The cover of "Polybius" is what initially drew me in but the author's skillful storytelling kept me turning pages.

I'm generally a fan of reading stories based off Urban Legends and while this story is uniquely its own I think they did a great job in comparing it to Stranger Things meets the Walking Dead. The nostalgic Arcade setting, group of teens and mysterious government clandestine project made for a really intriguing read.

This is a new to me to author and I think what stuck out to me most was how his writing style was very calm during all the chaos. It was very different from how most Thrillers and Horror novels I've read are told but it worked well with the story.

I'll definitely checkout more from this author in the future!

Thank you Collin Armstrong, Net Galley and Gallery Books for providing me with an ARC of this book! All opinions in this review are my own.

I wasn’t grabbed by the writing of this title. It felt like it took a few chapters to get started, and I’d prefer if the action started a little sooner.

All things considered, I loved the premise and that it is based on a real folklore story! It’s not for me, but the author can definitely hit a folklore-game niche here. Thank you for the ARC Netgalley!

"Polybius" is a thriller/horror novel by Collin Armstrong. The novel is based on the urban legend where the government creates a stand up arcade game called Polybius psychology experiment that messes with players minds and causes them to lash out, hallucinate, have seizures, etc. Set in the early 80s, the story centers on Andi, a teen girl who likes computers and coding. She and her mom move to the small town of Tasker Bay and Andi gets a part time job at an arcade. When her boss buys an arcade game for cheap (Polybius), she notices strange things happening to the players. A recommended purchase where retro thrillers/horro are popular.

This was an absolutely fantastic read. The perfect mix of thriller, horror, nostalgia and well drawn characters. Set in a small town on the outskirts of San Jose, an arcade game starts to bring out the dark side of everyone who looks into it's captivating display. The story is really well paced and the characters are compelling. The final third is nerve shattering as the town descends further and further into anarchy, I'll be recommending it to everyone!

A never heard of videogame shows up to an arcade in a small town and devastation and chaos follows; sign me up! Polybius was such a fun and creepy read and quite the page-turner. The action scenes were so engrossing and left me on the edge of my seat, wanting more. The main characters did seem a little under developed and I didn't really love any of them but was rooting for them nonetheless. *Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the ARC of this book.*

Really interesting concept! I could totally see this being adapted into a movie or TV show -- some of the imagery feels cinematic for sure. The writing style wasn't my favorite and I got a little bored with the action towards the end but I did feel compelled to keep reading and find out what was going to happen!

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

The writing style of this failed to grab me, the expository dialogue just fell kind of flat, in terms of telling instead of showing the characters interests and motivations. An interesting story though