A bit futuristic for me at first , but bearing that in mind , I found the story enjoyable . Amanda receives a parcel from an ex boyfriend , she is not really interested but things begin to happen from that moment on . Then Tangle reappears and they have to work together although she still doesn't trust him . An exciting tale unfolds involving Blockchain , Crypto currency and the Russians .

What could so easily have been confusing, technical or even preachy was actually a great romp and a thoroughly enjoyable novel thanks to the writing style and expertise of the author. To me it felt a bit 1984-esque with its almost-within-reach view of the future… Brexit, crytptocurrency and particularly social credit scores ruling people’s lives.
If you’re not techy or knowledgeable about AI, Blockchains, politics etc. do not fear, you can still enjoy this book. Take it at face value or use your friendly neighbourhood search engine to delve deeper into the subjects. If you are tech-savvy, you’ll love it. Who wouldn’t want a friend like Tatsu? A great read.

Tangle's Game is set 20-30 years in the future, with much of Europe in economic and political turmoil, America fractured and in decline, and Britain an irrelevance to all. Everything is controlled online - from banking to social credit and even stock control in your fridge. The main character - Amanda Back - works in finance and is doing very well for herself as a member of the wealthy elite, until an old boyfriend becomes of interest to the security services. Amanda is targeted as a person of interest and her life begins to fall apart.

This story is really about the emergence of Artificial Intelligence as a new life form - or is it? You don't find out until near the end. The plot is complex and winding and the action ratchets up in the last 20%. The characters, although individual and distinctive, are not particularly sympathetic with one notable exception - the A.I. Tatsu who was both interesting, fun and had morals - more so than many of the humans it was exposed to.

The book is quite dialogue-heavy and there is some jargon which I had to check out (don't let that put you off - it's not filled with jargon!) I did feel that there was too much turgid discussion at the expense of the plot, and perhaps it was a bit too political. Or perhaps not - it is a political dystopian thriller after all.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this book. It had realistic, some likeable and some not so likeable characters, that gave it gritty realism, a premise that was near future and not so unbelievable, and a story that developed at a good pace. I liked the writing style of the author and this book.

I was looking forward to reading this book, but I found that either some massive assumptions were made about the readers knowledge of the technology which is used in the storyline, or the author just didn’t want to spend time explaining. This meant I had to look up some things (blockchain for example) but I still didn’t understand the significance of some elements of the hazards/risks which were supposed to be self evident from the way it was written. I also really wanted to know whether this was set in current time or the future and never really got a satisfactory understanding from the book itself, I just ended up assuming it was in the near future. Some technical and timeline scene setting would have been really helpful to avoid these frustrations. However the storyline moved along at a pace and came to a conclusion with no cliff hangers waiting on a second novel, which was satisfying.

Me llamó mucho la atención el anuncio de esta novela en su momento, así que culpo a los malvados estrategas de marketing de haberme leído la novela.

Hotston escoge el camino del thriller futurista aunque bastante verosímil en sus comienzos, con la implantación generalizada del «crédito social», un medidor de la confianza que se puede tener en cada persona basándose en su historial. Algo que vemos cada vez más cerca y que puede dar lugar a interesantes discusiones, tomando como premisa la necesidad individual frente a la colectiva, por ejemplo. O la pérdida de privacidad, sin ir más lejos. Sin embargo, la novela no sigue esos derroteros. La protagonista, una banquera con un crédito impecable, recibe de parte de un antiguo novio un disco duro que puede alterar el equilibrio de la política mundial y se ve envuelta en una huida hacia delante mientras piensa qué hacer con semejante problema.
La ejecución del libro deja bastante que desear, no sé si por la excesiva ingenuidad de la protagonista o por el imprescindible ejercicio de suspensión de la incredulidad para que el lector acepte que las distintas agencias y poderes fácticos implicados en la trama no escojan una solución más «directa» para hacerse con lo que necesitan y ansían.
Los demás personajes tampoco es que aporten mucho a la trama, salvo algún momento tráfico que parece realmente impostado. Quizá sea por la decepción de quien espera otro resultado, pero no puedo recomendar este libro para nada.

The synopsis of this novel was right up my street. When I was approved for it on NetGalley I couldn’t wait to read it. However, I must be honest and say that I was disappointed with the storyline overall.

The start really hooked me in, and I really wanted to read on, but from there on in the pace dropped off and it didn’t become what I thought it would.

I don’t believe in leaving bad reviews, because of the time and effort from the author that goes into the writing. This just wasn’t a favourite for me. There will be others who will love it no doubt.

This wouldn’t be something I would recommend but maybe a young adult audience might enjoy it as an introduction into the futurist sci-fi writing world.

My first sci fi thriller on Netgalley so I had high hopes.
The beginning starts so well with a lot of thrill and suspense with Amanda trying to navigate her way out of the airport, completely confused as to why she is being stalled until she realises that her ex, Tangle Singh is once again the cause of problems in her life.

Whilst there was a lot of thrill and drama, I felt completely lost as to where the story was going. I felt like the author expected you to know alot of the back story, as in the time it is set in and the norm for the time. I did read it till the end but unfortunately cannot say that this is a genre I would reach for again.

