The Immortal Game

If you love Raymond Chandler's novels, you'll love this book. It is stylishly written, with a good plot and fun characters. It is particularly enjoyable to see how the San Francisco Bay Area is woven into the fabric of the story.I should add that for me personally the chess theme was a guaranteed hook; I used to play chess professionally and I wrote the Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess. But while the chess aspect of the story is fun, this is really a mystery thriller written as an homage to Raymond Chandler. Read this book because you love a well-written hard-boiled mystery, not because you love chess. (Although loving chess will add to your pleasure!)A bonus to this book is that there are many inside winks to people who are knowledgeable about Raymond Chandler or the San Francisco Bay Area. Also, each chapter is framed by a photo of some place in the Bay Area, and some of these photos are quite nice.

I live in Texas and did not have access to this book, but was lucky enough to get it from a friend in California. I'm very glad I got it because this is one of the most entertaining mysteries I've ever read. The lead character, August Riordan, is possibly the most enjoyable character that I've had the good fortune to 'meet'. I finished this book way too quickly and hope that the author, Mark Coggins, writes fast. I look forward to more August Riordan mysteries and hope you get a copy of this book and read it. You will not be disappointed (my personal guarantee). The Immortal Game is a book that deserves a WIDE audience and I hope this review helps just a little.

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!

August Riordan's smart mouth and take-no-prisoners attitude make this page-turner really fun to read. Coggins deft, tight prose and dialog keep things moving and complement the fast-paced action and plot twists. The '90s update of the hard-boiled private eye makes for many memorable encounters. For me, the backdrops of Silicon Valley high tech and San Francisco subculture offer many familiar and not-so-familiar references, all nonetheless authentic and vivid. Each chapter starts with a provocative photograph (the author is an accomplished photographer as well as writer) tied directly to some aspect of the story in that chapter. In addition to being a great read, the book's high production values, particularly in book design, make it a rare find.

Been a while since I had the fun of reading a Raymond Chandler style detective novel, and seeing this updated with a remarkably realistic high-tech angle made it even better for me. I'm looking forward to the next August Riordan story.