Danny Tobey is a young, fresh-faced lawyer at the Dallas office of V&E. (He’s smarter than I am and has more money and hair than I do. So I hate him. Full disclosure.) Tobey this months publishes his debut novel, called The Faculty Club. Publishers Weekly, what did you think of it?
Tobey’s unconvincing debut centers on a Skull and Bones-like society at a Yale-like university in New England. … Readers will search in vain for any fresh take on the familiar idea of an all-powerful secret Ivy League cabal controlling world events. The revelation of what’s really going on is more likely to elicit groans than chills.
Umph. Not exactly glowing. But how you, Booklist? Did you like it?
This debut novel reads like an ungainly combination of Grisham’s The Firm, Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, and Turow’s One L, with a bit of Hogwarts from Harry Potter thrown in for good measure. … The first-person narration sounds more like the voice of a teenybopper than that of a law student. There are exciting moments here for fans of high-concept thrillers, but there is little in the way of a cohesive narrative.
Oy. I’ve been told by someone who knows him that Tobey is “a good kid.” And the harsh reviews almost make me feel sorry for him. Almost.
