6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An unusual premise, brilliantly executed., June 18, 1999
This review is from: Toyer (Hardcover)
I don't spend much time with thrillers, but reading Gardner McKay's Toyer was time well spent. Some readers will object to his obvious blending of conventional narrative and playwriting techniques, but it worked for me. In fact, more novelists should study dramatic writing with an eye to getting rid of tedious description which serves no end. His playwriting backround is particularly noticeable in the handling of dialogue. Note, for example, the very sparing use of 'he said', 'she said'. It's not necessary.
The story is consuming. Once I picked it up I was hooked. Nothing else was read until I finished. As for believability... believable enough. That's what good fiction writing is after all -- the suspension of disbelief.
It's rare to find a thriller that isn't badly written, despite a strong story, or pretentious and badly written. Toyer is that rare find.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A very classy brain clearing thriller, November 25, 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: Toyer (Hardcover)
Not a book is not for the faint of heart, 'Toyer' is both poetry and, (I think any way), deep satire all wrapped up in a relentless psycho/sexual tale that is going to scare your pants off. Be warned, this is old school, dark side stuff where no concessions are made to the current batch of thought police. Some women will be critical because most of the violence is visited upon female characters (although the heroes are female too and, except for Toyer himself, the men are pretty uniformly lightweight). Moreover, everyone is liable to face some squirmy questions about themselves by the time the book has run it's course. The poetry is mostly about Los Angeles with it's gutters full or oranges and furry tennis balls and so on, and is a very nice bonus you don't get with most books in the genre. You won't have to feel guilty about reading trashy thrillers with this one, it is exquisitely written. Anyway, not to worry about the poetry; nothing long or heavy, but resonating in it's cumulative effects. The man knows LA and he has got it down here. As to satire, someone said with really good satire you can't really tell if it is or not which I guess is true here. Well, maybe it's not satire. See what I mean? Anyway, as far as I can see our culture is so over the top now that real satire is virtually impossible. Take a walk down any street in America and tell me I'm wrong.
As to the gruesome operative (no pun) facts of the story, as if their dramatic value were not enough, we are presented with the standard proposition that the enemy is really us, demanding and lapping up the gory details the way we do. And, the usual corrollary is trotted out too, that it's all the big manipulative institutions that are doing it to us. A drooling, uneducatated herd being driven by greedy, unscrupulous shepherds. Well, it's not an important part of the book and we are so used to it it's not really distracting. Besides, where would we be without these literary 'blankies' for security?
As mentioned in other reviews, the serial "killer" here doesn't kill, he "maims"(...to say the least). He puts his victims into a hopless, deep coma forever. Healthy beautiful vegetables. It wasn't entirely clear to me whether any of the Toyer victims have any sense or understanding of what is going on around them, (maybe because no one knows), only that to outward appearances they are unreachable and insentient. If they are, if they do hear, if they do have their wits and can see the flies on the ceiling and so forth but can't communicate in any way, well, I guess that is my idea of real horror. 60 or 70 years of that would be a long stretch of bad road.
I should say, before I give my wholehearted recommendation to this book for anyone who wants a first rate non-stop read and a good dose of adrenalin, that although I only knew vaguely that he was writing a book, I have known Gardner McKay for a number of years. He is quite a remarkable man of considerable accomplishments in a number of fields, and with this book I would have to say, if it wasn't already, his future is assured. I have heard his readings for Public Radio of his stories, and if he is doing his own narration for the audio version of the book, that ought to be a real treat too.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A page-turner, hard to put down, an excellent read., September 3, 1999
This review is from: Toyer (Hardcover)
In three years I've not picked up a novel that kept me interested past the first few pages. But that changed with TOYER! Actor turned author, Gardner McKay (Adventures in Paradise) has a great style--concise, crisp, provocative. He withholds and surprises with every chapter. And what an intriging, inventive character/plot he has created. I've told five friends about this book. What a thrill to get back to pleasure reading, that is scary, intense, sexy and frightening, all at once.
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