(3.75) rounding up because I really enjoyed the video game aspect a lot in this story!
I picked this one up on a whim on NetGalley because the synopsis sounded good, and I’m glad I did!
I won’t give anything away but I recommend this one to horror fans and also video game fans. My only issue was the pacing seemed to get clunky at times, and I felt like there was too much fluff at times.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this eARC copy of the book!

If you enjoy video games and 1980's nostalgia, this one is for you! What is happening to the people of Tasker Bay? A new addictive video game has shown up at the local video store and anyone who plays it starts to exhibit aggression and violence. A true horror novel without a happy ending.

Thank you so much to Gallery Books and NetGalley for my ARC!

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

This is a fast-paced scifi story about a video game which has become an urban legend and conspiracy theory over the past decades. Some people claim to remember Polybius, others do not, there’s not much evidence that it ever existed. Allegedly, the game consoles disappeared one day, and nearly everyone denied ever having seen them. You can find stories about it on Internet rumor sites.

The book contains murder, arson, theft, and some mystery surrounding it all. Breaking and entering is a very common occurrence here. There’s crime and murder mystery, government and corporate conspiracy, leaks, unexplained (until later in the story) violence, and vandalism – all with a common cause. There’s code deciphering and electronic spelunking.

This story gives an explanation for Polybius. This isn’t just any video game. It is said to produce seizures, but it does much more than that causing violence, zombie-like behavior, hallucinations, obsessions with things and people making odd drawings. The main protagonists are two teenagers – a sheriff’s son and an electronics-whiz girl – the doctor’s daughter – and their budding romance. Their single-parents work together forming a friendship and we hope more. There is a mystery and a conspiracy about where this game came from and why, and how the “oddities” – which become dangerous in most affected people – can be stopped. There is a government conspiracy, someone who wants it to go public, and everyone in town has their lives on the line.

This book was fine. It wasn't what I wanted but I still enjoyed it. After reading Rabbits and getting interested in the whole Polybius story, I had a lot of hopes that this book would be more in line with the kind of story I got out of Rabbits. It was also compared to Stranger Things, which I can see the connection to the MK Ultra storyline, that wasn't the part of Stranger Things I wanted this book to be similar to. There were large swaths of the beginning of this book where I felt like the author didn't totally know where the story was going, but once I got more towards the middle / end of the book it picked up the pace and I was starting to enjoy it more. I gave this three stars instead of two because it does pick up and the pacing gets better if you stick with it, but it was a really slow start for me and something I might not have finished if I hadn't gotten the ARC.

Thanks NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ - 3.5 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒔
𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 meets 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐝? Color me intrigued! 👀 This eerie, nostalgic tale dives into the creepy world of retro arcades, urban legends, and a town spiraling out of control. 🌧️🎮

When Andi moves to Tasker Bay—a seaside town with a “quiet but something's-off” vibe—her focus is on saving up to make her Silicon Valley dreams come true. 💼 But her job at the shady, rundown arcade (of all places!) soon pulls her into the town’s darkest secrets. Between dealing with the 𝑠𝑘𝑒𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑦 locals and fending off relentless players desperate to try the new game “Polybius,” Andi’s life takes a serious twist.

The plot itself? 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔. As the game goes live, people start acting...off. The whole town falls under a spell—paranoia, violence, ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑢𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠—until it’s just Andi, Ro, and a handful of others left fighting to uncover what’s really going on. The story nails that spooky arcade vibe and leans into the “strange epidemic” concept with fun twists. 🎮🧟‍♀️

Where it didn’t totally hit the mark for me was the characters. 😕 I really wanted to feel more for Andi and Ro’s journey, but they came across a bit flat—more like pieces in the game than real, relatable teens. Despite the high-stakes action, it was hard to fully connect with them, and I wasn’t as emotionally ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑑 on their story as I’d hoped. The premise was 𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑟, though, and the 𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞 atmosphere and mystery were totally addictive.

All in all, it’s a cool, creepy read that’s perfect for fans of nostalgic horror with a twist. Just don’t expect to get too deep with the characters. If you're here for the vibes and thrills, this one might be for you! 👾✨

𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐠 𝐚 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝?! 👀🤯

Thank you NetGalley & the author for my ARC!

