Uncaged

May 12, 2014
Adult thriller writer Sandford (the Prey novels) teams up with his wife, Cook, for a story of teens fighting a corrupt system, first in the Singular Menace series. After Shay Remby’s brother gets involved with radical animal rights activists, she goes looking for him, winding up in Hollywood. There, she falls in with the charismatic artist Twist, who persuades her to use her climbing and survival skills to get involved in artistic protests and other social activism. Soon, Shay reunites with her brother, who brings along the dog he rescued from cruel experiments designed to replace lost limbs through advanced technology, and Shay and her new friends must confront a ruthless secret project that’s willing to kill to keep them quiet. Sandford and Cook keep tension high, packing the narrative full of twists. Shay’s extended detour into social activism doesn’t quite jibe with the technothriller side of the novel, giving it a disjointed feel. Still, it’s a solid story with a strong premise, helped along by intriguing characters, shifting loyalties, and some exciting moments. Ages 12–up. Agent: Esther Newberg, ICM.

May 15, 2014
Can a 16-year-old foster kid save her brother from an evil corporation? Can she even find him? When Shay's nearly-18-year-old brother, Odin, goes missing after the animal rights group he belongs to frees animals and steals data from a Singular research facility, Shay leaves her relatively acceptable foster home to find him. In LA, she's saved from attack by a former street kid and now trendy, rich artist named Twist. She agrees to help Twist with one of his politically motivated actions, and he lets her stay in his hotel for street kids. Shay finds Odin-but after giving her a mysterious dog named X, Odin's abducted. Twist and his crew of street kids agree to help Shay find her brother, but Singular's security division won't think twice about lying to authorities and killing to protect their illegal operations. Can Shay and her new friends survive their search for Odin even with help on the inside? Best-selling writer for adults Sandford co-authors this surprisingly languid thriller, which stuffs most of its action into the final 50 pages-presumably saving material for the next book in the series. The interesting-enough story is further hobbled by generic characters and patches of lazy, florid prose.The author's name will gain this book attention, but far better books are available for genre fans. (Thriller. 15-18)

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Starred review from May 1, 2014
Grades 7-11 *Starred Review* In the dead of night, young animal-rights activists sneak into Singular Corporation, a biomedical research lab in Eugene, Oregon, and release hundreds of mutilated animals. Odin, the group's tech wizard, makes off with a bag of encrypted thumb drives and a sickly dog in tow. The group is forced to go underground to avoid repercussions from Singular. Odin's sister, Shay, follows his trail to Los Angeles, where she stumbles into excitement of her own after meeting an eccentric artist, Twist. After Odin is kidnapped, it's up to Shay, Twist, and a posse of street-savvy teens to take down a powerful corporation and rescue him. The action is swift and expertly paced in this first title in the new Singular Menace thriller series. Readers are immediately drawn into the passion of the young activists, counterbalanced by the cool menace of the Singular villains. The authors paint quick, vibrant episodes that flash like scenes from a movie: the girl with red hair rappelling down the side of a mirrored building; the vacuous face of a man with a plate covering his skull; daredevil car rides through the Malibu hills. The result is a fabulous mix of outlandish hijinks, techno-noir, and teen cheekL.A. style. Not to be missed.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Sandford's Prey series for adult readers has brought him a huge fan base, and the top-level marketing plans for this series starter will widen that enormous audience.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)