Code

Virals #3

by Kathy Reichs, Brendan Reichs

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.

Genres: Young Adult, Mystery, Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Adventure, Thriller

408 pages, Hardcover

First published March 7, 2013

About the author

Kathy Reichs is a forensic anthropologist for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, State of North Carolina, and for the Laboratoire des Sciences Judiciaires et de Médecine Légale for the province of Quebec. She is one of only fifty forensic anthropologists certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology and is on the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. A professor of anthropology at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Dr. Reichs is a native of Chicago, where she received her Ph.D. at Northwestern. She now divides her time between Charlotte and Montreal and is a frequent expert witness in criminal trials.

Awards:
Arthur Ellis Award
◊ Best First Novel (1998): Deja Dead

Reviews

[paige (ptsungirl) · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The point is the finding, not the getting. What's inside is usually trivial."

°•*⁀➷

This was so much more fast paced than the first two. I was actually so caught up in it for the last hundred pages it was hard not to read into the night.

This was the first book that I really liked Tory's Dad, the first time he felt like a parent. What is it about being a kid that makes going on terrifying adventures without telling our parents so entertaining to read about? I sure as heck would never have gotten into the trouble that the virals do in this book. Especially in this book.

It was also so much fun to see the start of a potential romance. Tory having no idea that two boys are fighting for her affections? Hilarious. I wonder if we were all that clueless once. What a fun book!

- Paige

[C M]

My god. I think I'm going to die, for good and bad reasons.

Want to hear them?

1. This book comes out in 2013?!?!
[image error]
I think I will go live like a hermit till this book comes out.

2.The cover sucks, to put it bluntly.

I mean, Reichs gives us this,


Then gives us this (in which Ben looks retarded, otherwise a great cover),


And for the third book we get this?


You tell me what's wrong with that picture.

Now you get to hear the positive stuff!

3. We get Tory back! I love her. She is the ideal kick-butt heroine that doesn't melt into a puddle of goo when given the choice between two hot guys.
*coughMaximumRidecough*
[image error]

... or you could use Bella (and Jacob and Edward) from Twilight as an example.

Which leads up to,

4. There is little romance in this series. It's like a tiny island of no romance in an ocean of love triangles. Well, there is that weird splash of Tory/Jason, and Tory/Ben if you squint and turn your book/tablet/kindle 57˚ to the left. So there's enough romance in here to keep us refreshed, but not so much that we drown. So I'm still waiting for the tidal wave that should be on it's way...

5. The whole recombinant DNA thing is back! I used to love the Maximum Ride series, but then it turned into romantic mush. Anyway, I like the recombinant DNA idea because it gives the characters powers without turning the book into fantasy. Plus, someday science might give us just that...

Anyway thank you for tuning in for the first review of mine. Maybe I'll leave another after I've died and read the book...

[Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is NO POSSIBLE WAY anyone could give this anything less than 5 stars. It is just impossible. This book was the breath-taking, nerve racking, mind blowing third book in the Virals series.
May I repeat.
NO POSSIBLE WAY.

So, with that off my chest, I will begin my review.

Oh. My. Freaking. GOD.


When I read that the third Virals book was about a bomb, I almost died. I needed this book immediately, and I had to wait another freaking year for it to be released. So I tortured myself with teasers, discussions and speculations.
How would it end?
What could the twist be?
It ended up being nothing and yet everything like what I expected it to be.
It was everything like I thought it would be because I knew it would be awesome. Because, come on, it is Kathy Reichs writing it. How on earth could it go wrong? :)

- Basic Storyline -

Tory Brennan is out on Loggerhead with her fellow pack mates (read Virals and Seizure) Hi, Shelton and Ben. Hi introduces the group to "geocaching" - which, by the way, I participate in and is incredibly fun! - and they dig the one on Loggerhead. This discovery results only ina frustrating box and a cryptic message. Little did they know that this would lead them on a potentially fatal dance with a child-like maniac. It is revealed to them that they are playing with a mass murderer. The "GameMaster" has planted a bomb somewhere, and is leaving encrypted clues and an unidentified body in his wake for the Virals to find and use to divert a mass murder.
But, they can't go to the police.
They can't tell their parents.
They can't tell their friends.
Because if they do, everyone will die.
While struggling with cotillion début balls, a suspicious Chance and Tripod, mysterious tensions between friends and the inevitable moving in of Whitney, Tory must some how also figure out the GameMaster's puzzle and save hundreds, if not thousands, of lives.
As the story progresses, Tory is presented with the confusing dilemma of Jason and Ben. Silent, and sometimes physical, tension accompanies the encounters between the two, and little does Tory know that she is the cause of it.

In the end, Tory is forced to tell Jason and Chance of the bomb, therefore breaking the rules of the Game. The consequences will be fatal. They have discovered where the bomb is.
It's hidden at the Cotillion Début Ball.
They are faced with a choice.
Either they can leave the deadly gas bomb to kill the hundreds of people attending the ball - or they can sacrifice themselves.
But they are Virals.
And Virals don't get beaten.
Knocking out Jason and distracting Chance, they flare, and save themselves.
When they emerge from the basement, dirty, coughing, and injured with suits and dress torn, they cover it up by saying they tripped in the dark.
They didn't say that they just stopped a bomb from killing everyone.
And the debs are none the wiser.

But one problem remains.
Who is the Gamemaker?

Proceeding to use their skills of deduction, they hunt down the man in the midst of a hurricane. Together, as a pack, they hunt him down and capture him. But not before the Gamemaker makes a final taunt.

"Tell Ben thankyou. I've never worked with a partner before. It made this game so much more exciting than others, being able to get so close-"

It was Ben.
Ben was involved.
It wasn't until they were safely in the Charlestone Hospital that Ben explained.
He did it because he wanted to impress Tory. No one was supposed to get hurt - it was supposed to be a game. But things got out of hand, and soon they were playing for their lives. And finally, when she asks him why he did it, he says the one thing we've wanted him to say for the past two books. The thing we've wanted, hoped, needed him to say.

~ Scene from end of book ~

"Tell me why, Ben. Why would you want to trick us in the first place?"
Ben stopped pacing. Looked at me directly. "Don't you know?"
I shook my head, confused.
"To impress you, Victoria Brennan." His voice cracked. "I wanted you to think I was special."
The words rocked me.
Oh, Ben.
He'd started this madness... for me?
"You were spending all that time with Jason," Ben said softly, staring at his shoes. "Skipping around town with your new perfect guy. Cotillion this. Fundraiser that. I hated it. Hated him. When I finally told Rome, he said I needed to amaze you. Said I had to figure out a way to make you see me."
"I see you, Ben." I rose and grabbed his hand. "I always have. You're in my pack."
He pulled away. "What if being packmates isn't enough?"
I was speechless.
~ End scene ~

Heartbreaking.
Convinced it was his fault, he went and told the authorities it was partly him.
Charges weren't pressed, but something else took hold.
Ben was being expelled from Bolton.

The book ended with a scene of Chance Claybourne, in his cellar. He was putting the pieces together about Tory and her gang. About the research Karsten was doing. About what they are.

