• The Game

  • A Novel of Suspense Featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes
  • By: Laurie R. King
  • Narrated by: Jenny Sterlin
  • Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (1,377 ratings)

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The Game  By  cover art

The Game

By: Laurie R. King
Narrated by: Jenny Sterlin
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Publisher's summary

The seventh Mary Russell novel finds her searching for the missing Kimball O'Hara, the famous "Kim" of the Rudyard Kipling novel.
©2008 Tracie Peterson and Judith Miller (P)2008 Recorded Books,LLC

What listeners say about The Game

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A Grand Conceit, A Deligntful Listen

The Mary Russel series is a grand conceit that extends the Sherlock Holmes character into middle age where he first mentors then partners with and finally marries Ms. Mary Russell. She is thoroughly competent and very emancipated. Each story is told from Russell's point of view. The novelty of the stories is the way she includes historical characters both real and literary. In this seventh of the series Laurie R. King introduces Rudyard Kipling's Kim as an older British spy in 1924 India who has an adolescent son. The story plot is built around a mythical Indian prince who is up to no good. It was a delightful listen.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

weakest link in series to date

I love Sterlin's narration (I think of it as an older Russell writing of her youth) and I really enjoyed most other titles in this series, but I did not enjoy the bulk of this listen --i.e. REPEATED and long descriptions of nocturnal escapes from the same guarded palace (Did I miss humour in this, or...?) Also - the period setting did not seem as authentic as in other installments--Or perhaps my expectations of Russell and Holmes taking on the Empire's "Game" in post-Kipling India were just too high.

If you do not plan to listen to the entire series, this might be one to skip or pick up in print for quicker perusing.

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8 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • MM
  • 03-23-16

I am addicted

Hard to believe this one was better than the last one, but it was. I listen on 1.25 speed, which is perfect. Excellent narration, to say the least, and the characters and story was intriguing and fascinating. How much research goes into a book like this.

On to the next in the series. I can't stop!!!

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Not King's usual fare

I have read several installments in this series (not in order), but this is my least favorite. Perhaps because Holmes and Russell are taken away from their usual haunts of Sussex and London, or perhaps because the secondary characters just weren't engaging. Starlin delivers, as always, but this volume isn't on par with the rest of the series.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

another very enjoyable trip

I love how Ms King can take me to other places and times so perfectly. It is as though she has traveled there and then herself. Add to that the mystery and fun and you have a wonderful story. Jenny Sterlin is superb as always, a real pleasure to listen to. I was sorry when it ended.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • LL
  • 07-01-09

Such A Disappointment

I love this series, but the narrator's voice makes me think less of a clever, witty 20-something young woman and more of a grisled, prissy old lady. She makes Holmes sound mean and boring. I feel badly for Laurie King, who deserves better! Listening to this piece has me making faces and snide retorts at the end of most paragraphs.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Why are the chapters so confusing? Not consistent

I love Holmes and have long since exhausted ACD's canon, so I devour solid Holmesian fiction. This series elegantly incorporates, enhances and builds on the canon while gently tweaking some details. But this series is unique in the fresh inflection brought by the heroine, Mary Russell. I highly recommend this series if you are a Baker Street irregular. I also recommend it for feminists (acknowledging the issues inherent in the historical context) and anyone who enjoys historical fiction with tremendous cultural detail (Palestine/Arabia and India are examples of places this series has gone and I have several books to go!).

So, with all that praise aside, the reason I am writing this review is because the chapter breaks the listener hears from the narrator are unrelated to the chapter breaks as they appear on the screen (in the App). By the end of the book, I heard 30 chapters announced but the list of chapters I could use to navigate ended at 20. So confusing and frustrating. Within the first few chapters, the two numbering systems were already off (not matching). The App's chapter 20 included both longish and shorter chapters all crammed together. I know because the narrator told me! I listened to this book entirely on my phone/in App, but when I checked the chapter list for the book on a laptop (Audible's website), it was yet another, third chapter numbering system, which had 22 total chapters! Good heavens.

I recently finished the sci-fi comedy trilogy of the Bobiverse on Audible (which is excellent as well!). These books had many tiny chapters and each and every one was listed separately for navigation. It can be done! And of course there should be no problem with lengthy chapters... just leave them alone! So, that is my only complaint, really. I returned another book in the series for some audio problems but this is not about sound quality or skipping -- nor is it about the story quality or narration quality. I am frustrated with poor production regarding the variety of ways this audio has been chapter-ed.

That said, I am loving Audible, the Mary Russell series and almost all of the functionality of the App. Thank you.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

King at the top of her "Game" in this one!

This is the best Mary Russell so far. A real page turner. Can't wait to read the next one. Mary has come into her own.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

In the grip of a prince, or a mad man

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed this book, and it builds pace and accelerates, so be prepared to plod through much of the first half of the book. But then, some unexpected twists and turns and some real danger for our duo, it becomes a very exciting mystery. The solution was excellent. Bravo, Laurie King. I went out and bought the audio book of Rudyard Kipling's KIM after this.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

An Epic

Broad and exotic, the story's score is sweeping and is twists and turns engaging. Fresh off the boost on a mission from Mycroft, Holmes and Russell trek across India and a northern principality to defend the fate of a member of the British Indian Survey. Along the way they don various disguises, assume roles, make a few escapes and demonstrate considerable skills, including Russell's pig sticking.

This latter almost defeated me and would be the only nit I would pick with what really turns out to be a wonderful story. This part though took a bit too long to resolve for my taste. Even so, it provides a greater insight into Russell and provides a basis for later events.

Recommended.

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2 people found this helpful