Code

Virals is easily my favourite YA series happening right now.

It is a real shame not many seem to be reading it and I think it might be because of its frequent mischaracterisation. Virals, Code included, is a Teen/YA series. The main protagonists are a group of smart, strong and inquisitive teens who were accidentally infected with a virus coding canine DNA making them essentially a human wolf pack.

Despite this supernatural leaning, Virals couldn’t be more grounded in the real world and while the kids are on a mission to find out what exactly happened to them, the ‘viral’ issue takes a back seat in each of the books to the mystery at hand.

Borrowing on Reich’s extensive research knowledge from the Bones series (sometimes directly as main character Tori Brennan is Temperance’s great-niece) Reich’s has crafted fun mysteries, treasure hunts and conspiracies for the team to pursue. Their viral abilities give them an edge, on par with their natural curiosity and intelligence.

Meanwhile, they deal with the more usual pitfalls of adolescence such as being smart scholarship students at an exclusive private academy by day. Fortunately the ‘teen’ stuff (including some budding romance finally starting to bloom in this entry) is handled deftly and kept minimal that you actually look forward to it as an interlude between adventures.

Code sees the virals drawn into a dangerous game of cat and mouse with a mysterious bomb maker threatening lives in their home town of Charleston, SC. As usual the team has to use fascinating local history and landmarks ( a real highlight of all the Virals books), solve puzzles and clues as well as exploit their access to their parents state of the art environmental research facility (covertly of course).

Overall, Code is another fun and exciting Virals book. Kathy has shared the writing with her son Brandan and the story, style, tone and voices didn’t’ miss a beat. I’ll be happy to see more Virals’ novels penned by Brendan (especially if they come along a little faster now!)

Overall, I highly recommend Code and the whole Virals series to any YA reader. Fans of adventure, incredible locations and puzzles/mystery will certainly not be disappointed. Fans of a well written work will also not be disappointed because Reichs’ skill and experienced writer just seems to make every element come together.