And then it just... finished.
And I was like WHAT?
Deadly cliffhanger. Cannot wait for book 4, whatever it will be and whenever it will be released.

:)

An undeniable, whole-hearted, completely earnt FIVE STARS for Kathy Reichs revolutionary forensic science, murder mystery and fantasy thriller Code.

[Hypatia]

Can't wait for the next installment in this exciting series! Most books in YA revolve around romance, but the Virals books are pure adventure and a refreshing break from the norm.

*Update*
Sees cover- "WHAT THE HELL? That BETTER be temporary......"
*Update #2*
Wait. What? March 7. 2013. 2013. 2013.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
I'm just going to say that's an accident and give SOMEBODY time to change it back to August 2, 2012. *HINTHINT*

[VG/Allie]

Oh-mi-goda!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i want the book now!!!!!! and im forced to wait to 2013...... GIRRR
*************
OHHHHH!!!! THE cover is pretty! But i like the other two better.....
*************

(Post reading Initial Rant) Good book starling ending why Ben why???? and there must be a 4th.

*
*
*
*
Now that time has pasted and now I can think coherently about this book and not just scream at the characters and Kathy Reichs.....

Ok, "Code" was by far the best of the Viral Books so far (there must be a fourth!) I honestly liked the Gamemaster and them getting away from LIRI. I also liked that Ben finally tried to impress Tori (even if it did cause most of there problems) and I want to slap her for not getting it! Augh! {Bones and Booth reference anyone?}

I liked that the kids are finally starting to learn more about there "powers" but that end bit about wanting to get rid of them? NO! OH Heck NO! I wouldn't give those up.

About the Gamemaster, the PTSD getting really old and people should start moving back to the old stand by of there just nuts. bonkers. few screws lose (or in this case all screws have left the building) but this is just my humble Opinion.

I liked the D-ball bit, (clues not so convincing, but hey that's just me) Jason needs to get his rich-a@@ away from Tori (while I hate the teams thing I must confess I am Team Blue) and Chase, oh Chase, i liked you in the first book, dis-liked you in the Second, but now..... I loath you.
And Hi, with his memorable outfit XD loved it.


My Final words, "I want a dog like Cooper!"

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of mixed feelings about this one. I might have enjoyed it more if I could turn off my critical perspective and looked at it purely for its entertainment value (like I do for the Alex Rider series), but I wasn't able to for this one. Still, I'm not done with the series yet; the premise for the next book definitely intrigues me, and I've enjoyed things well enough so far to give the Reichs a second chance.

The good things:

1) The Reichs know how to write a tense and action-packed story; it was exciting to read and had a couple of plot twists I hadn't expected, which is always enjoyable. The hurricane sequence was especially good; while not the most realistic thing to happen, it had me very much at the edge of my seat wanting to know what was next.

2) The friendship between Tory and her three guy friends stays strong and still pretty central to the story; it's less common in YA books for girls and guys to just be friends without any romantic undertones. (Well, okay, there's a clear setup for romance with Ben, but not with Sheldon and Hi, and they're all equally important to Tory.)

3) The setting. I just kind of love all the details about the city, the islands, the monastery they visit. Sometimes the characters end up info-dumping encyclopedia information about places in the middle of their conversations, which can be awkward, but really, that's a minor quibble.

4) Something Ben-related that is all spoilers: I like that his crush on Tory is finally out in the open! Tory's obliviousness to it and the way the other characters talked around it was driving me nuts. I'm less thrilled that it took until the end of the book for Ben to say anything, and even then he only spoke up because Tory was asking him point blank, but hey, at least it happened. I also like that this revelation came paired with Ben's confession about knowing the Gamemaster and his own role in setting up the Game; there's a lot of potential now for how his story might develop, when all I really expected was to go down the typical "friends turned romantic partners" path. Please don't let me down in the next book! *crosses fingers*

The sorta okay, sorta not, maybe-it's-just-me things:

1) The puzzles. While overall I liked them and enjoyed that they were clever enough that I wasn't able to figure them out on my lonesome, there were some glaringly easy conclusions Team Viral should have made much sooner than they did. Their slowness felt more like a plot contrivance than actual difficulty, which is just weak writing. The most egregious has to be not recognizing that the string of letters and numbers in the (third?) clue was a chemical equation; it's less obvious in the description in the book, I guess, but the picture included in the text has "H2O" positioned at the top left of the black circle, the most natural place for people's eyes to fall (at least for Western people) because we're taught to read left to right. It strained credibility that these kids--who most of the time are pretty clever!--would not see that right away. Or even if they missed it, it's hard to believe that Google wouldn't figure it out when they did their first search string. Am I supposed to believe these kids don't use Google? I mean, really.

2) The subplot with that weirdly antagonistic doctor dude. I'm sure it's setup for future books, but nothing really came of it in this story, so it felt out of place.

The not so good things:

1) The setup of this story's mystery/thriller bit is ludicrously convoluted and requires more than a little suspension of disbelief. (And I'm saying this about a series whose previous plot points include a virus that gives humans wolf-like powers, and pirate treasure in the sewers beneath Charleston. Yes, the plot of this story is THAT out there.) There's a revelation at the end of the story that helps mitigate its absurdity somewhat, but really, the more I think about it, the less substantial that explanation becomes. I understand Ben was being manipulated by the Gamemaster, but come on. It's a ridiculous amount of effort for Ben to trick his friends into doing this geocache thing, making sure they buy the right stuff and find the right clues, all so he can have a moment to be clever in front of the girl he likes. Was there really no other way for him to show off his smarts to Tory? No other way to get her attention? God forbid he actually just tell her he likes her and ask her out on a date. (And actually, why would he need to trick Sheldon and Hi at all? They're written as each other's only friends, really, so I can't imagine why they wouldn't be supportive of Ben finally doing something about his crush. His decision to stay quiet about his connection to the Gamemaster, I don't like much, but I actually understand it better: when things went sideways, he basically set up camp in Denial Land and hoped he wouldn't be called on his actions. Not the most admirable thing, but definitely a realistic mistake for somebody who's never before been in a position where he's (partially) responsible for getting people hurt.)

2) The portrayal of women and femininity in the story is starting to grate on my nerves. While I quite like Tory (especially her interest in science, her leadership skills, her intelligence, her impulsiveness that gets them out of scrapes as often as it gets them in), she only interacts with a handful of female characters and her attitude toward them--dismissive, condescending, even antagonistic at times--I find quite troubling. The High School Mean Girls is a cliche found in a lot of YA stories and this series is no exception. In the earlier books, it was mostly a tiresome but easily skimmed over part of the story--the girls didn't like Tory because she's not rich/from the right neighborhood/into feminine things like they are, and because oh-so-attractive-and-popular Jason is interested in Tory instead of them; so they're mean to her until she finally takes a stand and berates them in public for their actions, yada yada yada--but in this book, the relationship takes an uncomfortable twist.

