The Great California Game

by Jonathan Gash

Book Overview

In Gash's 14th masterful adventure, Lovejoy--antiques dealer, faker, and bunco artist--is drawn into an illicit antiques scam. But he has second thoughts about his activities when an associate is killed by a hit-and-run driver. Lovejoy embarks on a desperate trip across America, where he will face the Great California Game--and deadly stakes lead to an explosive conclusion.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312063636
• ISBN13: 9780312063634
• Release Date: January 1991
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 249 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Lovejoy finally breezes into the US.

In this book we have Lovejoy orchestrating one of his because there was no Tinker Dill in it. But the great thing about a Lovejoy book is the characters that you do meet. Gash's imagination enables him to come up with some really wonderful ones. The best two in this book are Magda and her great fiddles in the US of A. There are a lot of characters in this book, but there aren't any of the older ones that we know and love from East Anglia. I felt the book lacked somethingson (?) Zole. Lovejoy always seems to be a "Champion of Lost Causes" and these two certainly fit that category, but it turns out that they become his greatest allies. That and a New York Underworld leader called Busman. We see more wonderful cons played out by Lovejoy and his motley crue of recruits. And we see and hear more antique information. This book has a very surprising ending though that is played out in Los Angeles. I absolutely love this series, and can't wait for the next one. Will Lovejoy still be on the run in America, or will he escape to somewhere else? Wherever it is, he'll be sure to come up against some real nasty people (as well as some real gems).

Okay, But No "Spend Game"

Too many characters and too many unlikely events almost make this a caricature of Lovejoy, definitely not as good as Lovejoy's "Spend Game". The english physician who writes under the name of Jonathan Gash leaned on too many stereotypes, and yet, even a moderately good Lovejoy mystery is superior to most of the stuff out there. Those lucky enough to have watched the TV Lovejoy during its run on A & E during the mid 90s, will, as a reviewer below observed, discover a much more realistic and edgy Lovejoy in print. I have read five Lovejoys, this is the weakest so far (but still worth reading).

Lovejoy discovers New York

Although the title sets the buyer's attention on California, the book largely takes place in New York where Lovejoy is stuck trying to earn money to get home. As with many of Gash's later Lovejoy books, the pace is often frantic, but he does not sacrifice character--both of Lovejoy and the folks he meets. Lovejoy's irreverence finds a home among Americans, but there's a lighter touch than usual--Gash is often more merciful towards Americans than to any other group. I've read all of the Lovejoys and found this one of the more memorable ones, though not necesarily one of the best for plot or for development of Lovejoy's philosophy of life. But it is a bit more surreal than usual in presenting Lovejoy's circumstances, and rather sentimental, while also introducing us to the usual wide array of shady characters.