Uncaged (The Singular Menace, 1)

By: John Sandford, Michele Cook

Narrated by: Tara Sands

A New York Times bestseller!

John Sandford and Michele Cook debut a high-octane thriller series about a ruthless corporation, unspeakable experiments, and a fight to expose the truth. Perfect for fans of James Dashner's The Maze Runner.

Shay Remby arrives in Hollywood with $58 and a handmade knife, searching for her brother, Odin.

Odin’s a brilliant hacker but a bit of a loose cannon. He and a group of radical animal-rights activists hit a Singular Corp. research lab in Eugene, Oregon. The raid was a disaster, but Odin escaped with a set of highly encrypted flash drives and a post-surgical dog.

When Shay gets a frantic 3 a.m. phone call from Odin—talking about evidence of unspeakable experiments, and a ruthless corporation, and how he must hide—she’s concerned. When she gets a menacing visit from Singular’s security team, she knows: her brother’s a dead man walking.

What Singular doesn’t know—yet—is that 16-year-old Shay is every bit as ruthless as their security force, and she will burn Singular to the ground, if that’s what it takes to save her brother.

Critic reviews

Booklist starred review, May 1, 2014
“… a fabulous mix of outlandish hijinks, techno-noir, and teen cheek—L.A. style. Not to be missed.”

New Subject Matter

Would you try another book from John Sandford and Michele Cook and/or Tara Sands?

Probably not, a little too much background on the minor characters. A lack of action in between two action filled events.

What was most disappointing about John Sandford and Michele Cook ’s story?

Not your usual Sandford book, not enough action. The bad guys identified a bit too early.

What three words best describe Tara Sands’s performance?

Not Richard Ferone

Could you see Uncaged being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

No

Any additional comments?

No

Great story

Did not know what to expect, but a great believable story. Good narration. Would definitely listen again and look forward to the next edition.

outraged by John sanford

intense, covers a lot of ground, intricate plot but believable. caring In spite of bad agencies, bad people, and bad outcomes. sanford never disappoints.

Not Bad for a Young Adult-Type Book

Would you try another book from John Sandford and Michele Cook and/or Tara Sands?

I would approach it with caution. The narrator detracts from the quality a bit... she is a good performer but has some annoying voice inflections and is a bit too "cutesy" at times.

Would you recommend Uncaged to your friends? Why or why not?

I would recommend it, particularly for a young adult and especially as a printed book.

What three words best describe Tara Sands’s voice?

Annoying. Grating.... but still, very Capable.

Did Uncaged inspire you to do anything?

Yes, I vowed never to mispronounce the name of a city the way they kept mispronouncing "Eugene" in this audio book. NO ONE out here says "U-gene" like Tara Sands kept saying it. The name of the town is pronounced Eugene, with the accent on the second syllable not the first. Her pronunciation sounded like someone from deep Appalachia saying it. Perhaps Tara Sands thinks people in Oregon are backwards hicks... most folks from the East do. Two other minor issues: Not everyone in Oregon wears flannel shirts and the woods are pronounced "fore-est", not "far-est".

Any additional comments?

I'm only disappointed that Sandford did not vet this a little better in terms of the continuous mispronunciation of Eugene and, basically,the accuracy of anything to do with the Pacific Northwest.
But the story was very enjoyable and moved along well and the plot was engaging and well engineered - as all of Sandford's are in my experience. And while I found a number of things about Tara Sands to be annoying (as mentioned above) she is very good at mixing male and female voices.. and there were quite a few characters involved in this story so she had to keep track of all this while at the same time handling the acting. She's obviously a real pro.

Great

Loved it. Was upset when it ends so abruptly. Now I have to get the next one.