At the end of Seizure, Tory slipped up and let one of the Mean Girls, Madison, see her glowing wolf-powered eyes; Madison, understandably, is freaked out afterwards. She spends the entirety of this story cringing and cowering away from Tory, and it gets even worse when Tory tries to use her mental powers to read Madison's thoughts, an invasion that Madison can physically feel and is an immensely terrifying experience for her. And Tory? Tory mostly seems to think that it was a bad move on her part because it made Madison even more suspicious of her and more willing to talk to Chance, who is on a quest to figure out the truth of Team Viral. She's not upset at all that she flagrantly violated Madison's privacy, in a way that actually hurt her and left her afraid and probably questioning her sanity. I'm holding out hope that in the next book, Tory gets a wake up call that what she did (is doing) is wrong. I mean, Tory's capable of it! She feels horrible about lying to Chance and making him doubt his sanity, even though Chance tried to kill her last book, so why wouldn't she feel some guilt for what she's doing to Madison? At the moment, though, Tory feels her actions are vindicated and the narrative doesn't undercut that conclusion. (I suppose I should be fair though: Tory doesn't feel much guilt about doing the same thing to her friends, even after they've explicitly told her not to, so perhaps it's too much to ask her to feel badly about how she's treating someone who once bullied her?)

The other main female character Tory interacts with is her father's girlfriend, Whitney, and wow, does Tory dislike her. It's not that it's unrealistic for Tory to feel that way--she and Whitney value very different things, and Tory is still dealing with grief from her mother passing away, so she'd likely struggle to accept any female potentially-parental figure--but her feelings stay shallow. It's been three books now, and while there have been one or two moments where Tory has been willing to recognize that Whitney isn't a complete waste of space, most of their relationship is static: Whitney tries to get Tory to like her and Tory continues not to. There's no progression, no lasting recognition on Tory's part that Whitney is a person with value. (Whitney doesn't seem to understand Tory very well either, but at least she makes an effort.) Again, these are perhaps not inauthentic feelings for someone in Tory's position to have, but the way the Reichs write them, it feels less like characterization and more like cliche bordering on caricature.

Additionally, it's very problematic that there's only a few other female characters in the books and Tory looks down on them all, calling them "skank" and "bimbo" in turn. In addition to perpetuating the idea that all women are catty and vicious to each other, this "Tory vs. Them" setup makes for an uncomfortable commentary on the kind of femininity valued by Tory (and the authors). People, there isn't a wrong way to be female! Liking science and hating dressing up isn't superior to wearing make-up and owning frilly things, and I wish the authors would be a little more aware of this. At the very least in the next book, can you give me a female character Tory actually likes?

3) I'm also pretty done with the masculine one-upmanship between Jason and Ben over Tory's affections. Jason, dude, Tory already turned you down. Chill out and be a friend. Ben, you've got nothing to stand on until you actually man up and say something to Tory about your crush, and even then, it's not cool to be a jerk to her friends. Jealousy is not attractive. At least the narrative is with me on this point, but that's small comfort. If the Reichs weren't going to do anything novel with the whole "rival suitors" cliche, I'd have preferred for them to skip it altogether. Boooring.

4) The Gamemaster is your cliched psychopathic villain, down to the high-pitched giggling and weirdly detailed Master Plan that our intrepid heroes just happen to stumble into. Boring and overdone. The only saving grace is that at least the Game he came up with was interesting.


Recommended mainly to people who are already invested in the series, but it could also work for anyone looking for light reading who's practiced at overlooking flaws. Appropriate for high schoolers, maybe even some older middle schoolers who wouldn't be frightened by the setup.

(Also: how on earth do I always end up writing essays for mediocre books I could take or leave, but when it comes to write a review for ones I absolutely love, I can barely string two words together? Seriously, this review is epically long; if you made it this far, have a cookie.)

[Aether · Rating 4 out of 5]

This. Was. An. Awesome. Book.
Go, Kathy Reichs! I love the whole virals thing, its enormously inventive. I still havent recoverred from this book. Read it twice in 5 hours. Tory's debutante ball was very well written. In the next book, someone is so going to find out they are virals. Madison, Jason and Chance all have seen way too much. Im amazed that Kit or the other parents havent figured out something is off. Excuse me, but I would notice something weird if the same four teens kept accomplishing freaky stuff.

Whats with all this formatting stuff you have to type in? Its annoying!

If you have read Virals and Seizure, you have to read this book. I recommend it for all teens who like any of the following: Mystery, Suspense, Adventure, or SciFi. This book is beyond realistic. Im one step away from going to look up parvo. This all just seems like it could actually happen. Kill me now!

The mystery part of this book was extremly well done. There were so many hidden clues that you dont notice until you have reread this. Ben kept acting weird, but I was just like Tory and chalked it up to him hating Jason etc. Though I totally got that he likes Tory. She is kinda blind, but I would have been too. If there isnt some Tory-Ben romance in the next book, I'll eat the book. Without salt. And the scene near the end of the book where Ben confesses everything is soooo sweet! I havent read any of Kathy Reichs adult books or watched Bones or anything, but this author deserves a major award, even if its just for her YA novels. I was hyperventilating in the climatic parts, and giggling maniacly in the funny part. This book rocked! I kept getting funny looks from everyone. Oh well.

In this book, Madison gets even more evidence that Tory is a little off the normal side. And Chance has been digging around the Parvo experiment. He is so going to find out about the Virals, if its the last thing he does. Maybe next book ,which Im assuming will be the last or second last. She thinks Tory is a witch. Not just like an insult, like the real thing. Magic and booyah, that kind of stuff. I noticed that Kathy Reichs co-authored this book. Why? Its spectacular, and Im not complaining, but she started the series on her own. Why start co-authoring now? EDIT: Well, it may be because I'm an idiot and didn't look in the AUTHOR column for the first book. Gah. They were all co-written. XD

Anyway. The way Kathy wrote the book made me feel like I was actually there. It was descriptive, and she pulled off the first-person without saying, I-did-this, I-did-that that a few authors are prone to.

In this book , I am finally starting to comprehend the full depths of the Virals powers. They get their powers through science, which is so much more realistic and disturbing than if it was like "Oh cool! I woke up this morning and I have superpowers now!" kind of thing. The virals ease slowly into their powers, and that is creeptastic. Every single time I get sick, I start looking at my dog funny. If they started out understanding all of their powers, then it wouldnt make as much sense.

Why are there 100 pages of reviews when the book came out yesterday! Nobody will actually read this because thousands of poeple have commented on previous books and want to tell the world of goodreads that they are interested in reading this book! This is the first review Ive written, so I wanted a chance for people to see it. Which is why I chose Code as opposed to say, my fave book , The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan. Actully, Im not sure. This might have eclipsed it. I WANT THE NEXT BOOK NOW!

Of all of the characters I would most want to portray in a movie, Tory is on the top of my list. She doesnt take stuff from anyone (after the whole tripod of skank episode book 2) and she has freaking awesome superpowers!