This one started off strong for me, but about 2/3 of the way through, it lagged. And the last section was just not for me. I won’t say more so I don’t spoil it for anyone.

incredible old-school vibes in this computer based thriller -recommended for fans of Stephen King and Stranger Things!

I found the book to be electrifying and immersive, this novel dives into the unsettling mystery of Polybius, weaving suspense and supernatural intrigue with a retro '80s vibe. The tense relationship between Andi and Ro offers both heart and heroism, grounding the eerie events in the small town of Tasker Bay. With sharp storytelling and a vivid sense of atmosphere, this book is a must-read for fans of Stranger Things and The Walking Dead, who crave a blend of nostalgia, danger, and psychological intensity.

Not for me. I requested this to read in October, as I always like to stock up on "spooky stories" to get me in the Halloween mood. This wasn't quite what I expected, and not my favorite.

I would describe this read as "Stranger Things meets The Purge." Things get creepy and unsettling, then slowly descend into madness before ending up in total chaos. The story is told from 3rd POV and we get to see things from every angle and from every person in town. There are twists and turns and shocks and surprises and I could see it all happening in my head. It was a fun and wild ride, and you will NOT catch me at any arcades any time soon.

This was such a fun read, I flew through it in two days. A new arcade game shows up at Andi's work and it seems everyone in town is infatuated with it. Andi and her crush Ro realize that the game is affecting people in a negative way. Almost everyone in their town is becoming aggressive and crime is escalating. But what makes this game so special? Andi and Ro have to race against time to figure out if they can save everyone. This book was perfect for the spooky season, seeing as it takes place during Halloween. I loved the retro vibes of the 80s and I think this would make a really good movie. I also learned that this is based on an urban legend that I had never heard of so that was interesting.
Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery books for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

With his debut novel “Polybius,” author Collin Armstrong has given us a work of horror and suspense reminiscent of Stephen King’s “Needful Things.” I enjoyed much of it. However, parts of it struck me as didactic. Also, some story ideas were not as original as they could have been, while some very original ideas were not developed as fully as they should have been.

Welcome to 1982 and the California seaside fishing/farming village of Trasker Bay in Sonoma County, north of Silicon Valley. Once a close-knit, blue-collar community, its proximity to San Jose is turning it into an upscale suburb. Gentrification and development threaten to make it unaffordable for long-time residents.

Teen electronics whiz-kid Andi Winston has just been moved into town by her physician mom, Rachel, who has just divorced Andi’s father and left him in San Jose. All Andi wants to do is get back to her Dad and their old home so she can work with him on his next great project. She’ll be leaving any day now, so it’s best not to get too close to anyone at her new high school. Instead, she spends her after-school hours working at Home Video World, a video store and gaming arcade where she’s responsible for keeping the big box/joystick video games working. (Remember, it’s 1982 and “Ms. Pac-man” is all the rage).

Roman Kemp (“Ro”) is the teenage son of the local sheriff. He also has a passion for electronics and gaming. And he’s developing quite a crush on Andi, who wants nothing to do with him … because it wouldn’t be worth it … because she’s going home … any day now.

And then “Polybius” arrives in the shop. All-white and gleaming, with a display screen no one has ever experienced before, it’s a hundred times more sophisticated than anything else on the floor. Everyone wants to play, including Ro. Everyone, that is, except Andi who isn’t into gaming at all. Every day, throngs of players crowd the machine. Which is when the town and just about everyone in it—except for Andi—begins to fall apart in some very disturbing ways. Now, it’s up to Andi and her doctor-Mom, and Ro and his sheriff-Dad, to figure out what’s happening and how to stop it. That's if the currently raging storm will let them.

There’s a lot to like about this novel. The prose is clear. The dialogue is natural. The main characters have depth and complexity and are likable. I rooted for them and cared about what happened to them. There’s lots of conflict. Mr. Armstrong excels at creating suspenseful scenes. (He also includes a fair amount of violence and killing, although I don’t recall any graphic or gory depictions). Some might even say that he has a literary flair and that he has created something allegorical of our times.

However, I was not as impressed by the plot. While I thought some aspects were very original, other aspects I’ve seen numerous times in books, movies, and television shows. And I thought several interesting plot ideas were raised, but then left to languish.

Also, from time to time, there’s a didactic element to Mr. Armstrong’s writing that seemed cumbersome. He does a significant amount of “telling” us who his characters are and what happened to them, rather than “showing” us.

