The grandest game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Technically, The Grandest Game is the debut novel in a new series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. However, it should really be read as the fifth instalment in Barnes’ bestselling The Inheritance Games series. The events of the book take place shortly after the conclusion of the fourth novel, The Brothers Hawthorne, and at best The Grandest Game is a spinoff story rather than the start of something completely new.

In The Grandest Game a whole new cast of characters joins the series regulars. Billionaire Avery Grambs and the four Hawthorne brothers are running the second annual ‘Grandest Game’, a competition where Avery will give away part of her circuitously inherited fortune to the winner. Included on the participant list are Grayson Hawthorne’s long lost twin sisters, a man who knows Jameson Hawthorne’s darkest secret and a troubled girl whose tragic past is intrinsically linked with the Hawthorne family. As the game unfolds, alliances are made and broken, hidden agendas surface and someone is most definitely not playing by the rules.

While The Grandest Game offers plenty of twists and a satisfying dose of tension, it does not quite reach the heights of Barnes’ previous works. The pacing occasionally falters, with some sections feeling drawn out and certain character dynamics lacking the spark that made the original protagonists so compelling.

That said, fans of Barnes’ signature mysteries and sharp-witted protagonists will still find much to enjoy. The Grandest Game remains an engaging read, even if it falls short of her best work.

Themes: Mystery, Thriller, Romance, Adventure, Brothers, Family, Games, Puzzles.

Rose Tabeni