Review by Booklist Review
When Matthew Mercer confides to his best friend, Harris Sandler, that he's thinking of leaving his cushy job as a senior staffer on Capitol Hill, Harris convinces him to stay by inviting him to play the Zero Game, an anonymous wagering game where you bet on the likelihood of some piece of legislation passing. It's a silly game, but the stakes are minimal, so Matthew joins in, enjoying the diversion and finding the anonymity intriguing. The bet in front of them now is a gimme, especially since Matthew can control its outcome, so the pair decides to up the ante and go for broke. Trouble is, there's another bidder out there (Who else could have such an interest?), and both Matthew and Harris sense that this bet just might be their last. They've learned the hard way that there's no one they can trust and have no choice but to find out who's behind the now-murderous game. Coming to their aid is an unlikely savior, a teenage Senate page who can duck in and out of private offices without raising suspicion. Packed with plenty of backroom D.C. ambience and lots of action, the novel also boasts improved plotting and character development since Meltzer's last high-concept best-seller, The Millionaires (2001). Mary FrancesWilkens.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Meltzer credits 143 people in his acknowledgments, a testament to massive research involving everything from the smallest details of our government's inner workings to the scientific complexities of chaos theory and advanced neutrino research. He's far too seasoned a pro (The Tenth Justice; The Millionaires) to ever let readers bog down in minutiae, though, using his impressive background material as rocket fuel for this rip-roaring novel of government intrigue. Best friends Matthew Mercer and Harris Sandler have worked for years as professional Capitol Hill staffers. With boredom and burnout threatening, they've joined a secret group of other like-minded workers to play the Zero Game, which uses congressional voting and government administrative procedure as the basis for placing bets. "We don't change the laws, or pass bad legislation, or stroke our evil goatees and overthrow democracy as we know it. We play at the margins; where it's safe-and where it's fun." The two decide to bet their life savings when a seemingly innocent appropriations item, the sale of an abandoned South Dakota gold mine, becomes part of the game. Because of his senior position as an appropriations committee staffer, Matthew is sure he has a lock on this one. Things go horribly wrong, and soon Harris and Viv Parker, a young Senate page, are on the run, fleeing from hired killer Martin Janos. Their flight takes them to the abandoned gold mine, where they find more mystery and near death 8,000 feet below the surface of the earth. Janos, their nemesis, is relentless, as is the action, and readers will be left breathless. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Having tackled the Supreme Court in The Tenth Justice and the White House in The First Counsel, Meltzer now addresses Congress with his latest thriller. After a few years on Capitol Hill, Matthew Mercer has lost interest in his once beloved job working as a senior assistant to a highly ranked congressman. His best friend, Harris Sandler, also works on the Hill, so they see each other often. One day, Matthew mentions how boring the job has become, and Harris introduces him to the Zero Game, in which no one knows who else is playing at any given time. Simple wagers, like betting on how many times a particular congressman says a certain word or how a particular vote will turn out, are all part of the fun. But Matthew and Harris have no idea that sinister individuals are manipulating the game, and when they question the outcome of a particular wager, they must run for their lives. Behind-the-scenes glimpses of Capitol Hill doings are intermingled with tense scenes of jaw-dropping suspense. Meltzer has outdone himself; this is his best book yet. For all popular fiction collections. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 9/15/03.]-Jeff Ayers, Seattle P.L. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The fifth of Meltzer's paranoid fantasies about lowlifes in high places (The Millionaires, 2002, etc.) presses his irresistible formula to the breaking point. As usual, the exposition is faultless. Matthew Mercer and Harris Sandler are the Washington insiders who make the sausage. Unelected aides to powerful congressmen on the Appropriations Committee, they wheel and deal with their thirtysomething peers to reconcile House and Senate spending bills that can be millions of dollars apart. Their cheek, their staggering freedom, and their complete lack of public accountability all confirm Matthew's contention that on Capitol Hill, a neighborhood "with too many student government presidents in one place . . . the real shadow government is staff." In order to add even more spice to their high-wire jobs, Matthew and Harris have joined an unknown group of players to wager on such inconsequential matters as whether, for instance, opponents of an unstoppable bill involving the regulation of major-league baseball will be able to muster as many as 110 votes against it. One day the bet that's proposed concerns a trivial government-land sale that Matthew has the power to control. Realizing that they've been handed an opportunity to break the bank, the staffers bet all their savings on the outcome and then watch a trap door spring open beneath them. Sadly, their mounting danger and its action-packed consequences--their pursuit by a briskly murderous thug, Barry's unlikely alliance with a 17-year-old Senate page, dark revelations from deep beneath the South Dakota hills about something called the Midas Project--come at a high price: Nothing that follows the monster shock on page 64 is remotely credible, not even in a thriller about hyperadolescent congressional staffers at play. It all ends up as a series of efficiently managed chase sequences that'll leave you breathless for no reason that you'll remember the next day. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
