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Prodigy
"If the characters from Less Than Zero and The Secret History woke up in a novel by Philip K. Dick, they'd get along famously with the precocious students of Stansbury."
-Dustin Thomason, bestselling author of The Rule of Four
A thriller set in the future at an ultra-elite prep school that what is the price of perfection?
In the year 2036, the world's best boarding school is the Stansbury School. The students, better known as specimens, are screened at a young age and then given twelve years of the finest education -- and developmental drug regiment --available.
Stansbury graduates -- physically and mentally -- are in a class all by themselves. Four out of five go onto Harvard, Yale or Princeton; twenty out of the top thirty Forbes 500 companies have Stansbury CEOs, eight graduates have become U. S. Senators, and two sit on the Supreme Court. But when a string of alumni are murdered, school officials -- looking to avoid a public relations disaster -- decide to keep the police in the dark. They discreetly ask the school's Valedictorian to solve the mystery, but he discovers that the most obvious culprit (the school's resident chemically imbalanced delinquent -- and the Valedictorian's nemesis) is being framed.
Together, the two unlikely allies uncover a massive conspiracy that reaches to the highest levels of the Stansbury administration and the United States government.
A riveting thriller about America's obsession with genius and the potential of youth, Prodigy is not only a chilling vision of the very near future, it's an authentic coming-of-age story for the 21st Century.
-Dustin Thomason, bestselling author of The Rule of Four
A thriller set in the future at an ultra-elite prep school that what is the price of perfection?
In the year 2036, the world's best boarding school is the Stansbury School. The students, better known as specimens, are screened at a young age and then given twelve years of the finest education -- and developmental drug regiment --available.
Stansbury graduates -- physically and mentally -- are in a class all by themselves. Four out of five go onto Harvard, Yale or Princeton; twenty out of the top thirty Forbes 500 companies have Stansbury CEOs, eight graduates have become U. S. Senators, and two sit on the Supreme Court. But when a string of alumni are murdered, school officials -- looking to avoid a public relations disaster -- decide to keep the police in the dark. They discreetly ask the school's Valedictorian to solve the mystery, but he discovers that the most obvious culprit (the school's resident chemically imbalanced delinquent -- and the Valedictorian's nemesis) is being framed.
Together, the two unlikely allies uncover a massive conspiracy that reaches to the highest levels of the Stansbury administration and the United States government.
A riveting thriller about America's obsession with genius and the potential of youth, Prodigy is not only a chilling vision of the very near future, it's an authentic coming-of-age story for the 21st Century.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published December 27, 2005
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151 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
May 27, 2008
all my favorite books take time to talk about the characters' "round, firm d-cup breasts straining at the thin cashmere of their matching cardigans."
seriously.
seriously.
May 7, 2008
I really hate feeling like I've wasted time on a book, and this one left me wanting about six hours of my life back. Prodigy is like the movie "Gattaca," but starring purebred high school students whose breasts are described just a few too many times.
August 17, 2008
Someone is murdering alumni from the best private school there is (because they are giving the kids chemicals and other kinds of conditioning to make them super-human). The valedictorian and the class loser team up to solve the crimes.
The only reason that I thought the novel was "okay" was because it picks up about half way through and becomes one of those "riveting", "page turner", "edge of the seat thrillers" that "keeps things moving" on. The first part, not so much. It is too "Male" for me (dick joke, tits, leggy school girls, fart joke, more tits, more leggy school girls, and so on), which is not an appeal for me.
The only reason that I thought the novel was "okay" was because it picks up about half way through and becomes one of those "riveting", "page turner", "edge of the seat thrillers" that "keeps things moving" on. The first part, not so much. It is too "Male" for me (dick joke, tits, leggy school girls, fart joke, more tits, more leggy school girls, and so on), which is not an appeal for me.
March 4, 2008
Took me over 2 weeks to read this book.
It's overlong, unfocused, and has some terrible cliché and predictable plot twists at the end.
It doesn't know whether it wants to be a profound coming-of-age story, or a mindless sci-fi entertainer, and it fails at both.
In the end it's yet another "The Man is EVIL!!" story, with absolutely nothing new to say, and some very, very unlikable protagonists.
It's overlong, unfocused, and has some terrible cliché and predictable plot twists at the end.
