Revenge. (Conspiracy 365). Gabrielle Lord. Toronto, ON: Scholastic Canada, 2012. 193 pp., pbk., $7.99. ISBN 978-1-4431-1384-7. Grades 4-9 / Ages 9-14. Rev0iew by Mark Mueller. *** /4

excerpt:

Not knowing where he was, not knowing how he was coping, was messing with our heads. But knowing that his nervous system was shutting down, and that he was on a timeline controlled by the unforgiving Vulkan Sligo, was enough to send us all over the edge.

Callum (“Cal”) Ormond is finally reunited with his family and friends after being on the run for 365 days. With the exception of the occasional run-ins with the media or a large business asking him to sponsor a product, Cal’s life as a multi-millionaire is pretty good. However, one night, while Cal is waiting for his friends to come over to watch a movie, he finds a mysterious letter on his pillow that reads “30 days”. Suddenly, a car pulls up into his driveway, and Cal goes out to investigate. He is then shot with a tranquilizer and taken away to a hidden location.

     After Cal’s disappearance, his family and friends are not sure of what to make of the situation. When Cal’s best friend, Boges, and his girlfriend, Winter, receive a telephone call from a stranger telling them that he has Cal in custody, things start to make sense. Cal has been kidnapped. The stranger tells them that, if they want to see Cal again, they are to deliver a note to his mother suggesting that he ran away from home. After delivering the letter, they are to meet him at the clock tower downtown. When they arrive at the clock tower, Boges and Winter are shot with tranquilizers and also taken to a hidden location. When they awaken, they are shocked to see a drugged Cal on a large screen television. The two are even more shocked when they see Vulkan Sligo, Winter’s former guardian and Cal’s enemy, appear on the large screen several minutes later. Sligo tells Boges and Winter that he wants to make a return and that he wants the two of them to deliver a large sum of money to him at an unspecified place and time if they want to see Cal alive again. Winter and Boges’ heads are then covered, and they are taken back to Memorial Park to await further instructions.

     What follows is another tightly woven “Conspiracy 365" novel that sees its main characters racing against time to save Cal and to prevent Sligo from bringing disaster upon the city. In this final “Conspiracy 365" novel, Gabrielle Lord has woven together an intriguing plot filled with enough plot-twists, mysteries, intrigues, and revenge to make it a tasteful epilogue to the original series. The novel is also narrated by Cal’s best friend, Boges. While the narrative gives the reader a different perspective on the story as a whole, I personally would have liked to see more character development with Boges. The pace of the story also seems a little rushed at times, and the end is somewhat abrupt. Be that as it may, the ending of the novel is still satisfying.

     Revenge would be a nice addition to a school library; however, this librarian would highly recommend that it be accompanied by the other 12 books in the “Conspiracy 365" series.

Recommended.

Mark Mueller is the Education Librarian at Tyndale University College in Toronto, ON.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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