CONSPIRACY 365

Callum Ormond is a wanted teen. One New Year’s Eve, he is stopped by a strange man in a cloak who tells him to go into hiding for the next 365 days. Callum believes that his father died of illness, but it turns out he was murdered. Now the murderers are after Callum’s knowledge of something called the Ormond Singularity, but the only clues he has to its meaning are some drawings left to him by his father. When Callum’s family is attacked and left for dead, the only person who believes in his innocence is his best friend, Boges. Kidnapped and beaten, Callum faces what might be his last minutes in a cliffhanger ending. Several factors make this book a top choice for reluctant readers, including the nonstop action, the small trim, the short length and the amount of white space on the pages. The character development is minimal, but that shouldn’t affect readers who are in it for the action scenes. This is the first of a planned 12-book series, one book for each month of the year Callum must survive. (Thriller. YA)