Have you ever sat down for dinner at a fancy restaurant and been so excited to eat the meal? Then the appetizer comes out and its cold, undercooked, and gross? Then the drinks are a bit too strong, the entree is overpriced and forgettable, and the dessert tastes like it came from a box? But then have you ever sat back and recalled that dinner and thought, "You know what, that was a pretty decent meal"?

No. Of course you haven't.

Because when every aspect of something sucks, generally the whole thing sucks. So when the characters are idiots and as flat as cardboard, and the plot is absurdly sophmoric, and the writing is just plain bad, the book stinks. (And while I'm on my soapbox, why is half of the book italicized for no apparent reason? Was the editor on vacation?)

I just feel at this point James Patterson has quit caring. I can envision him sitting at his desk just stamping his name on whatever horrific manuscript comes across and cashing in the checks. (Though to defend him, he is truly a generous and altruistic gentleman).

The story revolves around robots that humans built (Hu-bots) that kill all of mankind except for a small population in a reserve. Sprinkle in teenagers stealing a car for no reason, a pissed off uncle, robots with the intelligence of a field mouse, and a twist that never twists, and BOOM! you've got this novel.

Hated it from page one.

Patterson has written some good stuff in the past - this just isn't one of his best. Maybe it is his worst.