It doesn't know whether it wants to be a profound coming-of-age story, or a mindless sci-fi entertainer, and it fails at both.
In the end it's yet another "The Man is EVIL!!" story, with absolutely nothing new to say, and some very, very unlikable protagonists.
November 1, 2008
This book started off as something I would enjoy, although it was a little slow-paced. The characters were somewhat original and the plot was intriguing, but that's about it.
I ended up being disappointed by all the chiche plot twists and character relationships. The only reason why I didn't stop reading this book halfway through was because I was somewhat hopeful that it would get better. It didn't.
I ended up being disappointed by all the chiche plot twists and character relationships. The only reason why I didn't stop reading this book halfway through was because I was somewhat hopeful that it would get better. It didn't.
May 16, 2010
An interesting premise, but the writing is clunky and the characters two dimensional, so in the end, it's a pretty weak book. The vision of the future is kind of interesting, but it seems like every time he wrote himself into a corner, he created a new sci-fi device to get himself out.
January 30, 2009
Someone's killing off former students of Stanisbury, an elite school where kids go for 12 years and get shot up with all the best chemicals to make them the smartest and strongest. The main suspect/fall guy for some reason, is the school's bad boy. He and the valedictorian team up to find out what's really going on. This is billed as some sort of cyber/scifi thing, but is in reality a thriller, and possibly a retread of either 'The Sign of Four' or 'Gattaca.' Honestly, this doesn't touch the work of William Gibson, Clarke, Bradbury, or Huxley in any way. If you like thrillers, pick it up, but if you don't take a pass. You will start thinking about all the ridiculous inconsistencies and dumb plot and overuse of adjectives and not enjoy yourself at all.
January 6, 2013
To be honest, I didn't quite make it all the way through this one. I really started to lose interest and I felt the story wasn't moving fast enough. The concept was really interesting, but I couldn't stand reading the author's dialogue, ESPECIALLY the girls. These women are supposed to be among the smartest in the world, and all they can do it talk like idiots in the girls' bathroom and act like sluts. It almost felt like some sexual fantasy whenever he spoke about the girls at school - details about breast size, short schoolgirl skirts, perfect creamy thighs, etc. Cool idea for a novel, but it came up short in my opinion.
October 5, 2020
It was really bad figurative and literally. To start off it's about a boarding school getting children meds to help them not go through a natural life cycle. The president of the school was corrupted and bribed the government to fund the school for years. We don't find out about this until the end of the book so there really isn't a build up of it, it's just shows up out of nowhere. Plus I can't quote anything without it getting me in trouble in some way,shape or form. I'm giving it a one star because on how terrible it's put together and talking about an abortion being performed in it.
June 29, 2020
This book was....something. It was difficult to find a well rounded female character out of the whole cast, and the author's obvious distaste of women was clear in the way he talked about them all. I hated this book through and through. Avoid at all costs.
July 25, 2017
An interesting premise poorly executed. Characters fall flat and too many plot points are explained in an overly simplified manner.
April 30, 2015
When I first saw this book, I thought it was a biography of some sort, but I was wrong. Right now, I still can't believe that this book wasn't sold here in the Philippines when I know for sure, that a lot of people would enjoy it. I would have picked it myself, not because it was written by Mr. Dave Kalstein but simply because of the content of the book.
The summary of the book has created an excitement and thrill deep inside of me which also motivated me to read it and finish it soon.
Mr. Dave Kalstein has an extraordinary talent in weaving vivid characters, personalities and a tale that could attract every curious mind. The concept of the story is very brave and innately genius that I know a lot of authors would be afraid to tread the same journey unless they'll also possess the skills and attitudes of Mr. Kalstein in writing.
I am very certain that this is the kind of novel, every young mind will love and enjoy because the generation now at our modern time are so resourceful and smart for our own good that they crave for intellect, honorable use of integrity, status, identity and maturational crisis, and the real meaning of life, and most of all adventure, unpredictability without being overly self-righteous.
If you haven't read it, you're missing a lot.
The novel doesn't just represent the future and vision of our ancestors in the past, and Einstein's theory, but it shows values and ethics of every human being bad or good, rich or poor, privileged or not, etc. It is an eye opener for me. It is bluntly honest and angsty. Mr. Kalstein definitely won my respect in creating a work of art that I deemed impossible to make, but he did. He didn't just meet my expectations, he blew me away.
