A Simple Game

Global terrorism and international sports collide in this riveting debut novel by American diplomat and former sportswriter Kirk Wolcott, prompting a crucial question for our time: How far is too far when trying to change the world?

When three of the world’s top athletes are slaughtered on the same night in Hong Kong, Amsterdam, and Beverly Hills, celebrated peace and conflict resolution expert Rory Crandall spots a golden opportunity. Lured by an insatiable ego and a $20 million reward, Crandall joins a global manhunt to catch the perpetrators behind the media-dubbed “Sporting Murders.”

As the world shudders over the attacks, a group of young terrorists gathers in the hills over Sarajevo to choose its next victim, while Crandall starts piecing together clues. Racing from the power centers of Europe and America to an African jungle to an Asian island on the brink of civil war, Crandall encounters mercenaries, warlords, and other waste products of world conflict, while falling for a beguiling human rights activist with a curious interest in his mission.

With each new murder, the terrorists raise the stakes in a bold effort to hold the world hostage to their demands. But who are these extremists? What do they want? And is it possible the end to their bloody game somehow justifies the means?

From the opening chapter to the shocking final showdown, "A Simple Game" sizzles with suspense, taking the reader on a wild ride through some treacherous territory where nothing is as simple as it seems.