Review of Masterminds by Gordon Korman

Advance Review of Gordon Korman's Masterminds

Release Date: February 3, 2015

Synopsis as found on HarperCollinsChildrens.com:

Action-packed and full of unexpected twists, this new series from New York Times bestselling author Gordon Korman is perfect for young fans of James Patterson and John Grisham.

Eli Frieden lives in the most perfect town in the world: Serenity, New Mexico. In this idyllic place, every lawn is perfectly manicured and everyone has a pool and a tree house. Honesty and integrity are valued above all else. The thirty kids who live there never lie—they know it's a short leap from that to the awful problems of other, less fortunate places.

Eli has never left Serenity . . . Why would he ever want to? Then one day he bikes to the edge of the city limits and something so crazy and unexpected happens, it changes everything. Eli convinces his friends to help him investigate further, and soon it becomes clear that nothing is as it seems in Serenity. The clues mount to reveal a shocking discovery, connecting their ideal crime-free community to some of the greatest criminal masterminds ever known. The kids realize they can trust no one—least of all their own parents.

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I hadn't recalled ever reading a book by Gordon Korman when I got this ARC & had to research his name to find out his other books. He is primarily a writer for Juvenile Readers (kids in Elementary & Middle School) & when scanning his bio list I recalled reading 1 book he had written from the 39 Clues series. I vaguely remember enjoying it quite a bit... although, the storyline stays the same throughout that series, it is written by many different authors.

This book is about a picture perfect town where no violence, poverty, or general unhappiness occurs. Where every one has enough to eat, a job they love, a house to live in, and the population is all of 185 people. The name of the town is called Serenity & like its name, it is the model of serenity & peace... but what happens if you find out that your whole life has been a lie? The history told in school about the rest of the world has been fed to you by the people you have trusted your whole life. What would you do if you found out your town was really the grounds of an undercover Science Experiment?

I can't really say much about this book without giving away the large plot twists that take up a lot of it. I will say that it kept me guessing what was really going on for quite a while. This was a quick read for me & is definitely perfect for younger readers.