Toys by James Patterson & Neil McMahon

The Book:

Hays Baker and Lizbeth have everything an Elite could dream for. The President even acknowledges the great contribution they both recently did to the Elite world. Hays is getting ready to celebrate with his family when he is faced with yet another challenge. He knows he has to win this war against humans one more time for the sake of the Elites.

Or does he have to win it for the sake of humans? Why are the men and woman he trusted following him? Why is he a fugitive now? Will he ever go back to living the life he led…

The View:

Like always I wanted to like this book and I was excited when I got hold of “Toys”. I did not read any reviews or have any idea of what the book was about; in short I intended to be a blank slate (at least for this book).

This is a science fiction thriller; and while I wont necessarily add it to my fave genres – I have to mention that I did not dislike this book because of that. The plot was uninteresting and felt like it was written for mindless readers (if there is one out there). I was fascinated by the war between the Elites and the humans and felt it was a great concept but was overall displeased with the book because of poor portrayal and lack of research.

The characters were flat and there was no effort spent on character building. Hays was the least impressive (you would have expected otherwise given that he was the hero). Lisbeth was smart and way more impactful then Hays. I enjoyed her shrewdness and personality. She was the vamp; but she had the attitude to take the character forward with a zest.

As much as I wanted to like this book, I can only rate it a 2 on 5. When I sat down to write this review I took a step back and asked myself – “Would I have liked the characters or plot better if this was not a science fiction?” The answer was an honest “NO”. The concept is great and had a wonderful potential but it was sadly under-utilized.

PS: I have to mention this as it annoyed the hell out of me; Did you know that cities would be called “New Vegas”, “New Chicago” etc in the future .. How innovative and brainy are the supposedly brilliant “Elites”?

---