My only problems with this book are A) The cover. EEEW! I loved the other covers, with Tory and the gang all looking awesome! But now theyve changed the covers and it looks awful. They even changed the covers of the other books, which completely ruions my chances of ever buying one. Ick. If anyone ever finds a cover that matches the original first two, please message me or whatever so I can glue it to the front of my brand-new book. Thanks!
My other problem was an error on Chapter 12. Tory Flares, looks through Bens eyes at herself goes SNUP , and then mentions a paragraph later that she scans the area with supersenses. Um , I thought SNUP meant you lost your flare, and it didnt mention restarting it. The only explanation for this is that she was yanked out of her mindbender stunt with a SNUP , but that doesnt really make sense.
Other than that, the book was absolutely awesome. Please write the next book soon Kathy & Brendan! I love your writing!
Just change the cover for me please!

GO VIRALS!

[Rachel S · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first received this book through the post, I literally squealed with excitement and started dancing around my room. I'd loved the previous two books in the series - Virals and Seizure - and couldn't wait to start reading the latest instalment. And, though it was still a really great read, unfortunately, it just wasn't as good as the other two. I found a couple of faults. :(

I think I'll start off with the negative first. Now, when I first started reading this series, I was thirteen - a couple months away from my fourteenth birthday - so I was round about the same age as the main character, Tory (who was fourteen). I'm fifteen now and what I'm finding a little strange is the fact that the authors haven't really developed (or aged) the characters since the first book. Now, I know that this won't be counted as a fault to other readers, but, personally, I enjoy it a lot more when characters develop and you start seeing significant changes. But this just isn't happening for the Virals gang - they're basically the exact same as they were in the first book.

Due to this, the one aspect in the book that I'd been hoping would progress and develop (the romance between two certain characters) just isn't happening! It's actually started to feel like it's being avoided. There's been many subtle and not-so-subtle hints throughout all three books connecting the two together but I'm still waiting for the authors to take action and, because of this, I'm getting tired of waiting. :( **SPOILER: Those of you that have highlighted this probably know that I'm talking about BEN and Tory, right? Well, are any of you getting as frustrated as me?! I mean, it's been long enough already! However, I must say that this book probably does contain the most romance... especially nearing the end. But it isn't satisfying me enough!.**

Anyway. That being said, I still did thoroughly enjoy this book. Yet again, I loved the banter and witty comments between all four Virals and the type of friendship they had was sweet and enjoyable to read about. Tory still narrates very much like how a teenager speaks and her thoughts are rather relatable because of this. There are also a few chapters in third person thrown in to add effect and more development of the story from different angles and characters. I also found that, like in Seizure, I would love to have the gang as friends of my own! Their sarcasm reminds me very much of myself. ;) I don't even have a favourite as all the characters are very likeable and admirable in different ways.

The plot line for this book was actually pretty creepy and sinister and I was quite jumpy whilst reading it! It didn't help that I was reading it at two in the morning either! I also didn't expect the culprit behind this mystery so the thrill and the need to know who it was kept me from putting it down. However, there is one twist at the end that I didn't think completely necessary. Though you won't know which one I'm talking about until you read the book! :P

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book. Though I found the development of some aspects lacking and one of the twists nearing the end a little pointless and resulting in way more negative feelings, the characters and their relationships along with the constant mystery of who was behind it all, kept me hooked. This book also leaves you with a lot of unanswered questions and a cliffhanger that will have you eagerly - and grudgingly - waiting for book number four. I mean, I have to wait for forever for the next book now! :( I would still recommend you read this book if you have loved this series but, if you're like me, you might be a tad disappointed it wasn't quite as amazing as you'd hoped.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Update: Writing is a little clunky and some things are predictable, but wow- what action. Breakneck pace, fantastic plotting, it kept me up all night reading. I eagerly anticipate the next installment!
...

So, two things:

a) THIS EXISTS? I love the Virals series, but it isn't that popular, so I haven't heard about it in the way I usually do, through my GoodReads buddies chatting about it in my feed or coverage being posted on choice entertainment sites. I was looking through reviews today, and lo and behold! It comes out today. It's like finding a birthday card with $20 in it while cleaning up or finding out that you have the day off.

b) THE COVER. Why do publishers insist on changing the cover design after each installment? The worst criminal is James Patterson, who through the course of the Maximum Ride series had the design changed eight or nine times. How am I supposed to line these up on my bookshelf, all pretty and symmetrical-like, and feel pleased? That's kind of one of the privileges you get paying the $17.99 hardcover price. Also, if you're a semi-fan of a series (see above), then it's hard to keep track of the book. It's like a band changing their name every time they get a gig (a la MouseRat in Parks and Recreation)

[Deena Beena · Rating 5 out of 5]

MARCH 7th 2013 ?!?!?!?!?!?! WHAT?!
SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME THAT THIS ISN'T TRUE.
Oh my god I'm going to die.

NEW COVER! BETTER COVER YES! WOOHOOOOO.

UPDATE:
THIS CAN'T BE IT! Someone pleeeeeaaaaaase tell me if Reichs will continue the series. SHE LEFT ME HANGING! I started this series when I was 13, and I'm now 16, I can't have them end now! This book was by far the most adrenaline pumping. My heart was beating like 1150 per minute. IT MUST CONTINUE!

[Tatiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never before have I met a character more oblivious about romantic intentions than Tory. I thought no one could be more oblivious than Sydney Sage, but clearly I was wrong. Dear Lord, child, what must he do to tell you he likes you? Make out with you?! Poor Ben....

Not to mention.....when will they start listening to poor Coop??? The wolfdog is practically an early alarm system against all things dangerous....he doesn't growl at things just because he's cranky! There's a reason!! GAH!

[Matylda · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5/5
przemawia przeze mnie duży sentyment, ale obiektywnie patrząc ta część podobała mi się troche mniej. Nie podobaly mi sie wszystkie wybory bohaterow i mniej akcji, natomiast 2 BARDZO dobre plot twisty, az sie wystraszylam czytajac.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Reichses (permission to call them Reichs-squared, or just Reichs for this review?) do it again with another great YA novel. Having recently read and reviewed ‘Shift’, the short story by these two to bridge the previous novel to this one, I am refreshed that things have returned to normal and the hokiness found in ‘Shift’ is gone. Reichs returns with a full-on adventure that have the VIRALS tackling some very interesting and somewhat confusing clues to crack the code and solve the greater mystery. In true Reichs fashion, just as things seem to be wrapping up, something derails the story and takes it on another tangent. I like this… and would say the book could best some of the adult fiction I have read lately. A great story, interesting characters, and strong plot/character development that move through all three books in the series, the third installment of VIRALS is well worth a look, even for the skeptical Reichs lover.

While YA books of this genre remind me of my early days reading choose your own adventure, Reichs injects more Adult than Young into her books and makes the bridge for mature (readers who do not usually read young adult) readers to enjoy them. Sure, there is the teenage awkwardness and the like, but the situations and language are quite mature and therefore easier to digest. Of all the mainstream adult fiction writers who have dabbled into the YA world that I read regularly (James Patterson, John Grisham, and Kathy Reichs), this is surely the best attempt, or at least the most thorough. Without knowing the true definition of the genre, it is hard to see if Reichs meets the expectations or purposely colours outside the lines.

Well done, Madam and Mr. Reichs on this stellar book. Well worth the time for young adult and young adult reader at heart alike! Have you thought (a la ‘Shift’ of a double Brennan connection) in a Tempe Brennan book, where young Ms. Brennan has more of a role than great-aunt did? Great way to bring both sets of readers together!

