The Eye of Minds

Gr 7 Up—Like many other gamers, Michael enjoys escaping into the VirtNet, the virtual world where he can play, hang with friends he's never met in real life, and test his hacking skills in battles against virtual enemies. Michael is an expert gamer, one who can hack the code and break the rules, building a reputation for being a tough player on a team with his friends Bryson and Sarah. When gamers begin disappearing, and others return from the VirtNet brain-dead, Michael and his friends are chosen by VirtNet Security to find the suspected perpetrator of these crimes, a cyberterrorist named Kaine. Erik Davies performs the story admirably, voicing each character, from the evil Kaine to the sweet Sarah, with equally appropriate voices, and his expressive interpretation keeps the suspense high. There is a lot of action, some graphically bloody battles, horrible monsters, impossible challenges and some seemingly unattainable feats that are managed handily by the teen trio. Fans of advanced technology and virtual gaming will appreciate this first volume (Delacorte, 2013) in "The Mortality Doctrine" series by the author of The Maze Runner and eagerly await the next installment.—MaryAnn Karre, West Middle School, Binghamton, NY