Content levels
Positive tags
Hero archetypes
Protagonist archetypes
Synopsis
A wealthy Madison Avenue antiquities dealer is murdered while playing a game the pharaohs once played - the Game of Thirty. Enter Jimmy McShane, hired to find the killed but instead McShane finds that the killer is playing the Game of Thirty with him, and all of Manhattan is the board on which they make their moves, from the upper reaches of New York society to the lower depths of life around Times Square, where the game takes an unexpected turn, and McShane follows his quarry through a world of high-priced sexual slavery. In this haunting hovel, Kotzwinkle sets his dazzling imagination against the streetwise wit of Jimmy McShane, a private eye for the nineties, a droll philosopher whose insight comes from his having shadowed humanity into its darkest corners. The Game of Thirty is pure entertainment whose inner lining is literature.
The Game of Thirty: content & age rating
Intended for adult readers (18+).
This dark urban fantasy noir contains graphic violence, explicit sexual content including high-priced sexual slavery, and pervasive strong language. The protagonist navigates the darkest corners of humanity in 1990s Manhattan.
What to know going in
This book has strong violence, explicit sexual content, and strong language. Content notes include sexual assault, human trafficking, slavery, and murder (see the full list above).
Who'll love this
Adult readers who enjoy noir detective stories with supernatural elements and gritty urban settings will find this compelling.