Evil Genius (Genius, #1)

Aug 16, 2007 Betsy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Few pleasures are quite as sublime as reading a book, enjoying it, and only afterwards realizing that you're familiar with the author. Ask me who Catherine Jinks was before I read "Evil Genius" and you'd have met with a blank stare accompanied by some rapid-fire blinking. Only after I read and enjoyed her latest did I put two and two together. Catherine Jinks = "Pagan's Crusade" = Catherine Jinks = "Evil Genius"! The "Pagan" series is probably one of the best too little appreciated historical f...more Few pleasures are quite as sublime as reading a book, enjoying it, and only afterwards realizing that you're familiar with the author. Ask me who Catherine Jinks was before I read "Evil Genius" and you'd have met with a blank stare accompanied by some rapid-fire blinking. Only after I read and enjoyed her latest did I put two and two together. Catherine Jinks = "Pagan's Crusade" = Catherine Jinks = "Evil Genius"! The "Pagan" series is probably one of the best too little appreciated historical fiction series of books for kids out there, so it came as little surprise that Jinks was also the author of this little jewel. "Evil Genius" is high-concept with a high quality product. From here on in, I'm putting Catherine Jinks on the top of my Must Read pile for as long as she keeps on writing.

Cadel Piggott; genius. No two ways about it. He's just a kid, but you should see his resume. Getting caught by the police for hacking into mainframes by the time he was seven. Causing massive commuter blockages at eight. Managing to get his entire twelfth grade class flunked at the age of thirteen. It shouldn't surprise anybody then that Cadel's father is none other than criminal genius Dr. Darkkon, currently serving life in prison. That doesn't stop the man from influencing Cadel with the help of the boy's psychologist (and Darkkon's right hand man) Thaddeus Roth. Now Cadel's enrolled in Darkkon's very own Axis Institute. While there he'll be taking classes in Law ("loopholes"), Personal Presentation ("disguise"), Cultural Appreciation ("forgery"), and Computer Science ("infiltration"). Problem is, Cadel's grown fond of a woman he met while running a fake online dating service. This tiny contact with someone outside his intimate circle proves to be just enough to get him to start questioning his very life. Before he knows it, he discovers secrets that might very well make it impossible to escape from the geniuses around him.

Words. Put them together in just the right order and watch as it becomes easy to distinguish the fantastic authors from the mundane pack. Jinks knows how to write, pure and simple. Take page four of the book. Upon meeting a secretary with teeth the color of coal the book simply states, "Her mouth looked as if it belonged to an older, harsher century." That is so good. To the point and remarkably descriptive. Actually, not to change subjects on you (summary: words = good) but how awesome are Thaddeus's henchmen and henchwomen in this book? People like the huge woman with the nasty black teeth and the man with gills. James Bond himself couldn't have encountered better.

When all is said and done, I liked "Evil Genius" very much indeed. The book is just dying for a sequel, but that doesn't mean this first novel doesn't stand entirely on its own. Jinks, no stranger to the series format, knows better than to end on a cliffhanger or with long dangling narrative threads. Everything is, if not wrapped up, at least successfully drawn to a close by the book's finish. That said, I'm frantic to read the next in the series. Lookie! It's called "Genius Squad" and it sports the tagline "Sometimes when it comes to fighting evil, one genius isn't enough." For those kids enamored of the superhero genre and in need of something a little out of the ordinary, I couldn't recommend a book any higher.
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Jan 30, 2009 Mary hoskins added it

This book is a book that I really liked and have no idea why. The plot was confusing, Cadel dressing up as a girl should have been weird, most of the characters at the school were disturbing, and yet I loved it. Admittedly the beginning leading into the middle was a bit boring, and I did skim read a little, but I found the end leaving me with that warm fuzzy feeling of "just right". Not many books do that.

I think what sold me was the character's development. The main character Cadel, who I was w...more

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Dec 21, 2008 Karin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: dark, realistic, young-adult-fiction, whizkids, mystery, borrowed-from-the-library

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. When we meet Cadel Piggot, he’s only seven years old and he’s just gotten into trouble with the law for hacking into some very well-guarded databases. Cadel’s adoptive parents take him to a therapist, Thaddeus, who becomes one of Cadel’s only trusted confidants. Because of his genius IQ, his lack of social skills (and lack of interest in most other people), and his interest in highly technical subjects, Cadel attends a special elementary/middle school. His teachers try to engage him, but Cadel i...more When we meet Cadel Piggot, he’s only seven years old and he’s just gotten into trouble with the law for hacking into some very well-guarded databases. Cadel’s adoptive parents take him to a therapist, Thaddeus, who becomes one of Cadel’s only trusted confidants. Because of his genius IQ, his lack of social skills (and lack of interest in most other people), and his interest in highly technical subjects, Cadel attends a special elementary/middle school. His teachers try to engage him, but Cadel is only focused on his own interests, and he mostly creeps everyone out. During this time, Cadel learns (from Thaddeus) that his real father is a brilliant crime lord by the name of Dr. Phineas Darkkon. And his father wants him to keep on doing like he’s doing.

