Evil Genius ~ Catherine Jinks

Funk Rating: 7 out of 10

This book was recommended to me after I blogged Soon I Will Be Invincible. The comment was that it is as a similar book, but better.

I would tend to say that this is a much more clever book in the writing as there is a whole set up of a "University" for evildoers and super-villians, and there is a fun "Mini-Me" aspect to it all. However, I also felt this one lacked the overall good vs. evil component and all that is wrapped up in the decision-making around moral choices.

Like SIWBI, this is an "out there" premise, and not normal fare for a thriller reader. For whatever reason, while I am in awe of the author's ability to spin the tale in a thoroughly clever way, I left this book feeling that I wished there was a meaningful antagonist to the Evil Genius (a young, pre-teenage, super-genius that has been sufficiently abandoned by family and peers due to his uniqueness that he spirals into imagined slights and outrageously clever means of revenge).  The Genius is manipulated and steered in ways that accelerate into a climax that while "redeeming" creates a gaping hole on credible outcome.

If you want something different, I would encourage an Amazon screening on this and SIWBI. They're similar but different, and I think will appeal to different readers for different reasons...