Toy Soldiers

by William P. Kennedy

Kennedy's (The Masakado Lesson) third novel turns on an interesting premise: suppose a terrorist, a cross between Abu Nidal and Yasser Arafat, took over an American boys school in Italy, forcing the politically and industrially powerful fathers to pressure the U.S. government into acceding to his demands. Hoping to achieve U.S. impotence in the Middle East and the Mediterranean, the ambitious and charismatic Sharif wants, at the same time, to elevate himself to an exalted role among his fellow Arabs.

A Delta force team decides it cannot storm the fortress-like school without killing most of their men and the hostages in the process. Amid a group of fairly familiar characters, Kennedy has introduced an interestingly drawn 15-year-old, Billy Tepper, a prankster with a swift and wide-ranging intellect, able, like TV's MacGyver, to transform everyday items into functional tools of another sort.

With his lieutenant, Gamel, in charge of the hostage situation, Sharif seems bound to win. But Gamel is out of control. He kills one of the boys and dumps his body outside, Billy begins to sabotage the terrorists' equipment, mistakenly believing a rescue is imminent, and Sharif's plan starts to unravel. Fast paced, highly readable, if somewhat predictable, Kennedy's scenario will entertain thriller buffs.

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Military Fiction, Novels

376 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Kennedy is a New York Times best-selling author of nine novels in his own name and seven under the pseudonym, Diana Diamond. His novel, Toy Soldiers, was made into a major motion picture.

Kennedy began writing in High School for the Xavier Magazine, and then studied history and economics at Holy Cross College. After military service as a Naval Officer, he earned advanced degrees from New York University and became a business journalist, covering the computer, telecommunications, and electric power industries. This led to his founding TCI,an advertising agency for high-technology markets. He and his wife, Dorothy McNally, have five adult children and 14 grandchildren. They live on Florida's Gulf Coast.

Reviews

[Dela · Rating 5 out of 5]

The greatest book to read same with the outsiders

[MrsJoseph *grouchy* · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read this book in over 20 years but I loved it when I did read it. Which was waaaay before the terrible movie (that I also enjoyed 😉)

[Frank Bierman · Rating 2 out of 5]

In Toy Soldiers it jumps back and forth between the perspectives of several people throughout the story. The first one and the character the book is mostly based around is Billy Tepper. He is the school prankster and is great with technology and outwitting people. The second goes by the name of Ferrand he is a teacher at Saint Anslem where Billy goes. The third is Miss Manetti, she is also a teacher at Saint Anslem and she and Ferrand end up marrying. The fourth is Agent Smiles he is a military man who is later in charge of the operations at Saint Anslem. The fifth is named Gamel and he is the head terrorist who takes over Saint Anslem.
In the beginning everything is going well when Ferrand and Miss Manetti go out on a date. When they get back Ferrand drops Miss Manetti off at the gate and goes to put the car away. Little does he know that the school is being held by terrorists who just captured Miss Manetti. Ferrand is stopped by police on the way down and is taken away from the school due to the situation. Everyone is in the school except for him and the terrorists are making incredible demands in order for the release of the kids.
Virtually no ground is gained on either side in the next few days except Billy finds a way to communicate with the outside through his computer. He then starts to get a little more outgoing and starts talking to the guards to figure out which ones know english and which don't all part of his scheme. Billy plans to set up several diversions that would buy the Marines time when they come in to get the kids. He set up smoke bombs and rigged the security system in such a way that the terrorists would never know if people were coming over the wall. He got all the kids in groups and set up a procedure in which they could all get to the safe place if the bombs went off. Billy Tepper had even disabled the bomb control all with the help of fellow students and teachers.
When the Marines came in all the kids were out of harm but Billy had stayed back because he say MIss Manetti being drug away by Gamel. He went after them and chased them all the way to the forest where he eventually got Miss Manetti away from Gamel. The story seemed to have climaxed but there was one more twist. Gamel had gotten away and Billy had been moved to another school in Germany. Gamel tracked him there but the police also tracked Gamel. They had a shootout at the school where they killed Gamel. In the end Billy went back to Saint Anslem with Ferrand and Miss Manetti.
The last part of the book where Gamel tracks him I thought was unneeded. For me I had to drag myself through it to finish the book. Overall the book was pretty good. The plot and plot twists were entertaining and I would probably read more of this author. The description of Billy Tepper was very good and the way Kennedy fit all the character;s together really balanced it out and created a good story.