By the age of 12, Cadel is already in high school, and none of the high school kids like him either. But, by then, Cadel, under Thaddeus’ and Dr. Darkkon’s direction, is following his own separate course of study – train systems and schedules, and then the complex lives and relationships of his fellow students. He’s mostly interested in how to break these systems, which has rather interesting and disastrous consequences for the systems and people involved. Cadel works a nice piece of revenge on his classmates and none of them – for one reason or another – graduates on time.

After graduation, Cadel is encouraged to enroll in a special college that his father created just for his benefit; it’s called the Axis Institute. There, Cadel takes classes in forgery, computers, money laundering, and other nefarious subjects. His fellow classmates spend their free time causing mayhem and making attempts on one another’s lives. Cadel, however, is deeply involved in a little project he started back in high school – Partner Post. It’s an online dating website with a subscription fee (this is how Cadel makes his money), and Cadel plays the part of the “true matches” – emailing each of his subscribers messages from fake persons. Cadel has developed an online relationship with one of his clients, Kay Lee, and when things go dreadfully wrong at the Institute, they meet up in real life to try and figure out what’s going on.

There is a lot that’s hidden from Cadel, and as stumbles upon the many secrets others have been keeping, he learns that no one has been telling him the truth. Finding the answers for himself allows Cadel to find his own freedom from the people who want to control him. But now he has to decide what kind of person he wants to be. Through learning to care for Kay Lee (aka Sonja), and for his friend Gazzo, Cadel discovers that he isn’t completely misanthropic or evil – which makes him a bad fit to take over his father’s empire.

This was a rather complex novel – lots of character development and technical details. Cadel is initially difficult to identify with, as he’s so alienated from other people and emotionally detached from the implications of his actions, but his technical prowess and, ultimately, his transformation, are fascinating. This should be appreciated by sophisticated teen readers who enjoy a well-crafted technological mystery.

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Oct 19, 2011 Kat Hooper rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: audiobook

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

Cadel Piggott doesn’t really fit in. His genius IQ and his peculiar obsessions seem strange to his classmates. He’s not a malicious child, but his boredom drives him to challenge himself by hacking into computers and designing intricate pranks. It doesn’t help that his parents are constantly busy and don’t spend any time with him. The only person who really seems to care about Cadel is Dr. Thaddeus Roth, his psychologist. Thaddeus even encourages Cadel’s o...more ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

Cadel Piggott doesn’t really fit in. His genius IQ and his peculiar obsessions seem strange to his classmates. He’s not a malicious child, but his boredom drives him to challenge himself by hacking into computers and designing intricate pranks. It doesn’t help that his parents are constantly busy and don’t spend any time with him. The only person who really seems to care about Cadel is Dr. Thaddeus Roth, his psychologist. Thaddeus even encourages Cadel’s obsessions and pranks. As Cadel gets older, Thaddeus gradually starts to reveal why he’s interested in the boy — he wants to enroll him in Dr. Phineas Darkkon’s special school: The Axis Institute for World Domination.

Evil Genius, the first in a series of novels by Catherine Jinks, starts out with a delightfully mischievous sense of humor as we watch Cadel studying traffic patterns and bus schedules so he can play clever tricks on his classmates and teachers. The first part of the novel is fascinating and amusing and this lasts for about 100 pages (out of 500) because there’s a long build-up before Cadel goes off to Dr. Darkkon’s school.

However, as soon as Cadel gets to the school, the tone of the novel shifts abruptly and becomes incredibly dark and disturbing. I suppose it’s not surprising that the teachers and students at the Axis Institute are hateful, treacherous, and murderous, but Jinks’ tone had been much lighter until that point and the sudden shift to shocking and dreadful was incongruent with the first 20% of the novel. I had been chuckling happily with my kids until then and I knew that Cadel would be going off to Dr. Evil School, but based on the cover art and the first 100 pages, I had assumed that this would be a rather light treatment of such an institution. Wrong! Once we got to school, I felt like I’d suddenly been slammed into one of Cadel’s firewalls.

This shift in tone was an issue for me, but that’s not Catherine Jinks’ fault. There’s no rule that an author can’t abruptly change the tone of her novel, and it’s even possible that my misunderstanding of the tone was influenced by the audio version I was listening to (which is wonderfully narrated by Justine Eyre). Other readers, especially if they’re warned, will probably welcome the shift.

But I had another issue with Evil Genius. Toward the end of the novel, at which point I passionately hated almost every character in the book, the plot twisted and flip-flopped and did all sorts of strenuous acrobatics which made the horror drag on much longer and more confusingly than it needed to. It was torturous.

However, there were some bright spots peeking out of the darkness of Evil Genius. The writing and character development are excellent. Cadel’s relationship with a girl he gets to know over the Internet is perhaps the most touching YA relationship I’ve ever read. Also, Jinks gives us some things to think about in Evil Genius. For example, she shows us that our own negligent or even well-intentioned actions can have consequences that make our behaviors seem evil to others.