But fans of works like “Stranger Things,” “Needful Things,” and “Storm of the Century” probably will find much to enjoy here. All in all, 3.75 stars rounded up to 4.

My thanks to NetGalley, author Collin Armstrong and publisher Gallery Books for providing me with a complimentary ARC. All of the foregoing is my independent opinion.

Great horror/thriller about an MK Ultra-esque video game commissioned and abandoned by the US government that fell into the wrong hands. Bleak, but a great read.

This book is great for fans of Black Mirror meets Stranger Things with urban legends! I loved this 80s set novel with a government funded video game that a store receives, and chaos ensues. The characters are fun, and the book is fast paced. I may have gone down a rabbit hole (shocker) after reading this about government experiments using video games... I love that this book was equal parts plot driven as well as character driven because I was concerned we would get only the two MCs slow burn of a budding relationship. That was not the case at all. Amazing horror book!!! Also, parts can get a bit gruesome so check your trigger warnings.

With the popularity of Stranger Things, having things set in the 80's or 90's is cool. It's pre-technology advancement explosion. Where we become aware.

Polybus is a strange book. It has all the makings of an interesting book. A video game hidden by a company that when played causes people to trip out and go insane / kill people. It ends up in the hands of a arcade / film rental owner. The game arouses some suspicion by one of his staff, a girl who likes coding and doesn't play video games. She is struck by the amount of people lining up to play this game, but is uneasy regarding what happens after people play it or get interested in it.

A boy from school (who has feelings for her) and his ex-girlfriend (who he is friendly with) end up getting sucked into this mess, and they have to figure out how to save the town.

I made it to 50% before pulling the plug on this. How is it that you could have an interesting plot but the characters are a chore to read about? They have no 'character' to their character. The girl is into computer coding... what else do you know about her? Any of her quirks? Likes / dislikes? Nothing. Same with the boy, and his ex-girlfriend. All of it just seems so generic.

The horror aspect that comes from playing the game isn't uneasy or subtle or fills you with dread. It just comes across so obvious and blunt off the bat. It's turning these people into mindless zombies that kill but the reader figures it out too fast and or it's not layered with any sort of ambitious dread.

All in all, I wish I could like this book, but if you're a horror fan or someone who enjoys the retro vibe, you might be dismayed by the final product.

Thank you Netgalley and Collin Armstrong for giving me this book in exchange for an honest review

Prior to this book I have not heard of the myth regarding polybius, and regardless of the lack of expectation, truly delivered for me! In my younger years I spent time poring over creepypastas and rabbit holes of unanswerable horror mysteries. I loved reading Polybius. Andi and Ro, teenagers that they are, didn't feel like watered down characters that fit a standard "chosen one trope". They are reasonably capable of what they are doing and how they feel does not drive them but supports their goal.

Initially thought this was a horror only with a supernatural explanation, but the twist it reached made me laugh. Glad of the ending, as it covers the aspect of: "Not everything ends with a happily ever after". And the final explanation of how urban myths and legends grip our very lives

I enjoyed this book. The story was compelling and I liked how fleshed out all the characters were, which can be hard to do in a multi pov. The issues I had were the flow of the plot and the sci fi element. Sometimes this book really had me invested in what was going on, other times I felt like it was in a bit of a rut. I also wish the science behind video games had been explained more. Overall, I thought this was a fun spooky read.

I really wanted this to be better. Not a bad premise, but pretty basic, and the writing was very pedestrian. It was clearly a new author who didn’t understand the importance of maintaining a consistent point of view, instead of jumping from one characters head to the next in the same scene. And the action was not clearly described, so at times even the basic plot line was hard to follow. It was also unnecessarily bleak at the end. Not recommending.

There were times I was really into this book, but there were times I wasn't jiving at all. My 2 biggest gripes are too many POVs and I wish it was shorter and had better pacing.

What a wild ride. I was nervous with two of the main characters being teens that this would be a tame scifi horror, it’s not. The description of Stranger Things meets Walking Dead is pretty on point. I don’t want to give spoilers, but dang this is perfectly violent for a video game horror book.

The vibes:
1982
Video game arcade
conspiracy theories
scifi mystery
get out alive
teen computer /gaming nerds
80’s scifi horror movies
mystery thriller
small town
fast-paced action