Book Review: The God Game by Danney Tobey

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of THE GOD GAME from St. Martin's Press. First off, the cover was catching, bright and shiny and easy to pick up. The book starts off quickly by introducing a group of high schoolers, Charlie and his friends and the way they are pulled into a dangerous augmented reality game.

This story was fast paced with an alternating point of view. There were a few anti-trump references that didn't add to the story and could have been edited out. Overall THE GOD GAME was a thrilling, fast read. 3/5 stars.


#TheGodGame #SurviveTheGodGame

"Smart, propulsive and gripping, THE GOD GAME is an ambitious thriller and a terrifying examination of what could--and probably already is--happening in the world of artificial intelligence."―Harlan Coben, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Run Away

A technological thriller with an all-too-believable premise, award-winning author Danny Tobey's The God Game follows five teenagers obsessed with an online video game that connects them to their worst impulses and most dangerous desires.

They call themselves the Vindicators. Targeted by bullies and pressured by parents, these geeks and gamers rule the computer lab at Turner High School. Wealthy bad boy Peter makes and breaks rules. Vanhi is a punk bassist at odds with her heritage. Kenny's creativity is stifled by a religious home life. Insecure and temperamental, Alex is an outcast among the outcasts. And Charlie, the leader they all depend on, is reeling from the death of his mother, consumed with reckless fury.

They each receive an invitation to play The God Game. Created by dark-web coders and maintained by underground hackers, the video game is controlled by a mysterious artificial intelligence that believes it is God. Obey the almighty A.I. and be rewarded. Defiance is punished. Through their phone screens and high-tech glasses, Charlie and his friends see and interact with a fantasy world superimposed over reality. The quests they undertake on behalf of "God" seem harmless at first, but soon the tasks have them questioning and sacrificing their own morality.

High school tormentors get their comeuppance. Parents and teachers are exposed as hypocrites. And the Vindicators' behavior becomes more selfish and self-destructive as they compete against one another for prizes each believes will rescue them from their adolescent existence. But everything they do is being recorded. Hooded and masked thugs are stalking and attacking them. "God" threatens to expose their secrets if they attempt to quit the game. And losing the game means losing their lives.

You don't play the Game. The Game plays you....

Book Review: Inspection by Josh Malerman

Josh Malerman is best known for his best selling novel and Netflix movie Bird Box and I was lucky enough to interview him back in 2015 (see the interview here). Inspection is just as well written as Malerman's other works, but follows a drastically different plot than Bird Box. The Alphabet Boys and Letter Girls are raised on the theoretical values of a wealthy husband and wife. Raised in fear of being "spoiled rotten" and the punishment of "the Corner" none of the children have forgotten the unexplained deaths of their childhood friends. A social experiment gone wrong, raising children on lies appears to be more detrimental to the children than raising them without the distraction of the opposite gender. Another great read by Josh Malerman.







Check out www.MidnightLedger.com for all of your book collecting needs.

Review: "Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens

“Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens was amazing. I loved the southern setting, especially since I just finished my own novel set in the south. So many beautiful sentences. I need to read this a few more times.

5/5 Stars
 

New Release: The Man Who Fell To Earth!

FREE on Kindle 6/11-6/15

Blurb:


The Heat Wave drew a violence that was as unexpected as the bioluminescent flora that had begun sprouting in the slopes and valleys of Appalachia. It was swift and efficient at breaking humanity but now Abraham’s people have come to the rescue—although, only for those they deem worthy. Banished with the task of culling this planet and others, Abraham struggles with the reality that he is different from his own people and that the relationship with his brother has never been the same since exile. While Abraham is pressured to meet his quota, the population dwindles, and he is disturbed by the violence of humanity.

Until he meets Nova. Twice. She’s the woman who got away, the single person who’s refused his offer of sanctuary because the promise of a floating city in the sky sounds absurd, even if it does offer relief from the sweltering heat and violence. Nova goes her own way. She carves her own path even in the most vulnerable of times. But this planet has a way of bringing certain people together, especially when they need it most. At the end of the world, there will be violence and there just might be a man playing 90’s tunes on a harmonica.

Live Interview: Filmmaker Tara Johnson-Medinger (My Summer as a Goth)

I was lucky enough to get a preview of Tara's latest film "My Summer as a Goth" and it was pretty awesome. A lighthearted, coming-of-age story with lots of witty teenage banter and a full dose of "Who are you really?" leaves angsty teenager Joey with a summer she won't soon forget. And then there's the Goth makeup. And the Drag Queen Bingo. You'll be smiling from ear to ear just before your heart breaks. Loved it.

See official blurb below.

Filmmaker Tara Johnson-Medinger (My Summer as a Goth; mysummerasagoth.com) joins us on Stacey Cochran Live with co-hosts Rachel Carr and Meredith Pritchard Friday at 10 EST (7 Pacific)! Audience comments and questions will be featured on-screen, so make plans to join us by clicking “Get Reminder” below and help us by sharing this post! Likes help, too!


https://facebook.com/121511121236936/videos/1191533051007229/

Blurb:

"My Summer as a Goth is a coming-of-age story about the sometimes painful—often entertaining—search for identity and love in adolescence.

After the sudden death of her father, 16-year-old, Joey Javitts is sent to stay with her eccentric grandparents while her author mother promotes her latest novel. Joey promptly falls for the beguiling Goth boy next door, Victor, and is transformed by him and his merry band of misfits in black.

Set in present-day Portland, My Summer as a Goth navigates Joey’s relationships with her new friends, her family and herself, and will resonate with anyone who survived the social alienation of adolescence—and that first summer heartbreak." -MySummerAsAGoth.com

Review: All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders

It's been a while since I've done a book review, that doesn't mean I haven't been reading I've just been reading a multitude of books and finding in hard to finish one.

All The Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders was a really interesting read. A combination of sci-fi and fantasy that takes the reader through the scenic route of intertwining moments of Patricia and Laurence's lives as they are children, then young adults, and then adults. The dialogue is quippy and smart and the world was a bit like ours but more dire.

It was a good read. 4/5 Stars.





Blurb:

A novel about the end of the world--and the beginning of our future

Childhood friends Patricia Delfine and Laurence Armstead didn't expect to see each other again, after parting ways under mysterious circumstances during high school. After all, the development of magical powers and the invention of a two-second time machine could hardly fail to alarm one's peers and families.

But now they're both adults, living in the hipster mecca of San Francisco, and the planet is falling apart around them. Laurence is an engineering genius who's working with a group that aims to avert catastrophic breakdown through technological intervention into the changing global climate. Patricia is a graduate of Eltisley Maze, the hidden academy for the world's magically gifted, and works with a small band of other magicians to secretly repair the world's ever-growing ailments. Little do they realize that something bigger than either of them, something begun years ago in their youth, is determined to bring them together--to either save the world, or plunge it into a new dark ages.

A deeply magical, darkly funny examination of life, love, and the apocalypse.

New Release! Collector of Space Junk and Rebellious Dreams

It’s been ten years since Jack’s mother nearly died while saving the world against the Venom invasion. She’s moving on, but Jack is having a hard time doing the same. Hell bent on revenge, Jack’s going to hunt down every last bit of space junk that falls from the sky, hoping to find a lead to the Venom—even if those closest to him keep getting in the way.

Get the Kindle eBook free 4/4-4/8   https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QC3M4LT