Catherine Jinks set out to do something original and unexpected in Evil Genius, and she accomplished that. Most of my experience with Evil Genius was unpleasant, but that’s due to my personal taste, not to Ms. Jinks’ skills.(less)

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Sep 26, 2009 ★ Jess rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 3-stars-enjoyable, books-i-own, read-in-2009

I picked up this book after a recommendation from a friend.
The one i picked up had the black cover-very enchanting, and a gripping blurb.
I read the first page (as i usually do when testing a book) it was gripping and very descriptive-so, i purchased the book.

The start was superb. Very visual-and the characters where very believable as well.
After really enjoying the first chapters, the story dragged on.
Some times there would be a very quick change, but then back to its dragging.
I must admit...more

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Jan 15, 2011 Jeff rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: once-was-enough

I can't really say that I truly liked this book. I had hopes for a little more humor from the look of the inside cover but it turned out quite a bit more serious. There were a large number of characters, most of which didn't really serve any purpose in the book other than to die. Sadly the few characters that you really wanted to see developed just spastically appeared in VERY brief moments. Lastly, the ending gave me one of those "what??!!! That was it???" type feelings. It did have a somewhat...more

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May 29, 2011 Steph rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites, australian

What. An. Amazing. Book.

Seriously, I finished this book after feverishly reading it for about three days, and I just sat there thinking about it for about two hours before I could go to sleep. It was brilliant.

Character development, amazing plotlines and twists, brilliant originality... all things that went into Evil Genius. I spent today driving around to multiple bookshops to try and find the sequel, but so far I've only found the third in the series and I'm DYING TO READ IT!

Highly, HIGHLY rec...more

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Aug 09, 2011 Amery Xu added it

I didn't think the book was that bad at first. You get a teenage boy who happens to be very intelligent and unintentionally mischievous who attends a school where one learns the handy skills of deceit. Only problem is that Cadel has to fend for himself there. Sure, the various technological terms may be a bit overwhelming to some people but I was able to let that go due to the creativity put into the book. It was only about 200 pages later that I began to realize that the book could have been a...more

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Nov 01, 2012 Lisaaa rated it 5 of 5 stars

Evil Genius starts out simply enough and we are introduced to Cadel Piggot, a seven year old genius who has a habit of dismantling his adoptive parents’ security system, hacking into high-security computer networks and bill pay services. This unusual behavior lands Cadel in trouble with the law. As a result, he is referred to Dr. Thaddeus Roth, a well-known psychologist for troubled kids.

WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS!!! + A LOT OF PLOT SUMMARY!!!

Dr. Thaddeus Roth, being an out of the ordinary psyc...more Evil Genius starts out simply enough and we are introduced to Cadel Piggot, a seven year old genius who has a habit of dismantling his adoptive parents’ security system, hacking into high-security computer networks and bill pay services. This unusual behavior lands Cadel in trouble with the law. As a result, he is referred to Dr. Thaddeus Roth, a well-known psychologist for troubled kids.

WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS!!! + A LOT OF PLOT SUMMARY!!!

Dr. Thaddeus Roth, being an out of the ordinary psychologist, encouraged Cadel to continue on with his antisocial behaviour, talking him into figuring out traffic and train systems so that he can disrupt them. Thaddeus advised Cadel with three rules to follow; never admit to anything, never trust anyone and especially this one; ‘whatever you do, don’t get caught.’

Through thick and thin, Thaddeus was Cadel’s role model and he put all his trust in him. As Cadel grew up, his life was monitored and overseen by Roth, who had input on every aspect of the boy’s life. But far from helping the boy become normal, Roth is steering him along another path – that of the evil genius.

Later, Thaddeus reveals the truth that he is working for Cadel’s father; an imprisoned criminal genius Dr. Phineas Darkkon. Through conversations arranged with special DNA wired devices, Phineas and Thaddeus encouraged Cadel to learn how systems of human relations work, so that he could cause havoc with students failing their Higher School Certificate.

At this time, while observing people’s behaviour patterns, Cadel had another plan on his mind; Partner Post, an online line dating service that fooled a great number of people because their partners were imaginary characters created by Cadel. This was when Cadel, through his online dating service, met a girl that kept him from reaching his full evil potential; Sonja. Sonja, a disabled girl with a powerful mind that can match only his, is the one that helps his emotions start to catch up with his intellect.

By the age of fourteen Cadel still had his regular sessions with Thaddeus and is at university studying for a degree in World Domination. It is only here, at the Axis Institute, with the support, advice, help and friendship from Sonja that Cadel starts to question his upbringing and the motivations of those who guide him; Thaddeus and Phineas, and see them for them and the Axis Institute for what they are.

Evil Genius, a novel by Catherine Jinks and published by ‘Allen & Unwin’ in 2005, is a lengthy read, but is easily read, that when picked up you can never put down. With its plot’s twists and turns and set in our modern day times in Sydney, Australia, this is a book that is mainly about ‘good versus evil’.

