Evil Genius

By: Catherine Jinks

Narrated by: Justine Eyre

Cadel Piggott has a genius IQ and a fascination with systems of all kinds. At seven, he was illegally hacking into computers. Now he's 14 and studying for his World Domination degree, taking classes like embezzlement, misinformation, forgery, and infiltration at the institute founded by criminal mastermind Dr. Phineas Darkkon.

Although Cadel may be advanced beyond his years, at heart he's a lonely kid. When he falls for the mysterious and brilliant Kay-Lee, he begins to question the moral implications of his studies for the first time. But is it too late to stop Dr. Darkkon from carrying out his evil plot?

An engrossing thriller with darkness and humor, freaks and geeks, Evil Genius explores the fine line between good and evil in a strange world of manipulations and subterfuge where nothing is as it seems.

©2007 Catherine Jinks (P)2007 Random House, Inc. Listening Library, an imprint of the Random House Audio Publishing Group

An Interesting Story That Overstays It’s Welcome

First things first. I enjoyed this book and I’ll continue the next two books in the series. It’s a clever story with characters that are complicated - more so than most YA novels. This shows the strangeness of people not being all good or all bad. There are moments of humor and real emotion.

Unfortunately, it’s about 6 hours too long. The sharpness of this clever story is filled by its tendency to restate the same observations again and again. It could have easily been told in 9 or 10 instead of the 16 hours here.

I will listen to this book again and again...

Cadel Piggots life has a lot of sadness. But in the end, Cadel takes charge of his destiny. The part I like the best is that Cadel doesn't let the evil he sees around him influence how he feels! I felt like cheering for him. I really loved this book and went right back to audible and bought the sequel. I have recommended this book to my teenage kids. This book is for young and old alike. Oh, and the reader is excellent!

Emotional Immature

The story starts of with a clever, "immoral" twist, switching around our perceptions of good versus evil. Ultimately though, the author seems to "chicken out" and loops back towards a very predictable and conventional ending. I don't really see the potential for a sequel to this book, and its a shame - the central theme on the nature of morality could have used more exploration. Worthwhile as a purchase.

Very Original

This was a very original idea book. I thoroughly enjoyed it and am in to the next in the series.