Synopsis

You are invited!
Come inside and play with G.O.D.
Bring your friends!
It’s fun!
But remember the rules. Win and ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE.™ Lose, you die!

With those words, Charlie and his friends enter the G.O.D. Game, a video game run by underground hackers and controlled by a mysterious AI that believes it’s God. Through their phone-screens and high-tech glasses, the teens’ realities blur with a virtual world of creeping vines, smoldering torches, runes, glyphs, gods, and mythical creatures. When they accomplish a mission, the game rewards them with expensive tech, revenge on high-school tormentors, and cash flowing from ATMs. Slaying a hydra and drawing a bloody pentagram as payment to a Greek god seem harmless at first. Fun even.

But then the threatening messages start. Worship me. Obey me. Complete a mission, however cruel, or the game reveals their secrets and crushes their dreams. Tasks that seemed harmless at first take on deadly consequences. Mysterious packages show up at their homes. Shadowy figures start following them, appearing around corners, attacking them in parking garages. Who else is playing this game, and how far will they go to win?

And what of the game’s first promise: win, win big, lose, you die? Dying in a virtual world doesn’t really mean death in real life—does it?

As Charlie and his friends try to find a way out of the game, they realize they’ve been manipulated into a bigger web they can’t escape: an AI that learned its cruelty from watching us.

God is always watching, and He says when the game is done.

Review

This is described as a cross between Player One and Black Mirror and this is probably an accurate overall description of this book.

Enter five teens that have various issues but have formed a tight-knit group and their own club in school.  They all have issues of some sort (what teen doesn’t?) but this game will either bring them together or tear them apart forever.  The G.O.D. Game is one of morality but who decides what is right or wrong?  And to what lengths will the group go to achieve Goldz and avoid Blaxx?

Charlie, Vanhi, Peter, Alex, and Kenny and the five Vindicators.  Charlie is the main character and is dealing with the loss of his mother.  Peter has an absent father and claims to have lost his mother.  Kenny is a talented musician and has some big shoes to fill after the death of his older brother.  Alex is trying to make it through life but has a father that expects a lot from him and punishes him when he doesn’t perform adequately.  Vanhi is the lone female in the group and knows what she wants from life.  The strengths and weaknesses of this group will be used against them in the game as they directed to perform various tasks that could go against their beliefs but if they don’t complete the tasks, their lives could be in danger.

This YA suspense/thriller kept me on the edge of my seat.  I wondered if there was anyone behind this game, or had AI actually evolved enough to do everything that happened in the game. As the book progresses we find that there are many more than just these five playing the game, but for how long?  There are hints that this game has been around for decades which might make sense for the AI to have gained all of the knowledge that it had about people and decision making.  There are many twists and turns with the characters that I did not see coming, especially one near the end.  I won’t say what or who is involved, but it was quite surprising but not at the same time.  I hope that makes sense!

Besides the game aspect, there are the normal high school issues that arise with who is popular or not, young relationships, manipulation, abuse, and so much more.  There are also familial issues that shape these young characters to be who they are by their senior year.  They are tempted by the game and at times do not want to do what the game is telling them, but to go against the game could mean death.

I am not a computer programmer so some of the text went over my head, but I could understand the gist of the meaning even if I didn’t understand the finer details.  I found the religious aspects intriguing and considering the AI is claiming to be G.O.D., I would expect bible quotes or references to other religions and the beliefs they follow.

There were just a few things that could have been left out of this book and it would have been just as good or perhaps even better in my mind.  I didn’t appreciate the political aspects.  I see enough bashing of our president in real life, I really don’t want to read about it in a book.  I also think there could have been fewer f* bombs.  Yes, I know many people use that word in their daily language, but what are we teaching our youth when we permit such crass language?

Overall, I enjoyed this book thoroughly and will be checking out other books by this author.  We give this 5 paws up.

About the Author

Danny Tobey is the author of THE GOD GAME, on sale January 7, 2020 from St. Martin’s Press. He is a fifth-generation Texan and a graduate of Harvard College, Yale Law School, and UT Southwestern medical school. Harvard gave Danny the Edward Eager prize “for the best creative writing.” He wrote and edited the Harvard Lampoon and was anthologized in The Best of the Harvard Lampoon: 140 Years of American Humor. Danny’s first novel, the sci-fi fantasy thriller The Faculty Club, came out from Simon & Schuster. Danny is a noted expert on Artificial Intelligence. In 2019, the Library of Congress gave Danny the Burton Award for his work on AI and the law.

Facebook * Twitter