Book review: Black Chalk

Title: Black Chalk
Author: Christopher J. Yates
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Summary:  Six friends at Oxford University embark on a game.  Initially it's fun, but as the game progresses, the stakes get higher and it's not as fun.  Fourteen years later, the remaining players come back together to decide the winner.

Review:  Admittedly, this review is overdue.  I finished this book a few weeks ago and as I write this review, all I can think about is it reminded me a lot of Donna Tartt's The Secret History.  But not as good as the Secret History.

When I write these reviews, I never know how much to give away.  There are a few twists--the person whose perspective this is told from isn't who you think it is initially.  Also, it lacked chapters, which sort of drives me crazy.  I like chapters.  It helps to provide a break for those of us who may not have all day to sit down and read a book.

The book jumps from the present to 14 years ago, with the present told from the perspective of one person.  I'm not very sympathetic to a character that hasn't had to work for the past 14 years.  The flashbacks are more interesting, but as characters drop out of the game, they disappear from the story.  Which is fine--the point of the story is to focus on the people that are left in the game, but I always like to know what happens to these characters.

I didn't really like any of the players that were left, nor did I think their present day lives really made sense.  But again, maybe I'm just not sympathetic to shut-ins?