The genre of this book is juvenile fantasy/science-fiction. The context of ’Evil Genius’ is about geniuses in our modern day society. These geniuses have they the choice of whether to become evil or good but Cadel was brought up to become evil. He didn’t even know who he was; he had adoptive parents that Phineas intended to be bad. So Cadel’s only trusted person was him and they encouraged him to break laws so Cadel wouldn’t question their wrong doings. They honed Cadel’s mind into the right tool for him to rule the world; without him even knowing.
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Sep 10, 2012 D.L. Morrese rated it 4 of 5 stars

School stories have been popular since at least the 19th Century when Tom Brown’s Schooldays by Thomas Hughes was published in 1857. I suppose that once school, and therefore childhood literacy, became common, young people wanted to read, and the one setting they all shared and could relate to was school. Such stories became a sort of genre, which I’ve heard labeled ‘English Schoolboy Stories’ or, alternately, ‘British school novels,’ although they can take place in any part of the former Britis...more School stories have been popular since at least the 19th Century when Tom Brown’s Schooldays by Thomas Hughes was published in 1857. I suppose that once school, and therefore childhood literacy, became common, young people wanted to read, and the one setting they all shared and could relate to was school. Such stories became a sort of genre, which I’ve heard labeled ‘English Schoolboy Stories’ or, alternately, ‘British school novels,’ although they can take place in any part of the former British Empire or other English-like setting. The main character in these is normally a student, often an outsider or social outcast, exceptionally talented or clever, and possibly an orphan.
I’m not an expert, although I have read a few books like this. I’m sure everyone reading this review is familiar with a recent offering that falls into this category -- the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. Stories set in schools continue to be written and read because all of us can relate to them. If you can read this, chances are you learned to do so in a school.
Whatever the genre is called, Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks definitely falls into it. The story is set in a private school in Australia. The protagonist, Cadel, lives with emotionally distant adoptive parents. He is exceptionally brilliant and is skipped ahead in public school, which of course makes him younger than his classmates and consequently a social outcast. He is seeing a counselor because of perceived emotional problems and past discretions. He comes to regard this man as more of a father figure than he does his adoptive father. His counselor offers him a spot at a relatively new private school for ‘exceptional’ students. Cadel does not yet know that this school was founded a few years ago specifically for him, to train and mentor him in the skills needed to become a criminal mastermind -- like his real father. To avoid spoilers, this is as much of the plot as I will reveal.
The story is well constructed, the plot is complex but clear, the prose is exceptional, and the characterizations are good (but not great). There is a bit more here than in many YA books I’ve read, and the points are made more subtly. It touches on human behavior, social exclusion, emotional depravation, and various other sociological and psychological topics. It especially contrasts the behavior of people who truly care about others with that of those who regard them only as tools, and it shows the likely consequences of each.
The premise is a bit outlandish for something that turns out not to be quite as funny as one might expect from the title, although there are some humorous bits. Cadel is almost unbelievably bright, and his deviations into mathematics and the wonders of the periodic table may loose a few readers. At first, he is mean, vengeful, and thoroughly unlikeable. He disrupts things and causes distress to others just to see if he can do it. I could not force myself to care about such a person or about what happened to them. The story was intriguing enough that I stuck with it, though. Through a few encounters with people who accept him, he grows and becomes a much better person, especially in contrast to those around him who are responsible for his care. He learns the value of friendship when all his mentors tell him it has none other than as a means of manipulation.
This is an engaging, well written, and enjoyable story. It may not appeal to younger readers, but I can recommend it to most adults and young adult geniuses.
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Apr 04, 2012 Darien rated it 4 of 5 stars

Humor
Darien Munden

Cadel Piggott is a boy with a baby face who has an IQ that's off the charts. His parents, excuse me, his adopted parents, refuse to let him have access to a computer because he loves hacking into government systems and messing with encrypted databases. Cadel has always wondered who is real parents are, but no matter how hard he looks it seems like any information on them is impossible to find. That is until his adopted parents take him to meet a therapist, Dr. Thaddeus Roth. Fr...more

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Jan 29, 2012 V.E. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Maybe I don't really want to give this a 5, but maybe I do, especially since I've been in the throes of some horrible YA recently. So, maybe my rating of this book is entirely comparative. But I don't think so.

When I started reading about Cadel, I wasn't sure why the book was so big. I expected it to be childish and maybe Roald Dahl-esque tale about a gifted boy in hands of smart & dumb adults - charming, straightforward, with a 50/50 chance of being memorable. By the time I had spent a who...more Maybe I don't really want to give this a 5, but maybe I do, especially since I've been in the throes of some horrible YA recently. So, maybe my rating of this book is entirely comparative. But I don't think so.

When I started reading about Cadel, I wasn't sure why the book was so big. I expected it to be childish and maybe Roald Dahl-esque tale about a gifted boy in hands of smart & dumb adults - charming, straightforward, with a 50/50 chance of being memorable. By the time I had spent a whole day doing nothing but reading it, I reached the end liking Catherine Jinks very much.

