The Tiger Game

In the course of his duties, foreign service officer William Adams becomes embroiled in the activities of the Adventurers Club. The members are multimillionaire New Yorkers who not only finance but also indulge in perilous escapades for thrills. Since the State Department has had to proscribe some of their more risky projects, Adams suggests to the frustrated Adventurers a new, daring gambol: each of them will take a turn carrying hundreds of thousands of dollars through Manhattan over a designated route, which the general public (and the underworld) will know in advance. This is a variation of the Tiger Game, in which a live goat is staked to attract the vicious tiger. On the first run, the Club is down two adventurers, each having shot the other; Adams suspects murder. Knight struggles to vivify his plot, but his lackluster prose is like a dead weight, submerging the reader in ennui. (January 26)