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Coverage of THE WISHING GAME by PATRICK REDMOND

Genre: Psychological thriller with Occult undertones


The Plot
In 1999 a journalist comes to interview Nicholas Scott about deeply disturbing events, which
led to several deaths, at Kirkston Abbey, a posh boys public school in Norfolk, which Nicholas
attended, aged 14, in 1954. Nicholas relates what took place.
Jonathan Palmer, aged 14 like Scott in 1954, was a pupil at Kirkston Abbey too and they
befriend each other. Palmer is from a relatively modest background and his home life is
unhappy. Other contemporaries at the school are James Wheatley, who leads a small gang of
sadistic bullies, the Perriman brothers twins and Richard Rokeby, a mysterious, rebellious,
charismatic loner.
Almost as relevant to the story as the pupils are the school staff. Key among these are Clive
Howard, the headmaster, who dotes on his pretty wife Lizzie, who has a cousin, Jennifer, who
he claims to dislike but has in fact slept with. Classics master Henry Ackerby, an alcoholic with
a vindictive streak, who is married to Marjorie with whom he has a tense relationship in fact
theirs was a shotgun marriage, the child of which tragically died young of pneumonia, and they
now share a dark secret. And, lastly, history master, Alan Stewart, a closet homosexual, whose
secret affair with 18 year-old star schoolboy Paul Ellerson caused Ellerson to commit suicide at
the start of this latest 1954 term.
Indeed, as the new term begins the unexplained suicide of Paul Ellerson hangs over the
whole school. And, of particular note, Jonathan Palmer had happened to be Ellersons fag
(young factotum) and had liked him very much.
So the scene at the school is quite a mix: dysfunctional pupils, dysfunctional staff and a
recent suicide.
As the term wears on Jonathan Palmer becomes the victim, partly because of his modest
upbringing, of vicious bullying by James Wheatley and his gang. It is nasty. However,
mysterious loner Richard Rokeby who is widely admired by his fellow pupils - steps in and
sees Wheatley and his gang off; not so much by violence, but by sheer force of personality. This
rescue deeply impresses Palmer and immediately he and Rokeby become inseparable friends.
However, it becomes little by little clear that Rokeby is a deeply disturbed person, brought
up not by his parents but by his uncle and aunt after his mother committed suicide. Furthermore,
it transpires that madness runs in his family.
Staying at Rokebys aunt and uncles home over half-term, Palmer and Rokeby find an old
Ouija board and take it back to the school. With Nicholas Scott present they hold a sance at
which the three of them play a game of making wishes hence the novels title. The details of
these wishes are not initially divulged by the author, but soon it becomes clear that among them
was that people they dislike such as bully James Wheatley and school master Henry Ackerby face fates of varying unpleasantness.
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Surely enough these wished for fates start coming true, and at the same time Richard
Rokeby dominates Jonathan Palmer more and more it in effect becomes a master-servant
relationship, which Nicholas Scott, in vain, tries to break up.
At any rate, in fairly rapid succession, Wheatley is run over by a car, Henry Ackerby kills his
wife, headmaster Howard nearly dies of a heart attack, history teacher Alan Stewart, fearing
exposure for homosexuality, commits suicide, and Richard Rokeby directly or indirectly causes
the deaths of both Jonathan Palmer and another pupil. Then, to add to the carnage, Rokeby
bizarrely dies of a broken neck without as much as a mark on his body. After such mayhem
inevitably the police are called in.
So how did this all happen? Though the police refuse to belief it and thus organise a coverup it can only have been because of dark evil forces released during the sance. This is
confirmed by a bishop, who suffers a nervous breakdown as a result.
Having at last heard his full account of what actually happened, the journalist interviewing
Nicholas Scott in 1999 now begs him for permission to publish the whole story it would be
worth a lot of money. But Scott refuses and warns the journalist that the spells created at the
sance all those years ago at Kirkston Abbey may still have force. The journalist takes note of
this warning and destroys the tapes of the interview.

Assessment
The description of a boys public school and the dialogue between the main characters is
very authentic and I am sure Redmond must have been to one. Nonetheless, whereas the story
opens well, it then rather drifts until it comes alive towards the end, only to lose impact in the
closing, somewhat plodding, pages. Fundamentally, it is not scary, though I think it could be rearranged to be so. Why not show what happened at the sance? Indeed, why not go for bust and
describe floating shadowy phantoms, screams, panic and fear? The reader only learns what was
wished for afterwards, far better if this was stated in advance. Equally to the point, evil villain
Richard Rokebys death is far too easy he should be pursued and face a brutal showdown.
Good though the dialogue is there is too much of it, and on occasion it is unclear who is
speaking (forcing the reader to pause and work it out irritating). Furthermore, the work would
have benefitted from some tightening it would have made it far more gripping.

Dramatisation Potential
THE WISHING GAME is full of good ideas but it is very uneven. There is no reason why it
could not be successfully adapted for film or TV but implementing the adjustments alluded to
above would be essential. Public school life may not per se be of much mainstream interest
movies such as IF and DEAD POETS SOCIETY come to mind but as a setting for a horror
film an institution as peculiar (to the outsider) as Kirkston Abbey might well be ideal.

Rating: 5.0/10. Edward Rayne, December 2016.


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