Virals

Fourteen-year-old Tory and her three genius friends are investigating a decades old murder near a research facility where Tory's dad works when they uncover some illegal testing on a dog. They decide to rescue the dog and become infected with a virus that changes their DNA and gives them superpowers. As they uncover the murderous plot they have to deal with peer pressures, an unwelcome debutante ball, animal cruelty, bone identification, and their newfound fantastic powers.

The story is slow in parts and action-packed in others with a little mix of mystery, fantasy, and science fiction. The dialogue was not well written and I found the short. choppy. sentences. annoying. Also, the chapters didn't flow into the next and the suspense got lost. The author is the writer for the Bones TV series and I think she wrote the chapters like scenes.

The characters swear throughout the book. Tory is interested in two boys and one kisses her on the cheek. The boy-girl relationships are not developed. There is some violence with people chasing the four kids and trying to kill them. A light read with little depth. More appropriate for middle school. I borrowed this from my public library and won't purchase it for the lower school.

:-) :-) 2 Smileys