Cadel was a good character whose struggles I could completely identify with, even though our lives share very few similarities. Nonetheless, I have been in the position of both Cadel with his feelings of superiority and everyone else to whom he felt superior. I could understand the alienation from feeling that people did not simply appreciate my better qualities, and I was able to vicariously exact my revenge through Cadel. Which was perhaps, why I felt like I accompanied Cadel on his journey towards understanding the world better, and questioning his beliefs about good and evil. But I have also been on the "normal"end of things, and could sympathise with those who were repulsed/annoyed/distressed by him.
I was gratified to find him acting and thinking his age sometimes, because those moments stopped him from becoming too unbelievable. The only thing I couldn't shake was that he never seemed to lose that childish voice, even when he was 14 (or maybe I don't remember how I used to think at 14). Sometimes the plot bordered on cartoonish with Darkkon's evil villain motives, and some of the characters' abilities, but it was usually saved by an acknowledgment of the bizarreness of it all, and in Darkkon's case, by Thaddeus Roth.

I'm not a number or computer whiz, so I can't be sure if all the technical stuff was correct, but it did not detract from the story and even seemed to add an air of authenticity, at least to my untrained eye.

Anyhow, I was rooting for Cadel all the way, no matter whose side he was on, or what he was doing. I think this is where Jinks was most successful - making a protagonist that wasn't necessarily good or likable but still applaudable and lovable. I was cheering him one all the way. And I also loved Cadel's emotional journey that broke through the emotional distance that is usually created between a highly intelligent detached character and the reader. And this is why I am very glad that I read this book.

I have developed a healthy skepticism for sequels to books I like, especially with a name like Genius Squad, but this book was one that I am very glad I did not judge by its name and cover. I will try to approach the rest of the trilogy with an open mind and trust Jinks to stay true to her style. (less)

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Dec 11, 2011 Rick Cole rated it 4 of 5 stars

Did I like this book?: This book is unique. This book is very, very unique, like, I have never read a book quite like this one before, and I am very happy about that. I am a guy who normally likes the bad guys in books and movies better than the heroes because being evil is so much more fun. This book is about a special school designed to train villains. So yes, I liked this book a whole lot.

Summary: Again, as with all my reviews, this summary will be short and sweet in order to avoid major spoi...more Did I like this book?: This book is unique. This book is very, very unique, like, I have never read a book quite like this one before, and I am very happy about that. I am a guy who normally likes the bad guys in books and movies better than the heroes because being evil is so much more fun. This book is about a special school designed to train villains. So yes, I liked this book a whole lot.

Summary: Again, as with all my reviews, this summary will be short and sweet in order to avoid major spoilers. So, the book starts out by introducing the reader to Cadel Piggott, a seven year old kid, who is way too smart for his age. I mean, super evil genius smart. So smart that at seven he already knows how to do complex hacking on his computer, which gets taken away from him as a result of the hacking. It is obvious at the beginning of the book that people are scared of Cadel, and so it is suggested that his adoptive parents take him to a psychologist. What his adoptive parents don't know though is that this psychologist, Dr. Thaddeus Roth, works for Cadel's real father, who is in prison. Each session, through a video screen, Cadel is taught by this father, Dr. Drakkon, about how to do some pretty villainous stuff, and not get caught. This continues on until Cadel is thirteen, and is ready to go to school at the Axis Institute, a special school, run by Dr. Roth, that is all about how to become the ultimate super villain. I think I will stop the summary there, as from this point in the novel, things really start to get interesting, and take some unique twists that you will not see coming as a reader. I will end this review by saying though that Cadel is a really excellent main character, even if you will dislike him for most of the book because of just how smart and sarcastic he is. I mean, I loved him, but most people will not.

What can this book teach?: This book is excellent for teaching three things, 1: Description and Plot Development as this book is very much plot centric, and Jinks does an excellent job of setting things up in the novel, and describing the school and various classes that the students take. I guess, she had to be good at doing that though, as this book is a part of a series, and things needed to be set up for the sequel. :) 2: This book is very much a unique idea, and it can be used as motivation to help your students expand their imaginations and come up with things that nobody has ever really thought of before, or, if those ideas have been thought of, than to actually write about those ideas, and not be afraid too. 3: Character Development is quite excellent in this novel, and watching Cadel grow up and change throughout the novel is incredibly engaging. This book is an excellent example to use when teaching students how to perform this subtle art.

Recommended?: Quite simply, Yes, this book is a great read, and one that I would definitely recommend to everyone and anyone.(less)

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Oct 30, 2011 Katrina Ly rated it 3 of 5 stars

so...evil genius...

yeh, i didn't really like it much, it was SO FREAKING LONG! 400 AND SOMETHING BLOODY PAGES! IN TINY PRINT!

oh and b4 any of you guys start judging me or something, i'm just going to say i have absolutely no problem reading long books. As long as they're written good.

when i first picked up this book, it looked really really promising. the storyline seemed interesting. people were giving it good reviews so i like ok why not? so i red it. AND I WAS SO DISAPPOINTED. cadel was so s...more

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Jun 05, 2011 Karen Ball rated it 4 of 5 stars

Cadel Piggott is my favorite anti-hero! This is the evil version of Harry-Potter-Meets-Alex-Rider. Cadel gets nailed for hacking into the computers at school, and ends up in the office of psychologist Thaddeus Roth... who says "Next time, don't get caught." Roth is an agent of Cadel's biological father, an evil mastermind currently in prison, who has set up a school for training villains. Roth enrolls Cadel at the Axis Institute for World Domination, where by 13 he is taking classes like Infiltr...more

