Product Description

Mandanzi, Africa. Paradise on earth. Ben knows that nothing this good comes free. But he's prepared to pay the price. What seems on the surface to be a passionate holiday with his lover is, in fact, the first crucial stage of some ground-breaking research. Ben and his renowned Oxford professor are on the brink of developing a cure for that most disturbing illness - sickness of the mind. Lying on the beach with the bewitching Cara, Ben finds it easy to forget the real purpose of his trip to Africa. Until paradise turns to hell, and suddenly he realises that all the rules he thought he was playing by no longer apply.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #301391 in Books
• Published on: 2002-01-17
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Heartbreak, betrayal, blind animal terror--emotions are events in the brain and the uniqueness of our feelings is one of the things that makes us human; Hector Macdonald's debut thriller The Mind Game is a virtuoso exploration of those emotions. Oxford student Ben finds himself caught up in a whirlwind of happenstance--he is seduced by Cara at a party and Jenny, who loves him, cripples herself attempting suicide; he is asked to participate in an experiment by a don he hero-worships and finds himself shipped off to a Kenyan resort with Cara, a large expense account and sensors picking up his every feeling; he is framed for drugs charges and flung into a hell-hole jail. Ben discovers that there is no fact of which he can be sure, and almost no one whom he can entirely trust--and he swears vengeance on those who have tricked, corrupted and betrayed him. Macdonald's novel is a twisted maze of ambiguous motives and hidden meanings; it is an impressive display of virtuoso plotting and vivid local colour. It is also an intelligent and inventive display of the author's readings in evolutionary psychology and his concerned musings on where science may lead us. --Roz Kaveney

Review
Madanzi is Paradise on Earth and lying on the beach with the bewitching Cara, Ben finds it easy to forget the real purpose of his trip to Africa. Yet he knows that nothing this good comes free and he is prepared to pay the price. For this vacation is in fact the first crucial stage of some ground-breaking research by Ben and his renowned Oxford professor who are on the brink of developing a cure for sickness of the mind. An ingenious thriller in the bestselling tradition of The Beach.

From the Publisher
Praise for The Mind Game
"…Engaging and enjoyable thriller" -Robert Potts, The Observer

"A splendidly engineered tale of deceit and illusion, this is undoubtedly heading for the bestseller lists." -Guardian

"…A cracking thriller…strong characters, world travel, and outrageous fantasy, among which the trickier brain stuff is neatly intertwined…Popularising science is not a new mission, but has seldom been attempted through a novel as feisty as this." - The Express

"Psychologically thrilling." - Elle

"Seductively intelligent" -Nova

"A vital new voice in storytelling, Hector Macdonald washes away The Beach. Fiction with Ethics." -The List

"…The main thrills occur as Macdonald takes a size 10 boot to the limits of human social behavior. And proceeds to kick." -Maxim

Customer Reviews

Staggering first novel, compulsive & exciting rollercoaster
Not exactly what I expected when my in-laws asked me what I wanted for Christmas, but nevertheless when a book is bought for you by such highly regarded members of the family you feel obliged to read it.

Well this was one markedly surprising book to say the least. After an edgy first couple of pages, where you can picture an excited novelist etching his first enigmatic words to the world, the book opens up into an exciting labyrinth of psychological plots, games and chilling frighteners.

It's amost impossible to review it without giving some of the game away, but the book essentially has two wonderful halves of the climactic build-up followed by the deep seated plot for revenge. Elegantly lyrical, with excellent narration, this book will be one you won't put down until you know what happens next, but that feeling won't end until you turn the last page.

I must say that I would have enjoyed the book much more had the publishers not detailed what to expect from the book on the back cover. If you have the presence of mind and can at all avoid the enticement of reading the back cover... then DON'T.

This has all the hallmarks of a hollywood blockbuster in the years to come as the rights have already been snapped up and I guarantee that all those who have read it will be saying,

"The film is not as good as the book!"

As it undoubtedly won't be.

An excellent novel
The mind game is an excellent first novel by Hector Macdonald. A young undergraduate student is convinced by his charismatic professor at Oxford to be part of a study into emotions, at a resort in Kenya, with his assertive girlfriend Cara. The experiment is going well until Ben (the student) is wrongly arrested for buying drugs and thrown into jail...

Overall I thought it was an excellent novel. There was plenty of action at the start that slowly evolved into a psychological thriller. The clues to the twists, I found were a little obvious, except I must say that I didn't see the final twist coming. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a thriller away from the stock standard medical, crime, murder thrillers that seem to flood the market.

A novel of beautifully designed mind games.
I congratulate Hector Macdonald on a display of intelligence on how manipulation can destroy the mentality of a person. His ability to hide the influences affecting Ben Ashurst in the readers eyes is quite remarkable. I was unable to put down the book after the story twisted its angle providing a new dimension of understanding.
The mind game, a story of a student in Oxford asking to be a part of a unique emotion experiment in Kenya. A way out of England and to enter paradise, enjoying the sunny beaches and exotic atmosphere. Unable to see the betrayal he falls in a whirlpool of events, only to see paradise turned to a dark filled room with only the screams of the person next to him silencing the feeling of horror and shock.
A stunning debut and a well earned respect from the readers. Looking forward for his next bestseller.