Tuesday, February 8, 2011

The Defector

By Mark Chisnell
Free at www.smashwords.com

The Prisoner’s Dilemma constructs a theoretical situation in which two prisoners accused of colluding in a crime must decide independently whether to cooperate with the authorities or stonewall. Both prisoners’ fates depend on the combination of the decisions they make.

Mark Chisnell cleverly uses this non-zero-sum “games theory” problem to construct an escalating series of events in which fired currency trader Martin, a brilliant, macho young man who doesn’t always use the best judgment, is forced to play for higher and higher stakes, ultimately his life and that of others.

This is a muscular, plot-driven book with elements of extreme brutality. The characters, including the diabolical villain Janac, are fine but not complex. It doesn’t matter because the action is so good and comes so fast that the reader never loses interest.

This thriller apparently was published in 2009 in the U.K. Why it’s available now for free, we don’t know. We don’t recommend books here based on price – they’re all cheap – but as a freebie, it doesn’t get a lot better than The Defector.

Click here for link

1 comment:

  1. Many thanks for the great review - can I just sneak in a quick comment to point out that there is a sequel for anyone that enjoys The Defector. It's also available at Smashwords, although this one you will have to pay for...!

    http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/4567

    And more on my writing at:

    http://www.markchisnell.com/

    Thanks again, love the new blog!

    ReplyDelete