The Contest

Puzzle me this. Whilst other kids were outside climbing trees or knocking a football around, you would often find me indoors or under a tree reading a book or doing puzzles. That has led to two lifelong consequences; a love of puzzles and a problem with weight. Puzzler was always my favourite, and I have introduced them to my children, and we often puzzle together before bed. The tricky conundrums and thoughtful tasks help build confidence in education and improve thinking, but it also may lead to puzzle competitions. The one in Jeff Macfee’s The Contest was meant to change the life of one child forever, but what of the other three children that did not finish in first place? 

Gillian Charles knew she should have won The Contest two decades earlier, but a pang of conscience made her help another contestant, rather than keep her eye on the prize. She now grifts a living in LA, using her natural smarts to hustle cash when she can. She wants nothing to do with the ever-enlarging conglomerate Miscellany and its founder Sebastian, but she finds herself drawn back in. Her mother is deathly ill, and Miscellany may be the key to pay for treatment. All Gillian must do is return to the fold for a few days to investigate if the latest Contest is a fix. Should be easy for someone with her mental prowess, but then again those that she is up against are just as skilled and not all hampered by morality. 

It is fitting that a book about puzzles, is a little puzzling in places itself. What is The Contest? Is it a fiction novel, crime, science fiction? You cannot say that it it science fiction as it exists in a world that could happen today. An alternative world in which another massive entertainment brand on the scale of Disney has thrived. Miscellany has theme parks all over the world based on puzzle solving and this is where the bulk of the book is set.  

Designing a world with a whole new multicorporate makes me feel that this is a cross between crime and speculative fiction. Macfee has developed the worlds of Gillian and Miscellany so thoroughly that it feels like another place. Building the idea of Miscellany and the mystery of Sebastian is key to The Contest working as so much of the story is a puzzle wrapped up in an enigma. Gillian has a case to solve and suspects to investigate, but in this heightened world of intellect and sleight of hand, you never know what is coming next. This is perfect for a crime story. 

The book has plenty of puzzles within it as Gillian must confront her past as well as new puzzles that are custom made for her. Macfee does not feel the need to rush the story and the tension builds. It is not until the final act that the heaviest of blows is struck and things become far more serious.  

We spent a lot of time in Gillian’s head, and this makes the book a character piece. It explores how something twenty years earlier can affect your life today. Her failure in the one moment spiralled her life onto a completely different course than she had imagined. Returning has a deep phycological effect on Gillian, but she must balance her own fears against what her mother and family need. 

The Contest is unlike other books that I have read. The world building is so complete that it transcends just being a crime novel and becomes its own speculative world. This is fitting as the puzzle setting is enigmatic and unnerving, the book should feel that in places, but at the core it remains a strong character piece with an effective crime narrative that fans of that genre will enjoy.