It helps to think of this novel as a game, and you, the reader, as one of the players. There are many tipoffs that this is exactly the case. The title is one. The second is the chess metaphor for the novel’s narrative structure, starting with the opening gambit of “Pawn.”

Understanding that this is a game, and that there are secrets and strategies to be figured out, I won’t reveal too much plot. I will only say that the story is set in an English boy’s school that is erupting with scandal upon scandal, and that there are two opposing players, two narrators, although one of them – Roy Straitley, a Latin teacher – isn’t aware of the game until play is well under way.

This is a fun read, an entertaining read, a good book for when you’re sick or have a long plane ride ahead of you. It is not necessarily great literature, but then it doesn’t aspire to be, as the cutesy character names that underline the character’s personality (such as the teachers Meek, Keane and Dare) should alert you. If you approach the book as if it is a game, then you should get along fine.