it. Particularly interested that you pick out the cookery class scene - you see a lot of that sort of thing at election time of course so wanted to write about it from the politician's point of view! Thanks again for such a lovely review.

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    1. You're welcome! As for the cookery thing, I always think they look so phoney I don't know why they bother to do them, but I suppose they must convince some people...! Yes - the whole thing's a learning process, is it not. Having just published my 9th novel (about the 19th I'd written!), I still see things in numbers 6, 7 & 8 that I could do better now... :o

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