Michael Ebner

I'll admit it. I was first attracted to Movie Game because of its cover. Bad choice on my part, because this was just not my kind of story.

It begins as Joe, a self-professed cinephile, follows a couple home after they spent an entire movie talking. "Movie talkers attract stalkers," he tells them as he sprays a mixture of soda and condiments on their door.

Now there are federal agents following Joe. Why are they interested in him? Later, we'll find that it's actually his missing father they're show more interested in. But it's not just the federal agents interested in Joe. Everybody is interested in Joe. For being such an unlikable character, he's sure got a ton of people wanting to be with him. It must be his dashing good looks, because it's certainly not his personality.

Joe is very detached from reality, in a way I couldn't really sympathize with. At the beginning of the book, Joe seems a little over-the-top, but still kind of cool in the way he goes after movie talkers. As the book progresses, we find that Joe really just uses people for what he needs, plays with them however he wants to, and lets them go. He doesn't even show remorse for playing with his sister's feelings. It's all a game to him.

This book is touted in the blurb as being "a fast-paced, humorous novel." It is neither. I found that it dragged. It took me almost a week to read it, and it's only 302 pages. It isn't funny, either. A teenage boy spiraling out of control and living as if he's in a movie after the traumatic death of his girlfriend is not funny. A teenage boy being abandoned by his mother after his father leaves town is not funny. It's more sad than anything.

The only part of the book that I really enjoyed was the movie game itself. Joe and his friends shoot back and forth, quickly connecting actors and movies, going into more and more obscure vintage and foreign films in an attempt to knock each other out of the game. It made me wish I had enough film knowledge to play along!

Final rating: two stars. Not my cup of tea, but entertaining enough.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free copy. show less

This was a fast paced thrill ride as we follow Teagan around the world in her bid to stop terrorism, the mafia, and corrupt people. I love Teagan's story arc in this novel, she starts off as an entertainment writer and turns into a kick-ass spy/tracker/assassin? willing to do anything to protect her family. Looking forward to reading "listening" to the second book in the series due to be released in the new year.

Braden Wright did a great job narrating this novel and I am excited to see that show more he is slated to narrate the next book as well. I love it when a series is narrated by the same person from book 1 to the end. show less

Two casual acquaintances who meet in a hotel they work at in Sydney, one is a bellhop who absolutely hates his job and has aspirations of becoming a screenplay writer. The other is a piano player who is pretty good but can't really go anywhere because he can't seem to write original songs. Joel, the bell hop can write great songs and Wade, the piano player can set them to music. So they they make a demo and try to sell themselves around Australia. After they have exhausted every lead they show more come by in Australia and they come decide it's time to take themselves and their demo to New York. Wade is convinced that he has made some connections there.
They suffer the same humiliation there so they dream up a kooky scheme that just might work, but it worked out to well for them. Joel takes off to Canada while Wade stays in New York to sell a best of album. I loved this author's dry wit, he had me laughing out loud several times. Anyway, nothing works as it was planned. While Joel is waiting for a weekly update on the progress of this best of album from Wade with never comes. He experiences his own set of problems that get in his way of receiving this non-existent phone call from Wade that will never happen. Wade gets a bit self absorbed and greedy. Finally Joel gives up and goes on with his life in Canada, until he hears his song being sang on the radio. Then it's pretty obvious that Joel is getting messed around and even worst he sees what a big star Wade has made out of himself when he sees him get absolutely humiliated on a popular variety show. After that night things go from bad to worse. Joel understands know why he hasn't heard from that self-absorbed jerk, Wade. He's kept all the money he was supposed to split with Joel.
The books was very well written and kept me on my toes, it gets a little tricky at the end but it all falls into place. Joel is a very likeable character, as well as Wade with his narcissistic personality that keeps him in trouble. I found this book to have a wicked sense of humor and the pieces fell together nicely. It was a fun read. show less

A Mary Sue story of the statutory rape variety for the cinephile, white, CIS-hetero boys out there.

We have Joe. He's seventeen. He has limitless access to alcohol, and drugs. He has no parental oversight and does whatever he wants. He has a quip and a comeback for every situation. Women drop their panties at the sight of him. FBI agents need his help. He'll do anything to protect his sister. He knows everything there is to know about movies.

Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

Perhaps this is show more poorly done satire? I'm going to assume that this is just poorly done satire, otherwise I think I'd feel like I lost fifty IQ points for reading it. I'm also going to assume that my free preview copy hasn't been fully copy edited yet because I don't understand why someone like Joe who professes to love cinema so much keeps making mistakes regarding film, such as calling Brad Pittle's character in Fight Club Tyler Dern. That's right. Brad Pittle. Tyler Dern. Or watching the French prison movie En Prophet rather than a movie that actually exists, say Un prophète. I'm not even a movie buff and I seem to know more that Joe about movies. (And it isn't as if all characters/movies/actors are slightly misspelled to avoid legal implications or something. Most are spelled correctly.)

The writing, sadly, is actually decent. The pacing is great. Just the story, of Joe continually and effortlessly saving the day while banging girls in their twenties (plus one teenager), is so moronic and facile that the whole thing smacks of stupidity and wish-fulfillment. Ebner should maybe try his hand at something a little more meaty and put this whole nonsense of a story behind him.

Movie Game by Michael Ebenr went on sale May 5, 2016.

I received a copy free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. show less