Jack's Game

Shelley Town RPG, Book 1

By: Andrew Chapman

Narrated by: Karl Jenkinson

It meets Ready Player One.

Blood will flow through the streets of Shelley Town.

Billy Rain is a 14-year-old kid with two close friends with one thing in common. Their parents created the most successful computer game of the '90s. Now, in 2002, Billy finds a game console on the grounds of the abandoned Matterson house.

Playing the game, Billy and his friends realize it’s a map. They go out at night and dig. What they find, under the cold ground, is a decaying human hand.

An evil like no other is released from its grave: Jack Matterson. He’s back from the dead and out to take revenge on the kids of those who wronged him.

©2021 Andrew Chapman (P)2022 Andrew Chapman

Scary Well-Developed Plot

This book has it all – an abandoned and possibly haunted house, a gaming system, a demonic presence, greed, and more! Three teenagers who have parents that designed a world-renowned game are friends who also have a passion for gaming. Billy Rain nabs a game console he finds in a box on the lawn of the local haunted and abandoned home. He shares it with his friends. After a few hours of playing, they discover the game is a map to a buried treasure. What they find will put their lives and the lives of their families in mortal and eternal danger.

The author, Andrew Chapman understands the magic of gaming and the evil one suspects lurk behind the games. He creatively addresses several different aspects of business life and combines them with the evilness that not only lurks within us but also around the corner. The weaving of seeing things out of the peripheral of Billy’s eye is not unique but is done very well in this story to invoke fear and trepidation on the part of the characters and listener. The dialogue and relationships between the characters were detailed and intense at times. The graphic details of each death were gruesome yet realistic. The background could have been handled a little better and clearer.

The narrator, Karl Jenkinson delivers a fine performance as he gives distinctive voices to each character. Jenkinson keeps the listener engaged and on the edge of their seat. He captures the core of each character and projects their emotions and nature clearly. For each character, he has given a unique voice which makes the story easy to follow. I have listened to several books narrated by Karl Jenkinson and I dare say this one felt more like he had slipped the book on and became each character. An excellent narrator!

Overall, this book will definitely appeal to gamers but also to everyone else with hopes and dreams, how far one will go to make their dream come true.

There were no issues with the quality or production of this audiobook.

Good mix of litrpg and horror

This was a good one! I don't want to ruin anything, so I'll be delicate here: You start off thinking you're embarking on a typical gamelit adventure, and end up in a surreal cataclysm. Very well done by both author and narrator. Andrew, why you had to do that to the poor girl, I'll never know. But far be it for me to be aggrieved over your artistic choices. Five stars!

The high, dark cost of fame

Received as an audio copy to review from the narrator, this is an honest. Anchored by the magnificent stellar performance by Karl Jenkinson, Jack's Game is the perfect, hauntingly dark story that will have you sleeping with the lights on and will leave your blood cold. Friends Billy, Martha and Dirk blissfully spend their time losing themselves in retro games and movies; when Billy discovers an unknown game called Shelly Town along with its console to play upon, things quickly dissolve into something truly eerie. The game feels all too real and something dark are watching from the shadows. When they begin to follow a bizarre map from them game and unearth a buried hand, all hell breaks lose not only for these kinds but for their parents as well. For ten ago, their parents become famous for a game that changed their lives... but came with a dark cost they never thought that would be paid as a dark soul bent on revenge for what he never got comes to collect against them. As the ultimate game of survival unfolds filled shocking, visceral violence... to win against the undead will call for another harrowing sacrifice.

Perfect for the fans of author Andrew Van Wey.

Highly recommended.

WOW !!!

Thoroughly ENJOYED this story it has a well developed storyline that will keeps you hooked till the end !!!
narrator was A+++

Great book.

I don't even like video games but I loved this book. It was really well written and a great story.

An Interesting Take on This Story Style

3.5 out of 5 stars

It’s rare that a book has the ability to genuinely make me feel grossed out, disgusted, AND scared at the same time. Jack’s Game did that and more. Andrew Chapman wrote a book that took equal parts of Jumanji (both old and newer) and put a massive horror spin on it. Instead of leaving the world you’re in and going into the video game – the video game(s) come alive around you and react to what you’re doing.

The story and premise were interesting. I wasn’t sure where Chapman was going a few times, and when the “reveal” of what was going on with Jack happened, I was… apathetic might be too mean here, but it was sort of like, “oh, okay then” instead of “Woah that’s crazy,” which I think some readers may get. I thought that Chapman wrote a story with a lot of severe highs but usually followed by some mundane lows.

During the action and horror scenes, Jack’s game jumped off the page. Regarding character building and backstory – it fell a bit flat. Think of it like a game where the fighting mechanics are really well done, but you can’t tell why the main character chose to fight in the first place.

The audiobook version of this was performed by Karl Jenkinson, who I thought nailed it. Honestly, his narration redeemed the book in a few places. He became the characters and, just like the book as a whole, when things amped up – his performance was exactly what this book needed.

Overall, I thought that Jack’s game took a unique horror spin on the “Jumanji-esque” story style and got more right than it didn’t.

Vengeance

The storyline is really good but it goes into unnecessary details that destract from the plot in my opinion. The story revolves around vengeance rather real or imaginary perpetrated against a game designer who was cheated out of his fame. I will not give any spoilers but if you like horror and gore this may be the book for you.
I received this book for free upon my request but it has no bearing on my honest unbiased review that I am voluntarily leaving of my own volition.