This is one of the worst books I've ever read. The title may be a little intriguing, but please do not read this no matter what. ( )

Reviewed by The Compulsive Reader for TeensReadToo.com

Cadel Piggot has been visiting Dr. Thadeus Roth since he was seven years old and had been caught hacking into credit card company files. His adoptive parents, terrified of his intelligence and innocence, forbade him to touch computers and hauled him right off to the psychologist.

But it's not long before Thadeus is not only letting him use his computer, but is also facilitating a relationship between Cadel and Dr. Darkkon, an imprisoned criminal mastermind who claims to be Cadel's father.

As Cadel grows older, expanding his talents and often "testing" them, he finds himself at the Axis Institute, a school founded by his father where evil schemes and rule-breaking are encouraged (as long you don't get caught). But he also meets Kay-Lee. It's her friendship that opens his eyes to what's really happening, and makes him face the ultimate question: Has Cadel's whole life been just another one of his father's schemes?

A little slow towards the beginning, and sometimes a bit too fast when it comes to number theory and computer technology, this is ultimately a book that doesn't require a remarkable genius of any kind to understand. ( )

This book was slow and boring in places. I felt the character's needed more defining. The plot was dragging through most of it. I did not feel connected to any of the characters. ( )

(Thriller, HS) The last half of this book is a truly compelling page-turner. We feel sympathy for Cadel, who has been manipulated his entire life, and we watch him develop into a caring, moral person. We also feel he is in real jeopardy and the only way out will require his full intellectual ability. The one drawback with this book is that it is long and takes awhile to really get going. The first 100 pages are interesting, but the peril is muted in the first half of the book. Although recommended for grades 7-10, given the length and slow development, I would recommend it more for high school. ( )

Genius Cadel Piggot is sentenced to therapy after hacking his way into a lot of trouble. He would have been sent to jail if it weren't for the fact that he was still a minor. Cadel is seven years old and no one knows what to do with him. Not the police and NOT his oh-so-stupid adoptive parents. So he is sent to see Dr. Thaddeus Roth who, it turns out, is not just your average child therapist. Thaddeus reveals to Cadel the truth about his father, something of a genius himself, who was sent to prison shortly after Cadel was born. His real mother? Dead. Under Thaddeus and his newly discovered father's tutelage, Cadel is brought into a whole new world. One where he learns to use his genius to manipulate the clumsy high school students around him.
After he effectively brings down his high school and graduates, Cadel is sent to the Axis Institute, an exclusive college that was started by his father and caters to those with... exceptional skills. Cadel takes classes in forgery, infiltration, and pure evil. But after finding a friend in the mysterious Kay-Lee, Cadel isn't sure that this is the route he wants to take anymore. The professors at his school are all against one another and the students are dropping like flies. Cadel now just wants out. Perhaps this Evil Genius can use his crafty mind for good instead.
I loved this book. Cadel, for all his intimidating genius is so heart-achingly clueless to so many things. This is a coming of age novel with a twist and I enjoyed the crazy-silly-evil characters and all their strange quirks. Despite the carnage Cadel causes, you are rooting for him to succeed at everything he does. Jinks has a winner here and I can't wait to read the next installment. ( )