[Vicki (The Wolf's Den) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe I'm getting too old for these, but I wasn't nearly as sympathetic to Tory in this book as I have been previously. I like Tory, and I get that she has a lot of drama and stress on her shoulders, but her relationships are getting awfully manipulative.

Read my full review at The Wolf's Den

I did like this book in and of itself. The story was strong, the puzzles and action were on point, and the villain was a nice foil for the pack. When they're on puzzles and exploration, the story is great. When it focuses on Tory and drama... I'm getting really impatient. Sigh, teenagers.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

BEN WHYYYYYYY

[vicindelusion · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.2/5

[Les Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Want comment on the book, but didn’t find it a 1/4 as good as her Temperance Brennan series.

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wut. Seriously though what the heck? Ok I'm getting ahead of myself, this book was phenomenal obviously by the rating I gave it. Kathy Reichs, you're the bomb. I've been with this series from the beginning back when I thought Virals was a stand alone. I deeply hope there is a next book to this series (she cannot possibly leave it like that). Now this book was different from the others. It was still you know the Virals taking care of business, but it was more hardcore. Which was like, whoa, this is a whole new level of crazy. There was some serious stuff going on and I didn't always like their decisions (I'm like Shelton, can we freakin' go to the police now?!) but they obviously handled it well. Now for the real talk First of all Ben WTF. Like no. This is unacceptable. I totally understand Tory in the end not wanting to forgive you. I don't know that I could. I mean, you were unknowingly in cahoots with a flippin serial killer! Then you figured out he was a big fat red flag, you didn't tell your own pack!!! NO. NOT OK. And you were in a bad mood the whole book. Yes I get that it wasn't just a "bad mood" but until the end, I thought it was just petty jealousy over Jason! FYI, Ben, that is not the way to impress Tory. Piss her off, yes. Impress? WTF were you thinking. I betcha that if you would have just freakin come out and said what you felt, she would have said, "Cool, yeah I like you too, Jason just doesn't do it for me, you do. Plus you're super hot." (at least he is in my mind I mean you could fry an egg on the mental picture I've got of him) Tory never comes out and says her real feelings for Ben, but you can tell it's gonna happen. It's like Ross and Rachel, he's her lobster. But now I'm not for certain if they are going to happen because he went and mucked things up!! Holy crap she already knows you're cool Ben! You don't need to be anything else. All you needed was to TELL HER. Now you're expelled, which is stupid. And that is stressin me out. Ok rant over.
The crime part of this book was fantastic. I had no idea what was going to happen next. It was so fun to read! I really would never have guessed that the Gamemaker was pretending to be the forensic cop guy which the name escapes me. That was intense. I loved it. I really wanted to know how many times he'd done this crap before. I just wow.

[Mikaela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, freaking awesome book!! Most books in series kinda goes down hill and the first book is the best. Not so in this series! This book is so much different that the first two, but yet better in ways. Ben however just friggin' pissed me off. Like what the heck dude. I thought that his bad attitude through out the whole book was just cause he was crushin on Tory and was jealous thinking she like Jason, and two things about that. First off, don't act like a jerk since you do like her (just saying, everyone except for Tory can figure that out), and just tell her. She likes you more than Jason. She doesn't think of him as anything more than a friend. Plus, you're like modle hot, and Jason is just a high school hottie. Big difference. Now, since you kept that secret from her and the pack (and got yourself EXPELED!) she has reason to be mad at you. At the same time I can sorta see how you'd think that it's better to hide what you did (I'm NOT saying it was right), but after a certain point you just should've told them. They would've forgiven you so much easier. Also, I could totally see you and Tory together, but now that'll be so much more difficult. Okay, so Ben was like my biggest complaint of the book. I'm done complaining for now. There'd better be a next book in this series!! The way Kathy Reichs left this would be literal torture if there is no next book. Originally I thought Virals was a stand alone, but then Seizure came out and I was freaking in love with this series. I've looked it up and can't find any sign of a 4th book so I'm really hoping that I just can't find it.

[Tanja · Rating 4 out of 5]

>>Diese Rezension und viele mehr findet ihr auch hier: http://wort-welten.blogspot.de/

ZUSAMMENFASSUNG:
Ein neuer Fall bahnt sich für Tory Brennan und ihre drei Freunde Ben, Hi und Shelton an. Und alles nimmt seinen Anfang mit His neu entdecktem Interesse am so genannten Geo Caching. Im Internet findet er Koordinaten, die genau in das Revier von ihm und seinen Freunden passen - die Insel, auf der ihre aller Eltern arbeiten. Doch am Fundort lockt kein kleiner Schatz neben dem obligatorischen Buch, in dem sich jeder Finder eintragen darf.

Stattdessen bringt eine geheime Box die vier Freunde bald auf die Spur eines Verrückten, der die vier in ein Spiel verwickelt, das schnell tödlich enden kann, denn der selbst ernannte Spielführer meint seine Sache ernst - todernst ...

FAZIT:
Im nun schon dritten Abenteuer der Virals rückt, wie ich finde, ihr Zustand als Teenager mit Superkräften, die sie durch die Infektion mit einem neuartigen Virenstamm erhalten haben, fast ein wenig in den Hintergrund. Dafür ist dies ihr wohl spannendstes und auch gefährlichstes Abenteuer. Wobei ich Tory leider in manchen Situationen doch ein wenig arg nervig und ziemlich Ich-bezogen fand, aber das kann durchaus auch Geschmackssache sein.

Ich jedenfalls habe auch diesen Teil der Reihe gerne gelesen, wenngleich ich mir auf den ersten Seiten dann doch ein wenig schwergetan habe, Schwierigkeiten hatte, endlich richtig ins Geschehen einzutauchen. War das jedoch erst einmal geschafft, habe ich das Buch in einem Rutsch ausgelesen. Selbstredend, dass ich mich auf weitere Teile der Reihe freue!

[Kirsty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished the book. I want to cry....... i could not believe the ending, it was a total twist I didn't see coming.


I didnt really like the part of the book at Jason's party, i thought it was totally not needed, probably because im from NZ and the whole cliche part thing wouldn't happen here and also because it was kinda out of character for the virals and didnt really need to happen...

I loved Ben and wanted him to get together with Tory sooo bad from the first book, so when i found out knew the gamemaster I was in total shock, and I was actually quite pissed off. It is gonna ruin the whole pack relationship. I really need the 4th book... desperately..... i cant wait to find out what happens and really want them to get together, but i dont see that happening now ... :(

Over all it was a very good book and I enjoyed it, even though I am completely gutted about BEN
I really hope there is a 4th book !!!!

[Emma Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Code by Kathy Reichs was the third installment in the Virals Series. It follows our Virals Pack as they are trying to solve the puzzles set forth by the manipulative and toxic Gamemaster. The story itself was very interesting, but many of the plot points were predictable. I liked how we seemed to see Tory grow up more, but I would have liked it much more if there wasn't the "two-boy-one-girl" romance trope. If you ignore that, I feel like the book is somewhat good. I look forward to seeing how the conclusion of this book affects the next book in the series.

