I've been trying out a lot of new books lately and this is the only one that I've rated 5 stars. This is a well written book with a strong central character. I also liked the fact that the book was interspersed with many knowledge nuggets, which, if weren't true or accurate, felt like they were.

One example is when Samantha strangles someone with a zip-tie and then cuts the tie away after they passed out. In movies, they let you mistakenly believe that strangling someone until they pass out kills them which is untrue. One the choke hold is released they will start getting oxygen again even if they are unconscious.

You can tell that a lot of work and effort went into writing this book and I would guess that J.M. Roach either has a fascinating career history or has done a lot of research for many of the scenes.

I laughed out loud at a scene with a cat trying to get food form Samantha.

I only noticed one misspelling in the entire book - the word "weary" was used instead of "wary".

I'll probably be on the lookout for more books by this author as his writing will only get better. ( )

'Childhood Games' is an entertaining enough read but it has quite a dark feel to it.

I would have liked it to flow more easily. It was written in the third person and some of the descriptive passages were written in minute detail and could have been kept shorter.

I had no problem following the plot when the story jumped to one of Samantha's memories. Nor did I have a problem with the gore of all the fighting and shooting scenes...it read like how I imagined it would look in a movie. There were enough twists to keep me interested. The story is set up for a sequel and even though I firmly expect Samantha to kick ass I would like it to have a lighter, less oppressive feel to mirror any new good changes happening in Samantha's life. ( )

I received a review copy of this book.
Samantha was taken from a foster family she loved, and that loved her, when she was eight years old, by a secret organisation to be trained as the perfect soldier.
Ten years later she escapes the organisation and after several years and several plastic surgeries latter find her foster family again without their knowing it’s her.
When she wakes up in hospital with several gunshot wounds and no memory of what happened, she finds most of her family dead and her younger sister missing she vows to get her back.
While it is at times over descriptive, the book moves at a good pace, with plenty of suspense and a couple of good twists.
And leaves enough material to run to a series. ( )

It was slow and then it pick.I got it free for a review i wish it wouldn't have jump around so much. ( )

I just finished reading [Childhood Games]. I found myself confused at the beginning, The timetable of events that occurred was unclear, Read the book description , after I finished reading it and found out that the time frame between the shootings of the "family" and Samantha . , until Samantha awoke in the hospital was 3 years. Had no clue of this. The book is very long on details, to the point of "overkill". Some scenes were too graphic for me. The twists and turns of the narrative are difficult to follow. Would I recommend this book? A very guarded : Yes. with some reservations. ( )