Toys

James Patterson is, quite frankly, a glorified editor.  Let me explain.  You might have noticed that nearly every single book he writes is written by with a coauthor.  He has publicly stated that the coauthor write the first draft and he takes it from there.  This means that the entire story, including every major detail and most of the minor ones, is written by the coauthor, and James Patterson simply makes it look like his style.  I am writing a book.  I know how first drafts work.  Most of the information in a book will be conveyed in the first draft.  He does little more than spruce up (or down) a few details, italicize the important parts, and break the chapters into three pages apiece. 

Now, for James Patterson to have his name in big letters and Neil McMahon's name in letters that are a similar color to the rest of the cover, smaller, and near the bottom, one would think that he did a lot of editing of that first draft.  It should come out bursting with imaginative prose, subtle details, and all the other non-plot things that, though there in a first draft, really start to shine in later drafts in a book.  Not so.  It reads like, well, a first draft.  Details are nonexistant.  I wouldn't be surprised if James Patterson took out the details from Neil McMahon's first draft.  You're supposed to feel for some of the characters, especially the protagonist and Shana (Hey!  That's my name spelled differently!  Why'd you have to make her a slut?), and, I presume, get some real "evil" vibes from the Toyz company.  I certainly didn't.  This is a great book if you are used to flimsy worlds made of cardboard and need every point drilled into your head in blunt phrasing.  Otherwise, stay away. 

On an ending note, I just looked it up, and there is apparently a different cover available for Toys that says that James Bond and Jason Bourne have just been topped!  This is a falsehood.  I didn't put any quotes around this because there aren't any on the cover.  I presume the author himself said it.