Kyd's Game. A book review.

Kyd's Game guarantees a crazy spy adventure with heaps of excitement from start to finish.

In Kyd's Game, we follow Neil Kyd, a man who left his job at the Agency to spend his time caring for his terminal daughter. While doing a seemingly bad job on his mum's farm, he is approached by an old colleague who, in exchange for a new expensive treatment for his daughter, wants Kyd to go to Russia to retrieve evidence. To save his daughter's life, Kyd agrees to this simple task; however, from the moment he enters Russia, the plan goes awry, and Kyd becomes wanted for murder. What follows is a cat-and-mouse chase that ends rather unexpectedly – how I wish I could tell you without giving away spoilers!

Book Cover of Kyd's Game

This book review was first published on Reedsy Discovery.

Kyd's Game is non-stop excitement, literally, until the final page. Marc Rosenberg's use of descriptive narrative ensures you can see the events unfolding before your eyes. With tension building nicely, I wanted to keep reading to discover what would happen next. At one point, I even wrote: "Holding my breath with him!"

The commanding officer stood above Kyd, his light glancing off trees and ice, then lingering on Kyd’s face. (Excerpt from Kyd's Game)

The natural-sounding dialogue added depth to the novel, as character traits, like courage and wit, shone through, making every character unique. Kyd's sarcasm, for example, during serious scenes added a layer of fun that might even get a chuckle out of you.

The narrator fills in all the gaps so the motivations behind a character's action make complete sense. We get to know the American and Russian characters in such a way that Kyd's Game is not your standard "Russians are bad" novel; instead, both sides have their reasons for acting the way they do, which completes the story (I find).

It wouldn’t be the first time he was fooled by an alcoholic dream, and he couldn’t afford to lose his job over a drunken hallucination. (Excerpt from Kyd's Game)

The plot isn't obvious, which was fantastic, as it gives you those AHA moments when you get a new piece of the puzzle or see an event unfold from a different viewpoint.

Marc Rosenberg did a great job with Kyd's Game. His spy novel assures a thrill from start to finish with its interesting storyline, well-thought-out characters, and plot twists. If you enjoy reading spy and action/detective novels, I'm sure you'll enjoy reading Kyd's Game.

You can find Kyd's Game here.

Loved it!