Tin Men

Thrilling book, well priced when I bought it at £2.99. I'd started reading a sample on iO9.com that had the main character drop into one of the drones and encounter the unusual quiet of a Syrian patrol - It was so vivid I stopped reading and bought the book proper.It's reminiscent of many taut action thriller films, and wouldn't be surprised if it got turned into one. The vision it paints is grim, and is a future I hope no one ever sees. The characters are well drawn, and I could picture real life actors easily. Some other reviewer said they were thinly characterised, but they were perfectly serviceable, and any deeper characterisation would arrest the pace, which is amazing. It hurtles along at a delightful speed with few chapter breaks encouraging a continual read.

Non-stop action, though not entirely happy with its position on disability,

The world has gone to hell and only America can save it, by inventing mind controlled robot soldiers, shooting foreigners and taking over their countries. Some very thinly characterised soldiers get picked off one by one while trying to save the president from baddies who tend to have more morally justified positions but aren't American. Entirely predictable, very dull.

I first heard about this book a few months before it was due for release, initially I was really keen to read it, however by the time the book had published and I had my copy to read I found myself wondering what exactly it was that drew me to it in the first place. Surely my tastes hadn't changed so drastically in just two months? I'm genuinely surprised as I didn't think I would like this but I did. I wasn't able to sit down and devour it in one or two sittings, infact it took almost 10 days for to get through it, almost unheard of for me. Usually when it takes me that long to read a book I tend to put it down and move on to something else, but there was something about this that made me want to carry on. And I'm glad I stuck with it.One thing I did struggle with with this book is the sheer number of characters. There's so many characters and being a military book (or perhaps its just an American thing) they kept switching between using first names and surnames when addressing people, it made it difficult for me to follow who's who. But I also think that Golden may have stretched himself a little too thinly when creating some of the characters as some of them didn't stand out as their own people and several characters seemed to blend in to one another. Much like the Tin Men without any adornments on their bodies, it was hard sometimes to tell them apart.Overall I felt this book was great, its not so over the top its almost scary to think that this could happen. Perhaps not all of the details but certain aspects aren't that far from our reality. This is my first book by Golden, but it wont be my last.

Christopher can be a bit of a hit or miss author for me and whilst the premise is always entertaining as well as something that draws you in, at times it feels that the characters within are not fully realised and feel just there to be cannon fodder rather than anything to show the terror or horror of what they’re facing.For me, as a reader when this happens it a let-down and really doesn’t allow me to fully engage with the book, to generate a personal connection to those involved and as such really doesn’t keep me glued to see what happens as each situation evolves as well as resolves itself.Sadly this is the case with this book and whilst I do love the concept, for me as a reader, the execution was sadly missing as the title took a well-trodden path leaving no real surprises as it told the story. Don’t get me wrong, it is an OK read but when you’re spending hard earned money alongside devoting your personal time to help relax then it’s something that I feel cheated by.