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Apr 12, 2011 Courtney rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: action-adventure, series, teen-fiction

Cadel Piggott is a genius. His adoptive parents have had him tested and sent from school to school in the hopes of keeping him out of trouble. He visits a therapist three times a week where his subversive tendencies are encouraged, particularly his computer hacking abilities. After breezing through school, he is ready for college at the tender age of 13. Where to go? His therapist introduces the family to the Axis Institute, a school specially designed for those with unusual...talents. Naturally...more

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Sep 13, 2010 Nicolas Healey rated it 4 of 5 stars

I first started reading this a couple of years ago, when I was only about 9 or 10. I stopped before I got too far however, not because it was too hard for me, but it touched on topics such as social exclusion, sex, and, well, pure evil. Being 9, I went back to my copy of Artemis Fowl.

But just now over the summer, while in the Czech Republic on holiday, I picked this book up again, and I am so glad I did. The actual quality of writing is not amazing; there are no Tolkien-like descriptions or Sali...more

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Apr 19, 2010 Coralie added it

Cadel lives in Australia. He knows he was born in the United States but doesn't know anything about his natural parents. He is a super smart kid who graduates from high school at age 13 and starts college at the Axis Institute. His therapist recommended it as the perfect school for him. Actually, Axis Institute is a school for people who want to learn to become master criminals. While a student there, Cadel learns a lot about himself, both as a person and about his parentage. I actually did not...more

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Apr 17, 2010 Maddie Fiddes rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I LOVED Evil Genius. It was a brilliant story, with interesting developments and turns throughout the plot. Although, thee one thing that really did irritate me immensely was the twist at the end of the book, with Thaddeus Roth really being Prosper English, and being Cadel's true father: That really pissed me off. Although, it has lead the way for more books portraying Cadel's life, -and of that I am not complaining- I found it rather annoying to have that shoved in my face in the last few chapt...more

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Sep 08, 2009 Januario rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 11th-grade

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 16, 2013 Beverly rated it 5 of 5 stars

How to describe this book...hmm...

Let's start with Cadel, a logical place to start. Cadel isn't a particularly strong character, morally or otherwise. He cries. He's cowardly. Yet I found myself rooting for him because, let's face it, he hasn't a lot of social experience. He isn't well versed and winds up being manipulated easily. He's not like Artemis Fowl-- people take advantage of Cadel because Cadel doesn't know what he's doing.

I'll admit it took a while for this book to start moving. It beg...more

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May 21, 2012 Harold Smithson rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is ludicrous! Ludicrous? Okay, maybe it is. But THIS IS FUN!

Yeah, I sold out to a 300 joke. I must be losing it.

Evil Genius' concept is nothing new. It's been done spectacularly by Orson Scott Card in Ender's Game (And excellent read) and in H.I.V.E. (Eh...) A genius kid operates in the adult world. In this case, Cadel is traning to be the next world dictator in an institute made by his father Dr. Darkkon. Yes, that sounds silly. It's literally called the "Axis Institute" and one of the te...more

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Jun 04, 2010 Sanel Basic rated it 5 of 5 stars

Thirteen year old genius Cadel Piggott lives in Sydney (Australia) with his distracted parents. Unfortunately, his advanced intellect makes it hard for him to understand how other people think, and he has no social skills, so he spends his time in corners by himself. Bored out of his skull, Cadel quite naturally gets into some mischief (in this case some computer hacking), by causing mass transit and such. As a result, he's taken to see a psychologist, who, treats him like an adult. The psycholo...more Thirteen year old genius Cadel Piggott lives in Sydney (Australia) with his distracted parents. Unfortunately, his advanced intellect makes it hard for him to understand how other people think, and he has no social skills, so he spends his time in corners by himself. Bored out of his skull, Cadel quite naturally gets into some mischief (in this case some computer hacking), by causing mass transit and such. As a result, he's taken to see a psychologist, who, treats him like an adult. The psychologist reveals that Cadel is in fact the secret son of incarcerated international arch-villain Dr. Darkkon. Fortunately for Cadel, the psychologist is Dr. Darkkon's agent and has been put in place to act as help to Cadel.

Cadel's brilliance and innate arrogance are played to, as he is told that his true father is working on a plot for world domination. Dr. Darkkon is sick of dim-wits running the show, and wants Cadel at his side to help him in this scheme. Toward that end, Cadel's progress through high-school is accelerated, he has created a website which could possibly lead him to some money and he has grown to look normal, not his usual small self, and has created (with the help of his father Dr. Darkkon a computer phone.) And soon he's left that unhappy experience behind (with a parting gift of both physical and social wreckage), and is enrolled at the Axis Institute. A facade of higher education, its chemistry classes are all about poisons, art classes are about forgery, and the computer classes all about hacking. Cadel joins a class of freaks and geeks recruited from all over as prospective sidekicks or useful tools for Dr. Darkkon's plans.

