Mazes and Monsters: A Novel

It was only a game, they told themselves. A way to escape the pressures of college life. A bonding experience for four friends. But soon taking on a role, getting lost in the fantasy world of Maze and Monsters, was everything.

For Jay Jay Brockway, role playing games were a way of escaping the loneliness he felt as the neglected child of overachieving parents.

For Robbie Wheeling, the game kept him from the grief that ate away at him and his family after the loss of his brother.

Kate Finch relishes her warrior role in the game, her tough veneer keeping her safe from the pain of loving and losing—again.

And for Daniel Goldsmith, playing the game frees him from the perfection his parents expect of him.

But when Jay Jay, Kate, Robbie, and Daniel take the game one step further by immersing themselves in a real-life maze, soon the line between reality and fantasy becomes blurred, with devastating consequences.

Praise for the writing of Rona Jaffe:

"Vivid and trenchant . . . Wry and very readable . . . A minor genius." — The New York Times Book Review

"Jaffe has not lost her wit, her keen eye for human frailties and her ear for the small but telling remark." — Publishers Weekly

"Reading Rona Jaffe is like being presented with a Cartier watch: you know exactly what you're getting and it's just what you want. Put your feet up, take the phone off the hook, and enjoy." — Cosmopolitan