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Contest (Paperback)

by Matthew Reilly (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
RRP: £6.99
Price: £4.99 & eligible for Free UK delivery on orders over £5 with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Frequently Bought Together

Contest + Temple + Ice Station
Price For All Three: £15.47

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  • This item: Contest by Matthew Reilly

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    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
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  • Temple by Matthew Reilly

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  • Ice Station by Matthew Reilly

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Product details

  • Paperback: 763 pages
  • Publisher: Pan Books (9 Nov 2001)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 033048995X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0330489959
  • Product Dimensions: 17.9 x 11.1 x 3.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 11,754 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Product Description
The New York State Library looms as a silent sanctuary of knowledge: a hundred-year-old labyrinth of towering bookcases, narrow aisles, and spiral staircases. But for Dr Stephen Swain and his eight-year-old daughter Holly it is a place of nightmare. Because, for just one night, this historic building is to become the venue for a horrifying contest, a contest in which Swain must compete, whether he likes it or not. The rules of the challenge are simple: seven contestants will enter, but only one will leave. With his daughter in his arms, Stephen Swain is plunged into a terrifying fight for survival. The stakes are high, the odds are brutal. He can choose to run, to hide, or to fight - but if he wants to live, he needs to win. For, in this particular contest, unless you leave as victor, you do not leave at all.

About the Author
Matthew Reilly was born in Sydney in 1974 and studied Law at the University of New South Wales. He has written both screenplays and magazine articles, and recently optioned the film rights to Contest. His second and third novels, Ice Station and Temple, became No. 1 bestsellers in his native Australia, and went on to enjoy huge success internationally. The author still lives in Sydney, and keeps on writing.

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Contest
58% buy the item featured on this page:
Contest 3.9 out of 5 stars (31)
£4.99
Area 7
13% buy
Area 7 3.5 out of 5 stars (42)
£4.99
Temple
11% buy
Temple 3.7 out of 5 stars (99)
£4.99
Seven Ancient Wonders
9% buy
Seven Ancient Wonders 2.7 out of 5 stars (119)
£4.19
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Customer Reviews

31 Reviews
5 star:
 (13)
4 star:
 (11)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:
 (4)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.9 out of 5 stars (31 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely ou of this world, LITERALLY!, 29 April 2005
After this book i have nothing but praise and thanks for Matthew Reilly as this was the book that made me the avid reader i am today.

This book is an action-packed cauldron of aliens, special effects and .. midgets. The basic plot involves Stephen Swain, a regular doctor, being thrust into the world that is Contest. A brutal, and at sometimes gory, battle to the death.

After finding himself and his daughter telported into this monstrous battle, he must use his intelligence and his instincts to overcome these foes, whilst at the same time protecting his daughter.

While at first trying to avoid every confrontation by running away, he finds out that in the end the only way to survive, is to fight.

Prepare to enter the world of Matthew Reilly, you'll want to pull up a chair and make yourself comfortable, becuase once your there, you'll never want to leave.

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22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars This is most unusual, 3 Nov 2001
By A Customer
I suppose the genre for this book is Sci-fi but thriller would fit it too. I like thrillers and this is one of the fastest paced books I have read lately. The action takes place in the New York State Library and action there certainly is. Stephen Swain is a doctor, a radiologist, he is teleported from his Connecticut home to the library and told by a little man in white that he has been selected to represent Earth in a galactic, fight to the death, contest. To complicate matters Swain is holding his daughter, Holly, in his arms at the time of the transportation, so his killer instinct, not that he has one, is directed at protecting his daughter from the six other contestants and a few other ugly creatures along for the ride.
Well-done Reilly I will look out for the rest of your novels.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars leave your brains behind and enjoy, 29 Nov 2006
"Contest" is the first book of Matthew Reilly, the famous action writer. The story starts with Steve Swain, a doctor who lost his wife. He found himself as one of the contestants who takes part in a contest, where people from all other planets are involved; it is held once every hundreds of years. Originating from the time when the Roman Empire still exist and a Roman gladiator disappearing, his breastplate appearing somewhere 2000 years later. It is a contest where 7 will enter, but only one will leave. It is a contest where mercy no longer exists, replaced by cruelty of the contestants, where desperation exists everywhere: in the New York State Library, the labyrinth, the place where the contest starts, and ends... With his eight year old daughter Holly in his arms, the only family he has left, Swain would fight against the more brutal and fiercer enemies than him, helped with nothing except his will, his basic instincts to save himself and his intelligence.

I thoroughly enjoyed this great book, and I finished it in 2 days!
This book by Matthew Reilly is action packed, every single page is filled with suspense, full with aliens, but once you are in the world of the New York State Library, you will never want to leave.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars contest
Anything that Matthew Reilley writes is good, he certainly does his homework, excitement from start to finish
Published 7 days ago by Mr. D. Mackenzie

4.0 out of 5 stars Contest
An interesting book that is well written. It takes an unusual view and he is true to his comments about his starting point for the book. Read more
Published 4 months ago by G. Kyriacos

5.0 out of 5 stars VeryBerry
I never had read adventure books before and bought this because it was on offer. It opened up a new world of very faced paced exciting reading for me. Read more
Published 5 months ago by VeryBerry

4.0 out of 5 stars 7 contestant 1 winner to get out alive
A starter for MR - an idea you will encounter a contest between living monsters and human stage this time on earth. The place - the NY library. Read more
Published 8 months ago by SKYW4LKER

5.0 out of 5 stars The most exciting read ever!
This by far the most exciting book i have ever read!! (and i have read a LOT)Matthew Reilly knows how to keep you on the edge of your seat. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Niki Chippendale

4.0 out of 5 stars Pure Escapism

Matthew Reilly was born in Sydney in 1974 and studied Law at the University of New South Wales. Read more
Published 18 months ago by J. Chippindale

4.0 out of 5 stars A Visit to the Library can change your life !
Having read Ice Station by Matthew Reilly some time ago I thought I would try "Contest" by the same author. It's been laying about the house for some time. Read more
Published 19 months ago by G. M. Buchanan

4.0 out of 5 stars Not as bad as people are saying here.
Im a big matthew reilly fan, and this was his first novel, re-released with some (very minor) touching-ups.

I enjoyed the book. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Patrick R. Hamilton

4.0 out of 5 stars Dam good Story Line
If you like this sort of stuff this is an excellent read and I actually give it four and a half stars - I thoroughly enjoyed especially in audio format, the narration was superb -... Read more
Published 20 months ago by A. Stephenson

5.0 out of 5 stars CONTEST by MATTHEW REILLY
I always listen on my journeys to and from work. This audio book really gets your imagine going. I listened one night going home and was rewarded with a very vivid dream where I... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Mrs. Suzanne Jones

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