So far, so good. Cadel is a cold character and while the book is obviously somewhat tongue-in-cheek with the arch-villain and the Evil University, where he meets many strange figures, Cadel's underlying melancholy is all too real. However, to his own astonishment, Cadel starts to develop empathy. This theoretically springs from an online relationship he builds under false pretenses as well as the mysterious deaths of his classmates, but it feels rather arbitrary and inorganic to the story. Before long, Cadel finds himself playing a dangerous game of deception, trying to escape his father's evil plans for him and trying to connect with his online correspondent. This results in all kinds of machinations whereby he has to play the Axis Institute faculty off of each other. However, the instructors are never really developed in enough relief to make Cadel's complex maneuverings come to life. At a certain point I stopped caring, and just kept reading, confident that it would all work out towards the end of the book.

Indeed it did, about halfway through this massive book, the amazement of the book runs out and it starts to become very boring. Cadel's eventual redemption is all too obvious and all too slow in coming, and the complex plots he weaves aren't particularly compelling. So in all I would give the book a good rating because I was enchanted and couldn’t stop reading from the beginning but it wasn’t a perfect score because it did get boring in the end so it would be a 9/10.(less)

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May 28, 2010 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: childrens

I tried reading Evil Genius for the first time a couple of years ago because I thought that it would give me and Artemis Fowl-type fix, but I just couldn't get into it, but I actually quite enjoyed it this second time around. My mistake was probably picking it up and expecting something like Artemis Fowl, and who wouldn't, since it's about another boy genius who uses his intellect for crime, at least initially, instead of for the greater good.

Unlike the Artemis Fowl Series, Evil Genius is writte...more

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Mar 06, 2012 Kat rated it 2 of 5 stars

Not for me. Other people seem to love this book, but I couldn't get myself to care very much at any time over the several arduous days it took me to complete this novel. Were I not reading the title for an assignment, I would have given up.

The first 200 pages are incredibly tedius. The narrative was descriptive and detailed, but boring to me. It wasn't particularly clever or especially intriguing. It felt like standard fare and the effort put into explaining every detail weighed down the story....more

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Apr 08, 2009 Misti rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, mystery, allegory

This was a Loooong book. And it takes you on quite a journey. I'm glad I picked up Evil Genius, but I'm concerned that it took me so long to get through it. This is a fantastically written novel from the YA section, but at times it was a struggle to read and also emotionally overwhelming. I found there were several points in time where I simply wanted to put the book down because the main character was struggling with a lot of powerful emotions that would be very difficult for anyone to cope wit...more

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Nov 30, 2008 Nat rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: those wishing to perpetuate their evil ingenuity

Shelves: borrowed

Jinks gives us an interesting premise for the book: a school for teaching certain (and not so certain) child geniuses of the world to dominate society and take care of the future of mankind from the likes of you and me.

The potential for tongue in cheek hilarity is there but not quite fully realized.

For being over 500 pages I found the book to be a quick read and to be enjoyable in parts. However, at times I didn't know if the author was trying to be serious or funny, and there seemed to be a lot...more

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Dec 02, 2012 Shannon rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya

Honestly, this book surprised me. My boss lent it to me because he heard I liked Artemis Fowl and so I was expecting something similar. As much as I do love Artemis Fowl, it lacks the kind of emotional growth that this book communicates. Though Artemis can be compared to Evil Genius' protagonist Cadel Piggott, they are a far stretch from one another.

Cadel is not a very good boy. In fact, he's studying at the Axis Institute and preparing for world domination. Cadel may be a fourteen-year-old geni...more

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Apr 03, 2011 Emily rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, series, favorites

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Cadel Piggott is a genius. But even genius is too light of a word to use for him. He’s phenomenally smart. He’s so above average that there hasn’t been a word invented to describe him. And while his adoptive parents have confiscated his computer (due to some illegal hacking) and he lacks the social skills that assumingly would be inherent in any average person, Cadel discovers that he is really the son of a famous scientist/genius/mastermind named Dr. Darkkon. Cadel’s parents send him to a thera...more Cadel Piggott is a genius. But even genius is too light of a word to use for him. He’s phenomenally smart. He’s so above average that there hasn’t been a word invented to describe him. And while his adoptive parents have confiscated his computer (due to some illegal hacking) and he lacks the social skills that assumingly would be inherent in any average person, Cadel discovers that he is really the son of a famous scientist/genius/mastermind named Dr. Darkkon. Cadel’s parents send him to a therapist named Thaddeus who reveals Cadel’s true father and explains why Cadel is so much smarter than everyone. Cadel then enrolls in the Axis Institute, a school that is clearly meant for evil villains but that’s a notion that escapes Cadel. The Institute is funded by his father, and Thaddeus, who happens to be a teacher there, tells the students that while anyone is fair game in the way of testing their skills, Cadel is the exception and therefore off limits. While he makes a few “friends,” Cadel is still more interested in his computers. When things start to go horribly wrong for some of his classmates, he becomes uneasy and truly starts to wonder what kind of school he’s enrolled in.

