February

The action doesn't let up in the second volume of Conspiracy 365: February. Fifteen year old Callum Ormond is still on the run for attacking his uncle Rafe and leaving his younger sister in a coma. And he's still not any closer to solving the riddle of the "Ormond Singularity." He's still being aided by Boges, perhaps his last friend left in the world as police forces throughout Australia are on the watch for him. Thankfully, though, he does manage to escape the death trap he was facing in the first book. I figured that would happen, of course. You can't really kill off your main character in the second book of a twelve-book run. However, that escape seems to bring a whole new set of problems with it. Cal suddenly has a mysterious girl about his age helping him, or using him for her own purposes, he's still not quite sure. Even more frustrating, she seems to know more about the mystery his father left and the probable meaning of all the sketches his father left behind. Some of the answers are found in this volume, and I really liked the moonlight angel image the best, and it was creepy as well as fraught with suspense because Cal had to trust his newfound companion to guide him there. But even as those questions are somewhat answered, they only lead to more intrigue. Gabrielle Lord still maintains the headlong pacing of the first book. There are a number of close calls and daring escapes throughout this part of the story, and they do at times strain belief, but they're always fun. Cal hasn't quite got enough to go on yet to be an effective force for his own rescue, but readers know that's coming. I love the friendship Cal has with Boges, and I hope that one of the coming twists isn't that Boges is working on his own nefarious angles. See? Paranoia has already set it. I have to wait from month to month for the novels and I have time to start doubting who my friends are. This real-time stress is a lot to bear. But I'm sure the author and publisher were counting on this when they started putting the books out. I enjoyed Boges's idea about setting up a webpage, and the fact that you can actually Google it and find it on the Internet ([...]). This is exactly the kind of thing a modern teen would do. I know there are a number of twists and turns to come, and I'm looking forward to all of them. There are a lot of things to be curious about, and even more to be wary of.