[Venessa Stella · Rating 5 out of 5]

This part is by far my favourite so far. I couldn't remember the story so it was as exciting as it probably was when I read it the first time.
After starting the last third I couldn't stop. And honestly I really don't know why I stopped reading this series after this book.
Besides the exciting story, my favourite parts were like every phrase of Hi. Honestly that dude is awesome and freaking hilarious! I need a friend like that!

[Mary-Morganne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hate the cover, love the books. but you know what they say, don't judge a book by its cover! but seriously, I think they changed the publisher. wasn't it penguin or puffin or something before? bet thats why they changed the covers. P.S. saw on kindle store they changed Virals 1 too. get the good cover while it lasts!

[Joel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me start by saying that on the whole, I enjoyed this book. Keep that in mind, because my review may not sound like I did.

Code by Kathy and Brendan Reichs is a quite enjoyable book for the teen audience, much in the tradition of The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and, for younger audiences, The Boxcar Children. People like their mysteries, (see television: CSI, NCIS, The Mentalist... if it's fiction and not a sitcom, it seems like it's mystery based) and I feel like the teen mystery really clicks with the YA audience as a whole, probably having to do with various feelings that teenagers seem to have along the lines of wanting to be smart and thinking/knowing that they're smarter than adults. That being said, it avoids two of the classic blunders of so many currently popular YA books: we don't have to deal with an overabundance of Feelings and it's not the evil government (true, this is more semi-fantasy than a dystopia but still... You're 14. The government doesn't care about you.) It's fun, it's fast-paced, it's funny... all in all, it's got pretty high entertainment value.

The Reichs do a wonderful job of weaving the mystery into the lives of the Morris Island kids, and the fact that there are simultaneous storylines is part of what makes this book so enjoyable. Unfortunately, this is where the book (the series as a whole really, but it became far more pronounced for me in this book) runs into its primary issues. You see, all of the kids go to a private academy, 3 are in their Sophomore Year and one is a Junior. Unfortunately, it seems that in an effort to make the kids out to be super-geniuses, the Reichs miss the mark on making the high school believable. The kids are all in the same classes. However, they're all in Senior level classes. They are all in calculus and AP chemistry. AP chemistry is a second year course, i.e. to be taken after the student has already completed a year of chemistry, so they shouldn't be able to take it until Junior Year at the earliest. Calculus is for seniors. I know of a small set of students advanced enough to take Calculus as Juniors, but in a graduating class of 200 students maybe 3-8 fit the bill. And then these students would need to have classes to take after that. Meaning the second year of calculus (high school calculus is only the first semester of college calculus), and then likely Differential Equations. I have never heard of a high school offering Differential Equations or allowing Sophomores to take Calculus. Even if they were ready mentally and academically to take calculus, the likelihood that a high school would be willing to invest the time and man-power to develop two additional year-long courses for fewer than 10 students is highly unlikely.

Now, given that these kids are super geniuses, it seems odd that there are so many things that they either don't know, or have to build from multiple sources. For example, these AP Chemistry students are trying to solve a brainteaser that contains "H2O" in sequence... and don't notice it. At all. They also don't know what a straight replacement cipher is (e.g. the Cryptoquip from the newspaper). Not all them know how longitude and latitude work. Having watched several seasons of Bones (though not having read any of the Temperance Brennan books, so I recognize I might be off-base here) I suspect it might have to do with the team-based approach that Kathy Reichs seems to favor. In order to give everyone a chance to shine, you've got multiple characters who have a variety of specializations, so each person gets to have a cool moment. Unfortunately, the Reichs don't seem to be sure what is or isn't common knowledge for an advanced high school student. The kids also unsure as to whether or not the employees of LIRI should be suspects. You found the first clue hidden in a secluded area on the LIRI private island, where only LIRI personnel and guests can have free access and you don't think it's someone at LIRI... *facepalm* Also, I don't care how much of a super-genius you are. You don't just guess the password to a flash drive someone wants protected. I had my laptop password protected and told my brother he could use it if he could figure out the password. He hasn't gotten into it in 8 years, and I've never had to change the password. If my brother, who has known me for his whole life can't figure out my password, these kids will not just happen upon the password for a Ph.D. Institute Director in fewer than 10 attempts. Not Happening.

There is also the fact that Tory is an inconsistent narrator. In chapters/scenes where she's present, she is the clear narrative voice, speaking in the first person, and weaving her thoughts into her descriptions of actions and events where she is only an observer. However, much like the AP chemistry students don't notice H2O, her knowledge level about things seems to fluctuate at times, even within a few pages of each other. When Tory meets a contact at a firing range she says he has "Three pistols. A shotgun. Two more hunting rifles. And some automatic bullet-spitter whose name I couldn't guess." The bullet spitter turns out to be an AK-47, which is one of the more recognizable guns out there (at least in my opinion, as someone who knows next to nothing about guns). A page later the contact "lifted his Beretta 9mm." ... So Tory can't recognize an AK, but can identify a specific model of pistol, that looks like most other pistols? There are other examples, but I suppose a few of them could be chalked up to exaggeration on her part (e.g. she claims to not be able to name more than two fashion designers, and then in a fit of clever narration drops the name of 2 designers having already mentioned at least one earlier in the chapter [sorry, I can't find the exact quotation]).

In the end though, I've come to realize that I just don't like Tory. She's hypocritical, shallow, misogynistic, deceitful, and routinely breaks promises. She rails against the bullies for Bolton Prep for calling her and her friends "boat people" since they have to commute by boat from a rural island, but she and her friends utilize the term "redneck" on more than one occasion. She also convinces Shelton to stay at a drinking party, and possibly peer-pressures him into drinking (I already returned the book, so I can't reread this section to verify whether she pressures him into drinking or just staying at the party), and then criticizes her friends for drinking at this party while she doesn't. The problem with this is that the only reason she doesn't drink is that she has a PTSD-esque flashback to the cops notifying her that her mom was killed by a drunk driver. She backs out because of emotional scarring, not because she thinks underage drinking is wrong. Then we get the big surprise that it's totally okay with the "cool kids" that she doesn't drink! Except that the party's host is a social-elite lacrosse player and has a crush on her, and so he is willing to overlook it. She's also not opposed to drinking to excess, as she plays drinking games, but has said host cover her losses, thereby accelerating his rate of intoxication. So, no, she didn't drink, but I don't really think she has a leg to stand on when she tries to criticize her friends for getting drunk at the party that she brought them to, either.