Cadel knows he’s going to school to get a degree in World Domination, but he’s still a young teenager when he enters the Axis Institute so he doesn’t realize the lengths people will go to to rule the world. The tone of the novel becomes much more serious during one particular scene. Its was the only part that bothered me but I think it catapulted the story into something more sinister and real than a simple fantasy story. One of the professors, Dr. Deal, attacks Cadel for being in the men’s room. Cadel, having just come from his disguises class, is dressed as a girl, and chooses a dimly lit bathroom to change back into a boy when Dr. Deal throws Cadel to the floor. He continues to attack him until he realizes that it’s Cadel dressed up as a girl. Because Dr. Deal not only attacked the wrong gender but also because Cadel is specifically off limits (being the son of the Institute founder has some perks),he tries to bribe Cadel with money, good grades, and even his attorney services. Cadel asks for time to think about what kind of payment he wants, which is a bit disturbing but lightens the tone of the scene a bit, but then Cadel reflects upon the intent of Dr. Deal. He implies that either Dr. Deal gets a kick out of attacking girls or possibly even raping them. The scene was really unsettling to me, for obvious reasons, and I don’t know how I feel about its place in context with the overall story. I get that it’s showing an aspect of evil, but it seems misplaced and even unnecessary. The rest of the novel keeps a somber tone, but what is awesome about this book is that Cadel’s character becomes relatable. He doesn’t want to follow in his father’s footsteps and we find that Cadel has a conscience and cares about people. He makes a few unlikely friendships through Gazo and his “older” penpal “Kay Lee,” and the story twists and turns and finishes with a tidy, but not too tidy ending.

The language used in this novel can be extremely technical at times. Some of the computer terms that Jinks uses I’m sort of familiar with but I have no idea if she’s using them in the right way (I assume she is but if she isn’t then she successfully has me fooled). Cadel isn’t really a relatable character because he’s so socially inept and almost robotic that it’s a bit of struggle in the beginning. He has no problem tricking people and sets up a fake dating site to earn money. He has a disconnected view of the world and only tries to understand people by making people’s personalities and social interactions into an equation. He tries to gauge how people will react based on intense observation, which is an impossible feat no matter how well you think you know someone. However, as he furthers his studies at the Axis Institute, we see some kind of morality seeping into his code-logged brain and I felt sorry for him because he literally has no idea about the reasons for learning things like embezzlement, poisons, and loopholes and what higher function they serve. Basically, he’s clueless of the fact that he’s being trained to be evil (though evil’s a relative term in this book). Some of the ways in which Cadel manipulates situations and ends up ruining some people’s lives (his classmates, the railway system, and eventually the Institute) makes the story a little confusing but Jinks does a great job bringing the story back and fitting the necessary pieces together. An interesting take on the whole hero vs. villain aspect, Evil Genius was a great read. I think it’s neat when an author tries to see a story from a different perspective, which she obviously did here. Hero stories are amazing but it’s nice to have a villain story to throw into the mix. I can’t wait to read the next one!
(less)

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Dec 14, 2008 Wayne rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: teen, fiction

Cadel Pigott is 7 years old when the police "suggest" to his parents that they take Cadel to a psychologist because he has been hacking into security networks. While his parents are out of the room Dr. Roth gives Cadel the strange advice, "Next time don't get caught." Cadel soon finds out that his real father is an international criminal in jail for trying to take over the world. He bonds with his father and Dr. Roth because they understand the depth of his intelligence and his adoptive parents...more Cadel Pigott is 7 years old when the police "suggest" to his parents that they take Cadel to a psychologist because he has been hacking into security networks. While his parents are out of the room Dr. Roth gives Cadel the strange advice, "Next time don't get caught." Cadel soon finds out that his real father is an international criminal in jail for trying to take over the world. He bonds with his father and Dr. Roth because they understand the depth of his intelligence and his adoptive parents are morons. After Cadel graduates from high school at the age of 14 he is enrolled in the Axis institute which is an advanced training school for evil geniuses with classes like "pure evil", "misinformation", "embezzlement", and "forgery". Cadel is surrounded by other kids, some as smart as him, most not, but all are evil or amoral in their own way. He eventually begins to doubt everything that his father and Dr. Roth have told him and wants to escape.

This is a good book with a good premise. Not a new idea, and not particularly well done, but still good and entertaining. Cadel has spent his entire life in an amoral atmosphere so he doesn't really understand that what he is doing is wrong. He sees everyone around him as less intelligent than him and therefore not worth the time and energy to worry about their feelings. It doesn't help that no one has ever shown genuine affection for him. He has been raised in a purposeful amoral environment. He eventually rejects this life because he finds someone to trust and care for. Someone that cares for him regardless of what he did to hurt her. An interesting philosophical discussion. It's too bad that Jinks doesn't expand on this more. She spends far more time discussing the technical details of hacking into security systems. There are over 20 different characters introduced as Cadel enters the Axis Institute and Jinks does not do a good enough job fleshing each one out. Many of the characters have aliases and nicknames which just makes it harder to keep track of them all. It gets very confusing for a while in the middle of the book.
Regardless of these flaws and critiques, I enjoyed the book and plan to read the sequel.(less)

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Evil Genius (Genius #1)

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