His best friend, rich ‘bad boy’ Peter sails through life on his good looks and ‘devil may care’ attitude, all the while hiding a darkness that cannot be banished but simply held at bay. He struggles with the tragic death of his mother and an increasingly distant relationship with his father. Charlie is the leader of the Vindicators, a self-labeled group of geeks, gamers and outsiders trying to weather the storms of high school in an effort to move beyond them into their ‘real lives’. It is easy to see yourself in each, even if that image is a slightly distorted, fun-house reflection. The cast of characters found within The God Game are relatable, if not all exactly likable. For five high school students, what starts out as an exciting escape from the day to day pressures of teen age life: school bullies and overbearing parents, quickly evolves into a life and death struggle not only against the game itself but also against each other. The rules of the game are simple: Obey the self-professed god found within its cryptic messages and it will fulfill your every dream disobey and face its terrible wrath. It all begins as a game, an altered reality experience whose origins are lost in history of hacker legend. He maintains a frenetic atmosphere throughout the novel with the use of short, fast paced chapters that have the reader rushing to turn the pages as the protagonists found inside them race against the clock and their own demons. Through this haunting modern take on the biblical story of Abraham, Tobey examines the darkness that exists within all of us in a world of increasingly anonymous interactions with our fellow human beings. Danny Tobey’s technological thriller, The God Game, explores the dangers of the growing global community, built without many of us actually meeting one another.

The god game danny tobey