Title: The Oldest Game
Author: Sue Leger
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 978-1-52463-500-8
Pages: 140
Genre: Fiction
Reviewed by: Joe Kilgore
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Pacific Book Review
In 1989, after Nicolae Ceausescu virtually starved his citizens to death in order to further enhance his iron-fisted dictatorship, revolution arose in Romania and the Communist government was toppled. The vile Ceausescu and his conspiratorial wife were then summarily executed. So much for the fall of the tyrants. But what happened to the Romanian people—the individuals who suffered at the hands of such an oppressive government? This is the story of one of them.
Marta is an innocent young girl dedicated to furthering her education and helping her family. Realizing there is little she can do to make a good living in her ravaged homeland, she turns to the promise of work in a distant country. Thinking she is being recruited to help care for the elderly in an old age home in Holland, she is actually shanghaied by sex traffickers. Alone, abused, and in fear of her life, she winds up in a window of Amsterdam’s infamous Red Light District. Sebastian, a vacationing Romanian from Marta’s village, recognizes her. Thus begins a suspenseful tale of escape and evasion as Sebastian attempts to dislodge Marta from her evil overseer.
Leger keeps the plot of her story moving forward. She slides cagily from one precarious situation to the next while still taking time to delineate her supporting cast. Piet is the thuggish pimp who keeps Marta‘s earnings and disciplines her with his fists. But he’s not simply a one-dimensional brute. He’s also a dedicated husband to an ex-hooker wife and the father of a daughter with a promising future. Having virtually grown up in Amsterdam’s legal sex-for-pay trade, Piet’s family has no ethical misgivings or concerns about the sleaze associated with his occupation. Fate soon intervenes however to make them realize the consequences of their behavior.
A credible thriller, which is fast-paced and involving, The Oldest Game draws moral distinctions without being preachy. It introduces readers to situations that are unfortunately all too real in many parts of the world. Plus it examines not only what can happen to gullible young people, but also of the potential problems those people face even if they’re lucky enough to escape an occupation they never wanted to be a part of. Will Marta find her way out? Can Sebastian help her without hurting himself? Will Piet wind up losing far more than his meal ticket? It’s worth reading this potent page-turner to find out.
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