Tory's misogyny and shallowness seem to go hand in hand in trying to make Tory a particular type of person: a smart science girl, that's still a teenager. Tory does not like a single other female character. In fact, she seems to hate every other female she encounters. They are all "bimbos" and "bitches." In some cases, the major offense seems to be that they dress like the prototypical woman. But you can be into science, and still want to be fashionable. As someone who has a Bachelor's Degree in physics, I met several female students whose majors were physics, biology, chemistry, mathematics or engineering, and they still dressed like the majority of the female student population. It's not a binary system where you can either be a math-sci person or you can be socially/fashionably savvy. It's also strange to me that she hates all other females, since even the women that I've known who were primarily friends with men did not have zero same gender friends. In fact, they usually had at least one friend who was also a woman that they were closer to than they were to all of their male friends. The fact that Tory is more comfortable with the male population in general doesn't exclude her from being able to be friends with another girl. And the source of her disdain for women clearly can't be that these other women objectify men, because she does too! Here are some of her descriptions of her classmate, Chance: "Chance was gorgeous, refined, and genteel. Sculpted like a gladiator with the manner of a prince." and "Dark skin, dark eyes, and dark humor. His thick black hair framed strong features and a Hollywood perfect chin. Tall, slender, and muscular without being bulky. In a word, he was gorgeous." During the reader's first encounter with a department head at LIRI, Anders Sundberg, is described as "easily LIRI's most handsome employee. Just a shade past thirty, a former Olympic swimmer, he looked like a taller, buffer Justin Timberlake. In other words, pretty hot." (Side note, here again, I feel like we lessen verisimilitude for the sake of being impressive. To me "a shade past thirty" would be 30-32ish. To get a Ph.D. in marine biology would probably take 5-6 years past a Bachelor's Degree, so he probably wouldn't finish it until he was 28 or so, especially since he probably doesn't have enough time to take extra classes to finish faster since he's training for the Olympics. Which would leave him 2-4 years to not only build up the credentials to get hired at this super prestigious research facility, but also to then be chosen as a department chair within his first 2-3 years. It really doesn't seem plausible. But I digress...) To me, it seems that all of this is trying to make Tory into a role model for young women to get interested in science. */See? You can be smart and like math and science, but still be a normal teenage girl that has normal feelings towards physically attractive males!/*

The deceit and promise breaking go hand in hand as well. The deceit I'm almost willing to overlook, since it's somewhat integral to the plot. */Gee, Dad, I've got wolf-based super powers, and if I don't regularly sneak out, a crazed psychopath who already blew up a gazebo in a popular park will likely commit another act of terrorism./* Yeah, I could see how that wouldn't fly. However, she promised on more than one occasion not to use the magic wolf powers to tap into the minds of her friends without permission, and she breaks that promise on multiple occasions. I mean, in other sci-fi/fantasy books where telepathy is possible that has been described as being tantamount to rape.

Really, what it all boils down to is that Tory is "special." She is a Dostoyevskian Superman. Because she's smart, attractive (but not a bimbo), and has superpowers, she is above social conventions, general ethics, and rules. Even one of the teachers at Bolton Prep says so, when he makes an exception for her to be allowed to leave detention since she's one of Bolton's brightest students, and shouldn't be there in the first place. Just because a student does well academically does not mean that they follow all of the rules of the institution. (After lying her way out of mid-day detention to go use her cell phone, she then skips school altogether to go meet a contact.) I don't like the concept of the Superman, and the more I think about it, the more I think this is one of the main sources for my disdain for Tory Brennan.

All in all, it is a truly fun book, and aside from a few other details (e.g. the wolf thinks in English word fragments, the 3 books up to this point take place over a 6-8 month span, but reference things that are popular during their publication years which is a course of 3 years) I greatly enjoyed myself. Much like I watch Bones for the secondary characters and not Temperance Brennan, I will continue to read the Virals series for the story and side characters, and not for Tory.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t know what this one was about before I read the description, and when I found out that it was about a cache and a code, it sounded really boring and I was disappointed that it wasn’t more of an adventure. I really was looking forward to something cooler and more enjoyable to read about.

Tory said Ben was a cutie, but like a brother. Then she commented later that he was different than the other two. He was handsome and she had a crush on him when she first moved there. But since the virus went through them and they formed the pack he’s a member of her pack and they protect each other, so she acted like he option was out. That was so disappointing. I wish there would be more attraction there, more happening between them.

Ben finds out the longitude for the cache and Tory says Ben, that’s brilliant. She notices he was suddenly all blushes, and that was so cute!

She accidently connects with the first pack member she gets to, and it’s Ben. She sees a vision of her green-faced and swaying. He gets mad at her for going into his head, angry and nervous, and gets a tight grip on her shoulders to make her stop. I just ate it up! I loved that he had been thinking about her, even though the vision of her being sick was a little weird, and not what I expected.

It was so awesome when Tory was convincing Jason at lunch to help them, and tells him she found a cash register for her dad and needs it swabbed. Jason tells her he wants to see it with her one-on-one. Ben mimicked that and starts leaving, and Jason stands up ready for a fight. Ben’s eyes change color as he starts to flare. Afterwards Tory comments that she doesn’t know why he acted like that, and Jason snaps you really don’t know, do you? Everyone else can figure it out. Tory comments to the guys that Ben’s always had a temper but lately it’s been out of control and asks them if they know why. Hi and Shelton wouldn’t look at her and just rattled off something. Clearly the guys know how he feels about Tory and are keeping it a secret. Finally! I’ve waited so long for stuff like this, and now that it’s here I’m eating it up! And Tory later says to Jason that she’ll talk to Ben, he’s a good guy and they’ll get it figured out. Jason repeats figured out, right, and he clearly knows how Ben feels about her.

Ben gets drunk at the party and pushes Jason because he’s chasing Tory around, trying to throw her in the pool. They get into a fight and afterward Ben says Jason isn’t good enough for her, that he doesn’t deserve her, and that he doesn’t know the real her. I absolutely loved it! He’s quiet and mad the next day, claiming he blacked out and didn’t remember a thing, which Tory knew was a lie. He was embarrassed. She chalked it up to him being overprotective. She really was dense about the whole thing, but it kept the surprise going for her. He was being really moody and sarcastic after that.

Then when she leaves during school to meet Marchant the boys are mad that she went alone to meet the stranger. Ben is glaring at her, telling her that it was freaking crazy and to promise him she wouldn’t take any more risks like that without another viral to watch her back.

Tory and Ben go alone to Loggerhead Institute, and Ben’s being sarcastic. Tory gets mad and has him stop the boat, asking what’s wrong, that they never used to fight. He looks stricken and panicked, then admits that he hates that douchebag Jason, and he’s a classic silver-spoon asshat. I liked that, and Tory knows that he was about to say something else. She says that Jason isn’t a viral and he’ll never mean as much to her as Ben does. Ben’s eyes snap to hers, and he stares at her intently, but then she ruins it by saying and Hi and Shelton.
They look around on the computer, and Mike Iglehart catches them, saying it isn’t a teenage make-out room. Tory blushes and Ben barks that they were just looking on the computer. After that Ben kept staring at the floor.

They go back to the cemetery where the monks are at, and try to ID the body, but the body has been moved. Tory snaps, saying the Gamemaster is always one step ahead of them. Ben comes up beside her and holds her hand, and I expected much more out of the moment, because it’s uncharacteristic of Ben to take her hand, but Tory didn’t think a thing about it, didn’t comment on it at all. That was a complete waste, so disappointing.

