The Givenchy Code

By Julie Kenner

Book Overview

A mind-bending code spawned from the mind of a madman...or maybe just a jealous ex.
A desperate race through the cathedrals and hotels of New York City...with a teeny bit of time for shopping, it's true.
An astonishing truth concealed for years, unveiled at last...with more than a little help from a supercute new guy.

As if a recent breakup, scrounging for rent money, and lusting after designer shoes weren't enough to make graduate student Melanie Prescott's life challenging, suddenly she's practically living The Da Vinci Code. A mysterious stranger is sending obscure codes and clues her way and she soon discovers she has to solve them in order to stay alive. With stakes like that, her dissertation on "the derivation and primary characteristics of codes and ciphers used by prevailing nations during wartime" is looking a little less important than it was yesterday. Right now she's just worrying about living to see tomorrow. The only bright spot in the whole freakish nightmare is Matthew Stryker, the six-foot tall, dark, and handsome stranger who's determined to protect her. Well, that and the millions of dollars that will be her reward if she survives this deadly game. And she'd better survive. Because that's a heck of a lot of money to be able to spend on shoes and handbags and sunglasses and dresses, and, well, it's hard to be fashionable when you're dead.
Join bestselling author Julie Kenner on a heel-breaking adventure in code-breaking that will bring out the math geek and the fashionista in you.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743496132
• ISBN13: 9780743496131
• Release Date: June 2005
• Publisher: Gallery Books
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Mystery-Romance Book

Melanie Lynn Prescott is your normal everyday garden veriaty grad student living in NYC. She loves shopping with her roomate and is looking for love after dumping her boyfriend. Then while out walking dogs she runs into her ex and also a messager who gives her a message. The ex takes the message and later she goes to her exs appartment to read the message. The message says "Play or Die" and gives her clues to follow. She is scared and spends the night with her ex. The next day the ex is dead and she and Mathew Striker who is hired as her protector must outrun Lynex who is out to kill her. They must unscramble codes connected to an internet game called Play.Survive.Win. Will Mel and Striker find and figure out what the clues mean in time or will Lynex get them? Find out in The Givench Code.

I couldn't put it down

A delicious page-turner -- I couldn't put it down and read it all in one day. This story had all the right elements -- fun dialogue, a lot of laugh-out-loud moments, a yummy hero, high fashion, great shoes, and an original plot. Loved it!!

Interesting, fast-paced premise

Grad student Melanie Prescott has a knack for math problems, codes and ciphers. When a coded message is delivered to her by a mysterious stranger, she's intrigued. And when her ex boyfriend uses the message to see her again, she goes along with his extortion. After all, he did give her a pair of Givenchy pumps, right? It's not like she's going to take him back or anything, right? Well, okay, Melanie does have sex with him but, as far as she's concerned, it's definitely a no-strings thing. Especially when she discovers the ex with his brains blown out and the mysterious stranger accosts her with scary threats. In a panic she runs, heading to her apartment where ex-Marine Matthew Stryker is waiting for her. Stryker explains that they're players in the PlaySurviveWin Internet role-playing game, except this game is real. Melanie is the target, Stryker is the protector and the mysterious guy is the assassin. Set in Manhattan, this story moved quickly, lots of action. I read it in one sitting. Fun and original. I didn't experience one ~What?!~ moment, everything made sense. Not much sex but the sexual tension was good.

remind the audience of the movie The Tenth Victim

Before he died, brilliant online game maker Archibald Grimaldi developed the most popular role playing game yet when he created PSW (Play, Survive, Win). The participant would answer questions about themselves and if approved would be assigned as a Target, Protector, or Assassin. The Target would run around the cyber city seeking clues and safeguarded by the Protector while the Assassin tries to kill the Target before the opponent solved the puzzle. Grimaldi placed in motion a real world version of his hit Internet game. Former counterterrorist marine Major Matthew Stryker applied to PSW years ago, but never played. He was assigned to protect Jamie Tate with twenty thousand dollars deposited in his bank account. He ignored the assignment and the money until he learns that someone he assumes an Assassin murdered the Target Jamie in real life He is sent anther 20K and told the Target for him keep safe is Melanie "Mel" Prescott, who has played successfully on line PSW. She rejects the role of real life Target as a hoax until Matthew risks his life to keep her safe leaving behind a corpse as they flee for their lives from a mentally unbalanced Assassin. This action thriller never slows down once Matthew realizes that the PSW game is played for real. In some ways, the story line will remind the audience of the movie The Tenth Victim, but has it owns freshness. Matthew is a delightful skeptical Protector while cryptographic aficionado Mel refuses to become a victim. Julie Kenner writes a tense suspense novel that will grip the audience from start to exhilarating final countdown. Harriet Klausner

CataRomance.com Reviews

Melanie Prescott's day was not starting out well. It's a gloomy and drizzly day, she has to walk six dogs at once, and she runs into her ex-boyfriend. Then a mysterious man hands her an envelope that will change her life. Inside is a message: Play or die. She initially thought it was a joke, a friend playing on her love of codes and ciphers, but soon she knows it's real. Melanie once played an online game called Play.Survive.Win, and played it well. She eventually lost interest and forgot about it, but now someone has taken that game and modified it for the real world. She must truly play or die. She meets sexy Matthew Stryker, who has been designated her Protector by the game mastermind. He didn't take the message seriously the first time, and a woman died. He won't make the same mistake twice. They need to work together to decipher the clues while playing cat and mouse across Manhattan with an assassin who is equally determined to win. What can I say about this book? In one word: Wow. From the first page, I was hooked. THE GIVENCHY CODE starts out like an ordinary chick lit novel with designer clothes and ex-boyfriend problems, but it quickly changes into a riveting romantic suspense that is full of action. It even adds in the perfect amount of sexual tension to keep things hot. Melanie handles being forced into the game of her life in what I thought was a very realistic way. She also actually uses her brain rather than completely depending on Stryker's brawn. Stryker and her also work very well together. They make quite the team and their sexual tension is incredible. Stryker is a one hot and capable hero, and it's not just his strength and military training that's needed for their survival. This is one action-packed romance that you won't want to miss. Fresh and irresistible, I hope Julie Kenner plans to write more books such as this one. I highly recommend THE GIVENCHY CODE and can't wait to reread it.