Very little happens without deliberation in Maurice Gee's … [Games of Choice]: it comes as no surprise to discover that the "games" of its title are not fun—but more to do with the thwartings and false starts of the hero's life, and his careful consideration of the consequences.

Kingsley Pratt, whose generally gloomy voice grips the narrative, is a provincial New Zealand bookseller, who, having married above his station, finds himself the owner of a luxurious house and a complaining family. The unsatisfactoriness of his wife and children is unvarying, if not entirely comprehensive….

Real meanings behind actions and events are quickly unravelled: gifts are "communication" or possible "revelation"; metaphors are "weapons". These analyses are not without acuteness, but interpretation follows observation so quickly that a sense of what it is that is being interpreted is often drowned out. Kingsley's remark that "relationships seemed to set him on...