[Peter Sidell · Rating 5 out of 5]

On the surface it is the story of a group of terrorists trying to extort the US by holding a group of American teens at an exclusive private Italian school hostage. It turns out that there is one young man at the school who is a real rascal. E meet him when he finds a way to turn on every light and radio at the school on the middle of the night. Then we learned that he tried to set up a brothel in an abandoned wine cellar in the schools basement. When the terrorists take the students hostage he, William plots a way to fool them.

[E Wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Terrorist taking over a boarding school full of the sons of prominent families seems a likely scenario.
Since the Us has a policy of not negotiating for the hostages of terrorists, it put everyone in a
precarious situation. Some of the schemes of Billy Tepper, one of the students, were over my
head technically and some seemed pretty far fetched. This was a suspenseful and anxiety causing read.

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was surprised this wasn't in my reading history; I must have read it just before I started using Goodreads. I'm a big fan of the movie and I remember not getting the same vibe from the book and it feeling too long. I enjoy the movie because of the high school characters; I remember the book being more focused on the politics.

[Sylvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Literal: devoré esta historia!!
Me encantó Billy Tepper, todo lo que logró, y pensar que todo empezó con sus bromas...

[Bobby H · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 3/4 stars. Better than average thriller but a little but longer than it needed to be. Plot idea was good.

[Erwin Gómez · Rating 4 out of 5]

En mi opinión es una muy buena historia obviamente ficticia pero que nos relata muy bien lo que ocurre en la mente de un niño que no tiene idea de lo peligroso de la vida

[Nick Black · Rating 2 out of 5]

i read this because it was available in a water-damaged reader's digest condensed edition i stole from the dentist, and was poor and had few other options. i recall it being exceptionally silly. i'm quite unsure what caused me to remember this just now, twenty-eight years later. oh! right! i was reading about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Souther... and saw the exquisite reference, "Reader's Digest (1983). People In Peril and How They Survived. We're Taking Over This Plane and We're Not Gonna Have Any Heroes!".

"Reader's Digest (2001). Persistence Pays Off for Mohammed Atta"
"Reader's Digest (1945). A Deadly Morning in Hiroshima Prefecture."
"Reader's Digest (1984). When Sacred Cows Let You Down: Bhopal and Do'w Chemical's Very Bad Day."

WE HAVE SOME PLANES!

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found most of the characters stereotypes. The main character of the fifteen year-old boy was certainly the most interesting, but I find him unbelievable. It was hard to feel sympathy for a school of rich boys of America's power house getting taken hostage. It also not the best book if you are currently spending time in a Middle Eastern country.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lo leí hace mucho, cuando estaba en secundaria y recuerdo que me recordó un montón a la película. Hay un par de diferencias en los personajes, ciertamente en la ubicación, porque esto ocurre en Italia y la película en Estados Unidos.
Pero los personajes son iguales, un poco más impulsivos a veces, otras un poco más aburridos.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Plotting and style are dated, and there's nothing to recommend this as a thriller over the many other thrillers you might want to read. It is interesting as a cultural artifact, dealing as it does with terrorists and giving a kind of high-level pop analysis of the Middle East that reads like it could have been written today.

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is so-so. For such an emotional set-up of kids held hostage at their bording school, the plot drags. None of the characters, even the protagonist, Billy Teppert, are likeable or all that interesting.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Different than the movie, better than the movie.

[Kindra · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun, quick read. I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

First read an excerpt in Reader's Digest and had to read the whole thing. Really good book, unfortunately the movie...not so good.

[Casey Ford · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this years ago... when I was in 6th grade. It was good then, but at the time all I had to compare to it was Stephen Kings IT.

[Morgan Chalfant · Rating 4 out of 5]

After loving the movie adaptation for years, I stumbled upon an old copy of this the library was throwing out and read it. Amazing book. Totally worth a read.

[Melissa Zuazo · Rating 5 out of 5]

it's amazing i love it

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this in high school. The movie was one of my faves. The book differed but I remember liking it. I think the adults played a bigger part in the book which was disappointing at the time.

[AraBD · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fue una de las películas favoritas de mi niñez, irla recordando mientras leía fue genial.

[Birgit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty cool, I liked the movie better.

[Diane Wachter · Rating 3 out of 5]

RDC-M V 3 1989, 11/89. Novel about American boys in an Italian boys school held hostage by terrorists. Good.

[Madiba Mashao · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining book indeed

[Blaine Morrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining thriller, with a 15-year-old hero and a terrorist villain. Fun light reading.