Besides loving YA books (obviously), I also enjoy a good crime book, like the Temperance Brennan series. When I heard that Kathy Reichs was going to be working on a Young Adult series, I thought I would give it a go. I have since read the first book, Virals, and the second book, Seizure. Here is what I thought of Code.
Title: Code
Author: Kathy Reichs & Brendan Reichs
Series: Virals #3
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Original Publication Date: March 12, 2013
Format Read: hardcover
Genre: YA Crime Mystery, YA Paranormal
Purchase: Amazon
Description from the publisher:
The Virals are put to the ultimate test when they find a geocache containing an ornate puzzle box. Shelton decodes the cipher inside, only to find more tantalizing clues left by "The Gamemaster." A second, greater geocache is within reach—if the Virals are up to the challenge.
But the hunt takes a dark turn when Tory locates the other box--a fake bomb, along with a sinister proposal from The Gamemaster. Now, the real game has begun: another bomb is out there--a real one--and the clock is ticking.
If you haven't read the other books in the series, you might wonder why they are called the Virals. *SPOILER ALERT* Well, in the first book our group is exposed to experimental strain of canine parvovirus. That virus ends up changing the group of teens on a genetic level that they still don't completely understand. They end up having heightened senses, animal-quick reflexes, and other abilities. It has effected each teen in the group in a slightly different way and has essentially turn the group of friends into a pack. *END SPOILER ALERT*
In this book our Virals are back trying to solve another mystery. Hi is excited to find out there is finally a geocache on Loggerhead Island. He drags everyone out to discover what it is. Only it's not your normal geocache find, it is an ornate puzzle box. Once they solve the puzzle it leads them to a second, unlogged geocache location. There a fake bomb goes off and a smaller demonstration bomb goes off they realize The Gamemaster who hid the caches isn't playing on your normal playing field, but then again the players in the game aren't normal either. The Virals must play The Gamemaster's game and solve all of the clues in time before a bigger bomb goes off and many people are hurt. They also can't tell anyone or the bomb will go off early.
While the Virals try to solve The Gamemasters mystery, Tory has another pressing issue, her debutante ball is rapidly approaching and she must choose who will escort her.
Overall, I liked this book. I didn't like it as much as I did the other books in the series, but I liked it well enough. It took me a while to get into the book (some of the other books in the series start off slow too), but once I finally I the time, it was a fairly quick read. Some parts of the book seemed predictable, but that can be very common with this type of crime mystery book.
There is one thing I wish would have been developed more in this book, and that is the budding possible romance between Ben and Tory. It was vaguely mentioned from time to time, but the authors never went anywhere with it. I have heard they plan on exploring this further with the next book, but am still rather disappointed it took a back-burner in this one. It might have spiced up the story a bit more and led me to give it a higher rating.
If you enjoy a mystery type of book, it's possible you might enjoy The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson or Slide by Jill Hathaway you could also check out Kathy Reichs series of adult books starring Temperance Brennan. It all started with Deja Dead.
My Rating: 
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