Genius Squad

This book is equal but opposite to its predecessor. In Evil Genius, it wasn't until I got all the way through the book that I truly enjoyed it (in retrospect) -- the act of reading it was fraught with frustrations as I wanted to smack even the main character; the sequel, on the other hand, was a rollicking joy ride of a read, but I'm not sure it held up as well once we got to the end. The end, in fact, is predictable and slightly cheesy. It's good cheese, but it is definitely cheese. Taken as a package, this is fun stuff -- but I am curious to know if there is a third and how it will affect the current balance.

I loved the first book in this trilogy, Evil Genius, unfortunately the follow-up didn’t have the same spark. Cadel Piggott is a pretty fascinating protagonist: an effeminate-looking boy genius raised with no moral compass by henchmen. He developed a conscience over the course of Evil Genius, and he spends most of Genius Squad struggling with it: balancing his desire to solve puzzles and exercise his mind with his instructions to lie low and be a good boy. Both novels have a diverse and interesting cast of characters. One of my favorite things about Evil Genius was that a friend of Cadel’s had a serious disability, but this person was valued for their cleverness and intelligence and made quite important to the plot, rather than being show more a footnote (trying to avoid spoilers here). This is not so in Genius Squad , every mention of this character is defined by disability to the point that the character becomes almost dead weight (Cadel uses some of the drawbacks of the disability to his advantage). Quite sad. The novel was slow to start, though it did introduce two interesting new characters into Cadel’s life in the form of an empathetic social worker and an honorable detective, but by the time he hooked up with the rest of the Genius Squad I was hoping for a really juicy caper along the lines of the first novel. No dice. There was a caper, of sorts, but it was dry as they come. Genius Squad was really a bit of false advertising: there was a squad, but it wasn’t made up of kids or (for the most part) geniuses. show less

Cadel is a teenage genius, especially when it comes to computers. Unfortunately, he's stuck in foster care with only very limited computer time and infrequent visits to his best friend, Sonja. So when he and Sonja are given the oppurtunity to become a part of the "genius squad" a group of teenagers and adults trying to prove that the company Genome is up to no good, they decide to give it a try. As he and the others try to prove that GenoMe is connected to Dr. Darkkon, Cadel's father, Prosper English, is in jail awaiting trial. Because he is the prime witness, Cadel also has heavy police security from whom he is forced to hide his activities with the group.

I liked this book for the most part. The plot lines shifted a lot over the course show more of the book, but there was enough continuity to keep it all together. It was possible to see some events coming from about a mile away, but others genuinely surprised me. I liked the characters of Cadel, Sonja, and Saul Greeniaus. I plan on reading the next in the series, although I'm not sure if I want to go back to read the first, having skipped it. show less

The somewhat strange and super-intelligent teen Cadel from Evil Genius continues to come to terms with his abilities and whether they should be used for good or evil.

Cadel finds himself working with another set of entertaining characters with unusual talents, and though it can be occasionally challenging to keep track of the many new faces, the reader still cares about their fates. Sections of the book, particularly in the middle third, are slow-paced, but the story picks up with the remarkably unpredictable climax. Genius Squad is set apart from other teen adventurer stories by the way it deals with the complications that can come with family-- be it made up of blood relations or just people who care.

Both boys and girls in middle show more school and lower high school grades will eat up this action-adventure story. show less

Opening Sentence: '…Cadel was in a very sour mood when he first met Detective Inspector
Saul Greeniaus…’

Cadel Piggott was first introduced to us in EVIL GENIUS where he loved to create havoc just for the fun of it. However, after the life changing experiences he went through at the Axis Institute with his father, Prosper English, he now just wants to be a good person.

Prosper is denying that he’s Cadel’s father. This means that Cadel has no father on record, and with a dead mother, no citizenship in any country. So he cannot leave Australia, even though the government will not recognize him. Cadel is a key witness to the evils that went on at the Axis Institute and to Prosper’s many other illegal activities. Even though show more Prosper is behind bars, Cadel knows that the barrier is nothing to another genius like himself and has seen the lengths to which Prosper will go. Cadel is not allowed to go to school so is desperately bored. The foster home he is in is run by well-meaning parents, but they are also foster two other children, including a violent bully.

Cadel is under the care of a lovely social worker named Fiona who tries to protect him in a new foster home. Then there is Detective Saul Greeniaus, who has been assigned to Cadel’s case but gradually becomes a good friend, rather than a nuisance.

When visiting his best friend Sonja one day, Cadel is approached by some adults who run the new Clearview House, a cover for Genius Squad, a group of gifted teens who will work to bring down GenonMe, a company linked to Prosper. They offer Sonja and Cadel $50,000 each and a home while they work on the computer hacking and coding with the other teens to find out what happens at GenonMe and who is behind it. The money and offer of living with Sonja are too good to pass up; the cash would buy Sonja good care well into the future. Sonja has cerebral palsy and will need medical care for all of her life. The problem is that they cannot tell Fiona or the detective. So Cadel begins a secret life again, unsure of his safety, but this time he seems to be working for good.

A well deserved winner of a Davitt Award in the Young Adult Category - 2009 - GENIUS SQUAD is a real page turner with real characters. There is a lot of computer jargon, wonderfully clever tricks, and a lot of subplots - which I temporarily lost track of occasionally. Overall it is an adventure that is packed full of action from beginning to the surprising twisty, turny end. show less

Cadell Pigot, previously written about in "Evil Genius", has fallen on hard times since the end of his first novel. He's stuck in a foster home with people he hates, has no access to computer, and lives in a legal limbo. Fortunately for Cadell, he is introduced to some strangers who are running a group called the Genius Squad, working to bring down Geno-Me, a business empire built by his evil father. To entice Cadell's help, the people running Genius Squad make Cadell an offer of a new foster placing with his disabled friend, Sophie. And full computer access. Cadell takes up the offer, with some concern, and sets about getting evidence that Geno-Me is doing bad things.

"Genius Squad" is a far different story to the first book, "Evil show more Genius". While that is not necessarily a bad thing, this book has taken away what was so enjoyable about the first book - the originality of a child being taught to be evil, and the deliciously bad idea of a "school for evil". Instead, we have a fairly paint-by-numbers story about young people playing detective and trying to save the day. The only way the book manages to differentiate itself from every other book written in this vein is the occasional reference to Cadell's actions in the first book, which only helped remind me how much I didn't like this book.

A rather dissapointing sequel. show less

I like this even better than the first book, because the story has more unexpected twists and the characters, especially Cadel, gain another layer of complexity. I'm looking forward to the third book!
A note on the translation: I re-read the first book in the original English and I think the german translation is really good!