Joanna Perry is a South African bartender who has had her share of scrapes with the law. She was not expecting to find herself drugged, kidnapped, and shipped to an island of the coast of Africa to fight to the death for the entertainment of the rich and powerful. Instead of fighting wars they have champions to fight for them, favours being passed from winners to losers. She finds herself as one of a hundred victims, both new to the challenge and previous contestants who have survived. Herded into an arena, she finds herself starting a race around the island to survive as the weaker ones are brutally killed behind her. Taken under the wing of Elena, the champion of the previous two years, she finds herself running for her life and forced to kill others or suffer the same fate. All she has to do is survive the course over two days and make it to the finish line.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book, but what I did get was a short, punchy piece of action that quite enjoyable. The plot, if you think about it, is pretty ridiculous but this story runs with it for all it’s worth and does an excellent job in doing so. The details are fairly sketchy to begin with, but becomes more complicated as the truth and lies of what Joanna has found are slowly revealed. We only know as much as Joanna does and the slow reveal allow us to be as surprised as she is by the events that overtake her. What I did enjoy is that the action within the book rises and falls giving the reader enough time to take in what is happening and digest the next twist before it jumps back into the fray again.

As the protagonist, Joanna is quickly set up who can take care of herself and is not above taking matters into her own hands, although in over her head as the race starts. Her drive to survive, despite her confusion, comes through clearly and I do appreciate that she is not the strongest or most skilled but certainly willing to think hard and push herself to the end. The writing is very descriptive and packs a lot in for such a short book. It manages to quickly set the tone for the characters and the trials they face, and by keeping it strictly from Joanna’s point of view allow us to discover it along with her.

Reading through, I didn’t notice any formatting or spelling mistakes and was pleasantly surprised to find I had it read it so quickly, but still interested in what will happen next. A teaser of the next book fills in a little more of the detail certainly helps to keep my interest piqued.

Overall, an excellently well-written, tight story that doesn’t waste many words or let up from start to finish.