Thank you to Stewart Hotston, Rebellion Publishing and Net Galley for the ARC.
I was intrigued by Tangle's Game and after reading was left slightly breathless. This is not for the faint-hearted and if you're not in to techie stuff it might not be for you, but it is a very interesting read. I'm not keen on reading about fight scenes to be honest, I find them quite boring and some of the stuff was totally out of my knowledge, but I love anything to do with fugitives from the state etc. so this really fitted the bill. A perfect read for someone who loves the genre.

Tangle's Game by Stewart Hotston: A Bit of a Mess
As always, thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy.
They say "never judge a book by its cover", to which in the case of this book a further injunction should be added which is "never judge a book by its title". What can I say? The cover is beautiful, the concept seductive but as for the text itself, well, C- would be doing it a favour.
The fundamental problems are, the plot rather than intricate is facile, the characters rather than characters are stereotypes, sometimes it seems even borrowed from far greater works, and Tangle isn't even the protagonist, this is his rather insipid and far less inspired or inspiring former flame, Amanda. Don't get me wrong it's good to have a techno thriller starring South Asians with a female lead but I really really wish this were better written.
Apart from the defects I've quoted above, there is a fundamental lack of research. For the most part if you are going to write solid sci-fi and solid thrillers you need to do your homework and it seems very little was done before writing this. I even checked the author's background to see if this shortcoming was simply because he was a man of letters writing about science, but no, apparently he has scientific qualifications it's just that the technical backdrop to this is as flimsy and unconvincing as one of those studio scenarios in the original Star Trek. It simply comes over as lacklustre. something that really got my teeth on edge was his use of "Frame" for what clearly was an IT "Window".
Regrettably I had much better things to do with my time than read this novel.

A story set in a world where everything hinges on your social status, determined by AI (not so very hard to imagine). Amanda starts off with a perfect life and a perfect score only to be rapidly undone and dragged into a murky underworld of bad ratings by Tangle. It seems the whole world is fighting over he content of a thumb drive containing a piece of programming that could change the world- the only determination on whether that change is for better or worse is by who gets their hands on it.
Amanda is a very reluctant participant i nthe whole "game", losing her social status undoes her and she resorts to gathering a few trusted expertsto her to ry and solve the mystery of wher Tangle is and why he has brought her into his troubled world.
I struggled a bit at the beginnig of this book being a self-proclaimed technophobe and not really knowing much (if anything) about blockchains or talking fridges but actually you dont really need to understand much of the AI to follow what turns out to be a compulsive read about social change and moral obligation.

Tangle's Game started well, but lost me as the story progressed. Whilst the plot was interesting, the lead character wasn't likeable, and her decisions didn't make sense. or seem natural. It felt like the book was written with a tv adaptation in mind - there was some pacy action, and it would certainly make for great viewing. Unfortunately I didn't care enough about Amanda to continue reading past half way. .

Stories have been used to help explain life, ideas or difficult concepts for ever...it is a way of making the incomprehensible more understandable. To find an author with a literary ability and with the knowledge and intellect is remarkable. I have always enjoyed sci-fi but the technology described in this storyline is too close to our own every day lives for comfort, so maybe not exactly sci-fi. However, I found myself totally immersed in the world described and now view my own tech with a little more suspicion than I may have done previously.
Thank you Netgalley and publisher, here’s an unbiased review.

Brilliant. Set in the near future, where every aspect of peoples lives such as passports and social ratings are held electronically creating huge rifts in society. The Russians are using the world-wide system, blockchain, to create unrest in Europe in order to destroy it. Amanda is sent a package from her ex-boyfriend Tangle. It contains software to stop the Russians, but British and American intelligence also want it. It's a fast passed chase to utilise the software or destroy it.

Although there is a lot of tech jargon, it is not necessary to understand it all. As with all this type of books, there is an element of incredulity, but it's still a good read. There's few light hearted moments, which are a nice touch.

Amanda Back has it all, a good job, a nice apartment, a decent credit score but her past is coming back to haunt her... a package delivered from her dead ex catapults Amanda into a dark technological underworld where she can trust no-one. With CIA, henchmen and AI on her back she’s forced into trusting the one person she hates the most. Here begins Tangle’s Game.


It’s fair to say straight away that this book was outside my comfort zone... and having finished it I can’t fairly say that I understood it all. That being said I enjoyed the pace and action of the story and the tempo of details unravelled. I found the characters well rounded and enjoyed the blend and juxtaposition of serious, gritty characters along side lighter hearted souls. The novel has obviously been written as the start of a series and the ending confirms this, but where will Amanda end up next?

Thank you to #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this title.

Set in the near future, the world is not a happy place. Old alliances are fragmenting and high tech is employed to control and monitor rather than enriching peoples lives. It is a dystopian projection of the way the world is now going and thus very believable. Against this background of surveillance the protagonists manage to find a way to have an adventure with the twists and turns as much the consequence of the leading characters personalities as much as events beyond their control. This makes for a thoroughly interesting story which holds the readers attention throughout the book.

