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.  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.  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.

               It all begins as a game, an altered reality experience whose origins are lost in history of hacker legend.  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.  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 cast of characters found within The God Game are relatable, if not all exactly likable.  It is easy to see yourself in each, even if that image is a slightly distorted, fun-house reflection.  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’.  He struggles with the tragic death of his mother and an increasingly distant relationship with his father.  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.  Vanhi, an Indian girl whose punk rock soul is at odds with her traditional upbringing, wrestles with the suffocating expectations of demanding parents while trying to find her own identity.  Kenny, a creative soul stifled by his own religious homelife, fights against the soul crushing weight it brings to bear upon his own soul.  The cast is rounded out by Alex, an outsider’s outsider who always seems on the edge of fracture.

               Each receives an invitation to play an altered reality game that promises to grant their fondest desires.  All it asks in return is for them to complete quests both within its borders and outside of it.  These tasks begin as innocuous and innocent; as they delve deeper into the twisted psyche of the self-professed AI ‘god’, they find that nothing is as it seems.  Bullies receive righteous punishment and the shadows of hypocrisy are dragged into the light of day as the actions of the group become more greedy and vicious.  Soon they are struggling against one another as much as against the game, each seeking an escape from its clutches and the repercussions of their own actions.

               The God Game serves at a modern parable of the dangers of the myopic view that plagues us as a society, even as our perceptions expand exponentially with the data overload and instant gratification that the era of social media and google provides.  Tobey’s use of language and pacing provide an urgency to the novel that pulls the reader into the frantic struggle of its protagonists.  As the story progresses, however, the game shapes each into something that is not completely likable, almost as if one could see one’s own face reflected in the pages.  The God Game is a fun ride that evolves into a frightening tale that had nothing to do with monsters, except those that dwell within each of us.