Author: S.A. Bodeen
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Year: 2013
Genre: Sci-Fi
Age: JUV/YA 13+
In this sequel to The Compound, the Yanakakis family has
gotten out of the underground dungeon their father Rex had them trapped in for
six years after a fake nuclear attack. The Compound was destroyed after their
release and their father along with it, or so they thought…
The whole family including Gram , Eddy & Eli the twins,
Terese, Lexie, Lucas, Cara, Quinn, Finn the newest addition to the family, Els
the nanny & housekeeper, Clea their mother, & Cocoa & Clementine
the beloved family pets are all reunited at a new house on Mercer Island to
escape the press. They are trying to return to normal, whatever that means now.
Phil the family & company accountant & Rex’s right
hand man was supposed to take over the company, but shortly after their meeting
with the lawyers he disappears & no one is sure what happened to him or where
he could be. So in the meantime Clea has taken over & the twins are helping
out & learning more about the business. Eddy doesn’t have much interest in
the company, but Eli wants to learn more about their charitable causes. He’s especially
interested in their continued investment in the Progeria Institute.
Progeria is an extremely rare genetic condition that causes
rapid age progression from early in life. Most children with the disease live
to be teenagers before they die from old age problems like strokes & heart
attacks. The Institute is a place where patients can get treatment & be a
part of the research for a cure. Eli isn’t sure why is father or the company
would invest money in something so non related to their general field of
software, so he goes to visit to find out more.
When Eli is at the Progeria Institute he speaks with the
Director Dr. James Barkley. Barkley shows him around & tells him about some
of their research that was unfortunately destroyed in a fire about 7 years ago
& they have had to start over. This process wouldn’t be taking place if YK
Industries weren’t funding their project. While there Eli meets a girl named
Verity whose little brother is suffering from the disease & they become
friends, Eli’s first friend since leaving The Compound.
So when the kids aren’t lounging around the house their
mother has agreed to let them & their trusty bodyguard/driver Lee take them
out on excursions in the real world. They go to places like a local aquarium,
Costco, & a baseball game. The family tries to be as covert as possible but
there is news all over the internet about people seeing them & it makes
them a little nervous. While in the outside world they meet a teenager named
Tony. Eli is suspicious of the boy, but Eddy & Lexie quickly befriend him
& he accompanies them on several of their trips. One of these trips is a
mini vacation to the families Colorado house before it gets sold.
However they don’t make it to Colorado…
They end up on a remote island near Hawaii & see someone
they thought was dead, their father Rex.
It turns out that Tony is actually Phil. Rex has made that
possible with his latest endeavor to save mankind. The fire at the Progeria
Institute wasn’t an accident & before all was lost Phil stole the research
for Rex and his new Compound on this island. Rex has used the research to
develop a process to deage people making the younger, the Fountain of Youth.
The plan was to get Lexie, Eddy, & Eli to the island then have Clea bring
everyone else with her, or they would never be seen or heard from again.
The kids however have a different plan…
The kids however have a different plan…
After finding out about what their father is doing with the
research they don’t think it’s a good idea to hang around for too long. Especially
after Eli finds out what his father is hiding behind a big silver door with a
keypad in his lab. The deaging process works on most people using a gene gun,
the scientist & help at the new Compound are all people Rex has deaged
& given a new life to. But when the process goes wrong, or the person’s
body doesn’t take the therapy correctly they turn into shriveled little grey blobs
sort of resembling babies. The “babies” are kept behind the special door in
cribs & hooked up to machines to stay alive.
Eli & his siblings are thankfully not alone in their
plan to escape from their father once again, Tony has decided that he’s done
being Rex’s con man & he wants to save himself. He can drive the jet that
took them all there if the kids can get on it without their father following
them. So Eli sneaks into the lab to get the remote control that will blow up
the island, much like the Compound. But Rex is waiting for him & in order
to stop him Eli has to use the gene gun on him & deage his father. The
process doesn’t go very well however & his father is turned into one of the
grey baby things.
In a roaring ball of fire Eli barely makes it on the plane
with the rest of them. Back home they tell their tale & Tony is kept on the
company payroll so they can keep an eye on him. Eli gives the research back to
Dr. Barkley along with the gene gun used on Rex & hopes he can use it to
find a real cure before it’s too late. Then Eli & Verity finally get to go
on the date they’ve been planning since their first meeting & the world is
normal again.
Likes: S.A. Bodeen doesn’t disappoint as usual. This book
however wasn’t as exciting as the first one, but still a good story with a
happy ending.
Dislikes: Much like the yellow room & the Supplementals
in The Compound, the room of creepy grey babies in cribs is freaky & quite
unsettling.
I also knew their father would still be alive from a scene
at the end of The Compound & several hints throughout this book. It might
be harder for a child to pick up on the clues.
Rating:
Rating:
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