This one was really boring, and at several points where they’re trying to decode the messages I just mentally checked out. A lot of it goes over my head, and that shouldn’t be happening because the characters are so young. Again, the authors aren’t writing with their target audience in mind. They’re talking about gun residue, which I already knew about, and then how bullets are projected through the barrels, and how each is unique, and even about chemical equations. Just having taken chemistry this past semester, it was a bit of a sore spot being reminded of chemical names and their reactions. I felt like I was in school and I hated it. I wish the book wasn’t so scientifically oriented, it would be better to have a real exciting adventure.

The rest of it was really boring and draggy, and then at the end they had to quickly wrap up their little mystery/adventure/danger in time for the end of the book, just as in the first two. I’m noticing a pattern and I really don’t like when every book in a series has the same basic driving forces and same plot. It gets really monotonous and predictable. Granted, I didn’t see the thing with Ben coming, that he was the partner and had inadvertently helped the Gamemaster hurt people. Tory was betrayed and didn’t talk to him after that, which was pretty harsh in my opinion. Authors always go too far with strong female leads; they make them too strong, not caring, unsympathetic and focused on a career rather than love. The only thing that kept me interested in this one was Ben’s feelings for Tory, and that was drug out like the authors were purposefully putting a little teenage angst to hook readers in. Love takes a backstory, and I didn’t like how Ben was depicted, stricken and crying and sad, hang-dog and basically pathetic, for much of the book whenever Tory confronted him about his attitude and when he confessed to his part in the Game. It was pathetic the way the authors made him try so hard to get Tory to notice him. Ben was supposed to be broody and cool, not needy and eager. A total 360. And Tory, who’s spent the last 2 books, and all of this one, saying things like she had a crush on Ben and he was handsome and cute and looked good flaring and smiling and everything else, suddenly has nothing to say when Ben confesses that he wants to be more than a packmate. She won’t even let herself think about it. If a guy I’d been liking for years suddenly told me he felt the same way I’d be over the moon, not closed off to the idea. An utter letdown.

Another thing I didn’t like about this book was the cover. I liked that the other two had pictures of the Virals, so we could get an idea of how they looked, even though most of them looked bad in the 2nd cover. This one I didn’t like at all, for how it broke away from the past two, and did this loser-y, mechanical piece of junk on the front that doesn’t invite readers at all. I want a different cover. And I want adventure, danget! I want thrills, excitement, action, outdoor activity, danger, the whole works! And I’m not getting it with this series to be honest. It’s just so boring and scientific and over my head that it’s really not that enjoyable. There’s humor, the characters are likable, the little budding romance (hopefully) between Tory and Ben is interesting but not fulfilling the way it teases and then departs forever. Tory acts beyond her age, which is strange and unnatural—and majorly unrealistic to the point of ridiculous. Also, Tory has so many guys that she likes that it’s really annoying. She likes Chance—has R-rated thoughts about him, (wow, for a 14 year old that’s taking it way too far,) likes Jason’s looks and uses him for information and a date to the ball, but doesn’t want him as a boyfriend, likes the young Anders at Loggerhead Institute, and likes Ben. Does this girl need one more guy that she likes? It’s too much. Also, that ball was a complete letdown. Tory asks Ben to go as second man, after Jason, and doesn’t end up walking with him much less dancing or anything else, because the Gamemaster’s game is in full swing. I wait almost an entire book, hundreds of pages, for this ball that was brought up in the beginning, Ben agrees to go, everything’s set, and then NOTHING. This book is one disappointment after another. And Ben pushes Jason at her, telling him he’s done it before and knows what to do, and so Jason gets the privilege.

Now on to the biggest disappointment. I spend the whole book thinking everything Ben does is because he likes Tory, because that’s what the authors led me to believe. I’m thinking he looks shocked because Tory came close to getting hurt, I’m thinking he’s mad at her because she met with a madman, and I’m thinking he’s quiet and moody because of his feelings for her and he thinks they’re not returned. In reality he’s shocked because he realized he’s been duped, he’s mad because he knows for a fact how dangerous the guy is and that they really are being targeted, and he’s quiet and distant because he’s guilty. Now I’m rethinking everything I’ve read and I hate that.

And the next book—don’t even get me started. Another random, uninteresting, boring plot about other people instead of being focused on the group. That guy and that girl, whoever they are, don’t interest me at all and I’m actually dreading finding out where that’s going to go. Tory will probably end up liking that guy and the guys will like that girl or something.

[nate:) · Rating 5 out of 5]

OH MY GOD.. this book is definitely my favorite in the series by far. The ending chapter was amazing and I don't want to say because of spoilers but, dammmmmmmmm I want to start reading the next book right now. The story amazing and the character development absolutely a 10/10.

Code was definitely outstanding and had an ending that I didn't expect. This tale was full of excitement and it really made you think! Again as I have said million times, it has been holidays so i wanted to ready like stream train but with, Code i had no choice, I just couldn't put it down. One thing that I really loved about Code was how that story was just so elaborate. Another thing also is that the story wasn't what I was expecting it to be, like, Omg how did Kathy Reichs think of this, a Game coordinated by a crazy man, wow. It's absolutely my favorite in the series so far. I was really amazed at how the characters themselves changed but especially Ben, Tory, and Kit like just wow. And an update yes... I still definitely have been dreaming about being infected by a virus and then obtaining supernatural abilities. But now I find pirate treasure and get put in a game where I have to get out but the only way to get out is by solving riddles and stuff like that.

So yee, next time I will see you is when I have hopefully completed Swipe the short story between Code and Exposure.

once again... I really enjoyed something a little different from what I normally read, and I'm super excited to read Swipe next!
Thank you Kathy Reichs, for making Virals, Seizure, Shock, Shift and now Code a great adventure that I could become apart of.

Sincerely
Nate

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Freakishly amazing.
Awesomely horrifying.
And I think the felony count was only four this time. Though being scolded by a monk was definitely a new one.
Everything's at an all-time high in Reichs' "Code". Terrifying plot, stomach-churning anxiety, finger curling irritation because while the main character is amazing at putting the pieces together, apparently she's way too clueless about the feelings of the boys around her.
And that ending. With Ben. There were tears in my eyes. I was not expecting that twist, completely stopped me dead in my tracks.
Our own wonderful 'Gamemaster' sets the bar high in the third book of the Virals series and I enjoyed every second of it. Though I don't believe my family enjoyed my constant rants about the characters.
Sadly, I'm going to have to take a break from this series. I have loans on other books with deadlines much more pressing that are due this week. But I will return to these by the end of the month! They are a great October-horror-Halloween-esque set up that definitely brings the scary to this very spooky holiday.

[LibraryCin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 3rd in a YA series. Tory and her friends have acquired some special abilities (in previous books). They have come across a geocaching site and one of them encourages the others to join in to solve the puzzles. This particular geocache is a bit different and leads to another. Then, another. And it gets weird and scary. Then, the teens find a dead body.

I listened to the audio and though I did occasionally lose focus, I really liked this story. There was also a surprising twist (well, surprising to me – maybe there were hints I missed, though I don’t often catch those, anyway!). Things ramped up toward the end to make it all a bit more exciting. I also liked that one of the adults did help a bit in this one.

[Nessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is awesome! I think each book is better than the last!