The Genius Wars by Catherine Jinks

Image taken from Allen&Unwin.com


Looking back at the last few book reviews I have written here, I have realised that I have been WAY behind in updating you all on the new books I have been reading! For this I apologise...

To return to what I have read, I have definitely finished reading the conclusion to the Genius Trilogy, and just like the other two books, Catherine Jinks does not fail us in providing a rather entertaining tale!

"Genius Wars" sends us a few months later after Genius Squad has eventually been disbanded. Cadel is enjoying life as a university student, until random sightings of Prosper English force Cadel to once again live a life of hiding. This would be tolerable for him, if it weren't for the fact that his friends from the Genius Squad - not to mention his soon-to-be adoptive parents - have had threats carried out against them. Once again it is up to Cadel to save the day and protect the people he holds dear.

This book wastes no time in getting into the action, and is just as fast-paced as the first installment was. Jinks has cleverly managed to answer all questions that were left unanswered from the first two books, and manages to keep the suspense going up until the very end. The rather "ambiguous" ending I also find to be quite clever, for reasons you should find out for yourself by reading this book.

All in all, the Genius Trilogy are three of the best books I have read in a long time.

Genius Sqaud by Catherine Jinks

Image taken from www.allenandunwin.com

I managed to get myself a copy of the sequel to Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks, and I am just as impressed with the sequel as I was with the original!

The book begins with Cadel living in a foster home. He is still in contact with Sonja, and makes sure to visit her regularly. On one of these visits, both he and Sonja are approached by a guy named Trader who offers them the opportunity to join the Genius Squad, a team which has been hired to spy out all of the secret operations Cadel's "father" was involved in and expose them. This doesn't seem like a bad idea at first, until certain truths about the squad make it harder and harder for Cadel to place his faith in its members. And when Cadel finds out that Thaddeus Roth a.k.a. Prosper English has escaped from jail, his whole world is turned upside down even more....

Admittedly, the book has a bit of a slow to get into at first; the action does not come as immediately as the first book does. But if the reader is patient, he/she will see how Catherine Jinks sets the scenario up nicely. Once that is done, you're in for another bumpy ride!

It isn't every day one finds a novel as good as this, so I highly recommend this book, as well as the first book, to anybody who is interested in a good action-packed novel.

(P.S. Stay tuned for when I eventually read the third and final installment of the Genius Trilogy!!!)

Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks

Image taken from margeretconnolly.com


This is a great read I picked up at Dymmocks bookstore in the city. It is the story of Cadel Piggott, a boy who is extremely intelligent. He knows how to "hack into computer networks, orchestrate traffic jams and sabotage construction sites" without leaving a trace that can lead back to him (see back cover). His equally intelligent criminal father, who is locked up in a U.S. jail for trying to take over the world, wants Cadel to use his powers to succeed in what he himself couldn't achieve. His right hand man, Thaddeus Roth (Cadel's psychiatrist) is employed to keep a close eye on Cadel's progress. But as Cadel attends the classes of the Axis Institute (the university his father has set up to help aid him to become a master criminal), and encounters the various people who attend the institute, he wrestles with his own conscience, and finds it hard to live up to what his father expects him to be.

This book was very well written, with some very funny scenes throughout the work. I have found out that it is part 1 of a trilogy, so I must find the other two books and read them, because the ending of this first installation left me in suspense. I can't wait to find the other two books and see what else happens in Cadel Piggott's life...