In a book club? Please take our annual Book Club Survey

Summary and Reviews of Zero Game by Brad Meltzer

Zero Game by Brad Meltzer

Zero Game

by Brad Meltzer
  • Critics' Consensus (3):
  • First Published:
  • Jan 1, 2004, 480 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Feb 2005, 496 pages
  • Rate this book

About This Book

Book Summary

The Zero Game has everything: risk, reward, mystery, and the thrill of knowing that, just by being invited to play, you've confirmed your status as a true power broker; but the Game is hiding a secret so explosive that it will shake Washington to its core.

Want to play the world's most dangerous game?

With New York Times bestsellers The Millionaires and The First Counsel, Brad Meltzer captivated thriller readers with his breakneck plotting, unforgettable characters, and razor-sharp dialogue. Now the acclaimed author returns to Washington, D.C., taking us behind closed doors and into the clandestine world of...The Zero Game.

Matthew Mercer and Harris Sandler are playing a mysterious game. It's a game almost no one knows about--not their friends, not their coworkers, and certainly not their bosses, who are some of the most powerful senators and congressmen on Capitol Hill.

It's a game that has everything: risk, reward, mystery, and the thrill of knowing that--just by being invited to play--you've confirmed your status as a true power broker in Washington.

But as Matthew and Harris quickly discover, the Zero Game is hiding a secret so explosive that it will shake Washington to its core. And when someone close to them winds up dead, Harris and Matthew realize this game is far more sinister than they ever imagined. As the bull's-eye turns their way, it's clear they're about to become the game's next victims. In a frenetic chase from the secret tunnels under the Capitol to an abandoned gold mine halfway across the country, the two friends realize they're no longer players in the game--they're pawns. On the run, they turn to the only person they can trust: a sixteen-year-old Senate page who can move around the Capitol undetected. As a ruthless killer creeps closer, this idealistic young page not only holds the key to their safety, but is the one person who can redeem them in the process.

Packed with high-octane suspense and heart-pounding action, The Zero Game is Brad Meltzer at his supercharged best.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $50 for 12 months or $18 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

Media Reviews

Library Journal - Jeff Ayers
Meltzer has outdone himself; this is his best book yet. For all popular fiction collections.

Booklist - May Frances Wilkens
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).

Kirkus Reviews
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.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $50 for 12 months or $18 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Read-Alikes

Read-Alikes Full readalike results are for members only

If you liked Zero Game, try these:

  • The Inside Ring jacket

    The Inside Ring

    by Mike Lawson

    Published 2006

    About this book

    More by this author

    A Washington conspiracy thriller in which 'the bad guys are sufficiently evil, the plot properly labyrinthine, the solution to the mystery completely satisfying. This is high-level entertainment from a writer who could soon rise to the top of the thriller heap'.

  • The First Counsel jacket

    The First Counsel

    by Brad Meltzer

    Published 2001

    About this book

    More by this author

    With trademark surgical plotting, razor-sharp dialogue, and lightning pace, Meltzer explores the charged atmosphere of life inside the White House as it's never been seen.


More books by Brad Meltzer
Search read-alikes
How we choose read-alikes
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $50 for 12 months or $18 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

BookBrowse Book Club

  • Book Jacket
    The Bluest Eye
    by Toni Morrison
    The story of a black girl in America whose love for its blond, blue-eyed children can devastate all others. First published 1970; won the 1993 Nobel Prize.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Three Days in June
    by Anne Tyler

    A new Anne Tyler novel destined to be an instant classic: a socially awkward mother of the bride navigates the days before and after her daughter's wedding.

  • Book Jacket

    Harlem Rhapsody
    by Victoria Christopher Murray

    The extraordinary story of the woman who ignited the Harlem Renaissance.

Who Said...

Don't join the book burners. Don't think you are going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever ...

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

D to T N

and be entered to win..