Rating: 
Summary: First-Rate Detective Story
Review: Mark Coggins's "Immortal Game" is a fast-paced, easy-to-read detective novel. The protagonist is August Riordan, a sarcastic private detective who moonlights as a string base player for local jazz ensembles. Riordan is commissioned by a software entrepeneur, Edwin Bishop, to track down and retrieve a virtual reality chess program which Bishop believes was stolen by his former mistress. Riordan bumbles the case, is fired and proceeds to stumble upon clue after clue in true Columbo-like fashion. There is a lot in this novel to hold the reader's interest. There are jokes, puns and allusions to classic detective fiction. There are intriguing portrayals of San Francisco culture and equally-intriguing, strategically-placed photographs of San Francisco architecture, neighborhoods, and landmarks throughout the novel. The excerpts on the back cover of the book bill it as a chess mystery. If you are looking for a good chess novel, don't give up on this book. The chess symbolism and chess theme wasn't obvious to me for the first two-thirds of the book. At some point in the final third, I realized that I needed to look up the Anderssen-Kieseritzky match, the 'Immortal Game' of the title. The plot and final resolution of the mystery does somewhat mirror the moves in this famous game. This made this novel all the more engaging. You can find this game, as well as a move-by-move analysis, in Martin Beheim's "Chess with the Masters". If you enjoyed this novel, you might enjoy another work of chess fiction concerning the Andersson-Kieseritzky game, Poul Anderson's short story, "The Immortal Game." This book contains one or two fairly explicit descriptions of a sado-masochistic relationship. Some readers may find these passages distasteful. Otherwise, this is an enjoyable, carefully-crafted mystery.
Rating: 
Summary: Picked it up and couldn't put it down...
Review: The Immortal Game is a great detective/mystery novel in the vein of Chandler and Hammett. I really enjoyed the characters and all their "quirks" and am looking forward to the continuing escapades of August Riordan. I'm a reader of ALL mystery novels, from P.D. James (who I imagine is NOT one of Mr. Coggins favorite authors!) to Dashiell Hammet and this one is a definite winner. I would highly recommend this book to my best friends!
Rating:
Summary: Picked it up and couldn't put it down...
Review: The Immortal Game is a great detective/mystery novel in the vein of Chandler and Hammett. I really enjoyed the characters and all their "quirks" and am looking forward to the continuing escapades of August Riordan. I'm a reader of ALL mystery novels, from P.D. James (who I imagine is NOT one of Mr. Coggins favorite authors!) to Dashiell Hammet and this one is a definite winner. I would highly recommend this book to my best friends!
Rating:
Summary: A non-stop thrill ride with plenty of laughs!
Review: This book has a great mystery, plenty of colorful characters, and witty dialog that would make Raymond Chandler jealous. The plot gets very interesting *very* fast, and I found myself really rooting for Riordan to get his man. (A few scenes were downright disturbing, but then again, so were some of the characters.) A great read for anyone who likes a classic detective story!
Rating:
Summary: A non-stop thrill ride with plenty of laughs!
Review: This book has a great mystery, plenty of colorful characters, and witty dialog that would make Raymond Chandler jealous. The plot gets very interesting *very* fast, and I found myself really rooting for Riordan to get his man. (A few scenes were downright disturbing, but then again, so were some of the characters.) A great read for anyone who likes a classic detective story!
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent mystery!
Review: This book, while reminiscent of Chandler and other great mysteries, is packed with wit and intelligence, not to mention light descriptions of S&M and one very sexy character. The photographs are beautifully matched to Coggins' pen and the story is anything but boring with great twists and a push to hurry to the finish. Highly recommended and looking forward to the next one!
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