I was looking forward to reading Tangle’s Game - I love sci-fi but to be honest you don’t get many standalone sci-fi books on Netgalley. Unfortunately, this one just left me disappointed at its lack of potential.

The book started off well - I enjoyed the mention of a credit score that affects the way the world works around you (higher insurance, more expensive items in shops etc) which reminded me very much of the Black Mirror episode ‘Nosedive’. This feature only gets hinted at in the book however which was a bit of a shame. It all came crashing to a halt for me, however, when Amanda got the USB stick. For one I didn’t really understand what was on the disk – blockchains and cryptokitties just aren’t well enough explained to the reader to really spell out the stakes and I didn’t get how any of it was linked to the disk which is a massive plot flaw. I also didn’t really like the fact that the baddies were ‘The Russians’ which made it feel like a 1950s cold war thriller rather than a futuristic sci-fi. By all means have a shady Russian corporation or a particular strand of government or something, but just having everyone screaming about ‘The Russians’ coming to steal their way of life just felt dated. A lot of the story felt over the top and unrealistic – all these government agencies can track her to her door one day but then the next she hides out in her apartment and goes to work unhindered.

I also found the characterisation to be particularly poor. There was no one to route for; the main character Amanda is dull, Tangle himself is extremely unlikeable and Ichi seems to flip-flop from being relatively normal to suddenly ranting at people about social justice and race all the time. The only character I actually liked was the AI Tatsu, and even he seemed thinly drawn – just there to solve any problems in the plot if needed. I found myself just being angry at Amanda for most of the story – yes, I understand that you can’t help who you love but Tangle was a man who stole all of her and her family’s life savings, ruined her credit score which we are told affects everything in society and makes her lose her job. Why she’d even slightly help him at all is completely beyond me and she even goes as far as to sort of forgive him? It just makes her very unrelatable and unrealistic in my opinion - there are some things you can forgive people for, but I was just crying out for her to smash the USB stick and tell him to get lost.

Overall Tangle’s Game is a tangled mess with confusing plot, poorly drawn characters and unrealistic schemes. Thank you to NetGalley and Rebellion Publishing – Abaddon Books for a copy of the ARC in exchange for a (very) honest review.

Tangle's Game is set in the near future - The United States of America is no longer united and has descended into civil conflict and Europe (of which the UK is no longer a part) is on the verge of collapse. This is the unhappy world in which Amanda, merchant banker and deal maker, lives a very comfortable life.

As the story opens she steps off a flight and her world disintegrates. She is pulled up by security and interrogated in the most demeaning way possible though she has no idea why. It seems that the security services are convinced that her ex boyfriend, Tangle Singh, has been or will be in touch with her and pass on information which they will stop at nothing to obtain. We, along with Amanda, have no idea what this might be especially given that they did not separate on the best of terms and this mystery forms the first part of the novel.

Along the way we meet a pair of gay gangsters, an elderly hacker, a perky artificial intelligence and a super sexy foreign agent.

The story is well told though it assumes some basic knowledge of crypto currencies, crypto kitties and block chains. Parts of the book made little sense to me until I Googled some of the terminology.

It moves along at a fast, almost breathless pace from location to location with Amanda's flat acting as a central hub. In some ways the plot feels like it could be the basis for a computer game as action sequences and hairs-breadth escapes give way to detective work before danger closes in and the action starts again.

Although the characters are well drawn and realistic I found myself disliking all of them. I have never met anyone who works in the banking sector but if they are all as self centred and self seeking as Amanda then it is little surprise that they get a bad name. The intelligence services are not portrayed in a positive light either. Amanda is physically abused and sexually demeaned on her first meeting with their main representative despite it being obvious that she knows nothing. Instead of bringing her onside his bullying attitude ensures that she will never aid them whatever happens. Only Tatsu, the Artificial Intelligence who lives in the fridge was, in any way, likeable.

I was glad to reach the end to see what happened and I have little doubt that a sequel will appear in due course to carry on the story but maybe a combination of a thoroughly unpleasant cast and a story that relied heavily on concepts that had me reaching for wikipedia dulled my enjoyment of what was otherwise a well written adventure.

What drew me to this book was the cover, i was certainly intrigued. The blurb had me interested though not as much as the cover. I must admit this book was not what i expected i thought it would be a tense thriller with a bit of science fiction in it. But i was left uninterested in the story and the book unfortunately did not live up to expectations for me. I can see the story and sci-fi would be ideal for some readers but myself and the book did not connect this time.

This book is as convoluted as the author's lifestyle and capabilities and that is definitely not a bad thing. Set in a manipulative time where people are, for the most part, addicted to their ratings and scores it becomes more than a little scary for Amanda when a friend from her distant past that she believed dead suddenly contacts her. Tangle's tangled game ends up flushing her ratings down the toilet when she attempts to resolve the situation he has landed her in. A fine tale to make you think that there is one heck of a lot of nastiness behind the seemingly benign and benevolent world of social media and that block-chain technologies are not the be all and end all that some are suggesting.