It is also a good read for parents whose got a pathological need to get their children to the best schools. I know for a fact, schools that offer a good quality of education and opportunities is the best school, but I do believe that what matters most is the child's upbringing, motivation, beliefs, attitudes, and morality cultivated by their parents matters most. The personality of the child plays a more important role in the child's decision-making and how he's going to live his life.
With a school of geniuses or prodigies, you'll be expecting a genius itself writing it to meet the high expectations and the quality of knowledge in this novel, that every reader has for this school.
The passion, research and effort in this novel is unbelievable I didn't expect the medical and chemical stuff to appear, but I'm so glad it's there. I always enjoy novels I could relate to. I know it would seem that I'm singing praises but of course I also have a lot of questions and is interested in knowing the anatomy of the characters and of the whole novel itself.
It's such a privilege to have a glimpse of Mr. Kalstein's mind.
I have to admit that I'm a person with a very high expectations. Before reading this book, I was expecting a lot. Now I'm done reading it, I'm fully gratified. I only wish the story never ended because I'd rather read it over and over again. I also wish for a different ending or atleast a sequel.
The summary of the book has created an excitement and thrill deep inside of me which also motivated me to read it and finish it soon.
Mr. Dave Kalstein has an extraordinary talent in weaving vivid characters, personalities and a tale that could attract every curious mind. The concept of the story is very brave and innately genius that I know a lot of authors would be afraid to tread the same journey unless they'll also possess the skills and attitudes of Mr. Kalstein in writing.
I am very certain that this is the kind of novel, every young mind will love and enjoy because the generation now at our modern time are so resourceful and smart for our own good that they crave for intellect, honorable use of integrity, status, identity and maturational crisis, and the real meaning of life, and most of all adventure, unpredictability without being overly self-righteous.
If you haven't read it, you're missing a lot.
The novel doesn't just represent the future and vision of our ancestors in the past, and Einstein's theory, but it shows values and ethics of every human being bad or good, rich or poor, privileged or not, etc. It is an eye opener for me. It is bluntly honest and angsty. Mr. Kalstein definitely won my respect in creating a work of art that I deemed impossible to make, but he did. He didn't just meet my expectations, he blew me away.
It is also a good read for parents whose got a pathological need to get their children to the best schools. I know for a fact, schools that offer a good quality of education and opportunities is the best school, but I do believe that what matters most is the child's upbringing, motivation, beliefs, attitudes, and morality cultivated by their parents matters most. The personality of the child plays a more important role in the child's decision-making and how he's going to live his life.
With a school of geniuses or prodigies, you'll be expecting a genius itself writing it to meet the high expectations and the quality of knowledge in this novel, that every reader has for this school.
The passion, research and effort in this novel is unbelievable I didn't expect the medical and chemical stuff to appear, but I'm so glad it's there. I always enjoy novels I could relate to. I know it would seem that I'm singing praises but of course I also have a lot of questions and is interested in knowing the anatomy of the characters and of the whole novel itself.
It's such a privilege to have a glimpse of Mr. Kalstein's mind.
I have to admit that I'm a person with a very high expectations. Before reading this book, I was expecting a lot. Now I'm done reading it, I'm fully gratified. I only wish the story never ended because I'd rather read it over and over again. I also wish for a different ending or atleast a sequel.
August 12, 2013
This was a random buy for me and the book kind of matched the purchase. The story developed slowly and the descriptions were rather lengthy throughout, and while that did add desired depth to certain aspects, it also made certain parts drag on longer than necessary. However, eventually it did pick up and the twists and turns (especially at the end) made it a worthwhile read.
The main characters Cooley and Goldsmith, the Valedictorian, were alright as main characters. Cooley had plenty of fight and personality to him, but it was mostly predictable for his character type and that lessened the impact. Goldsmith had the usual transformation from stuck up know-it-all to devoted friend. Again, predictable. The standout was Cooley’s girlfriend Sadie. Not only did she have the most interesting storyline but she had the most changes and twists surrounding her throughout the book so that she seemed quite unique indeed. I really enjoyed her character and the spunk that she displayed at times was fantastic. Her, and the #2 to Goldsmith, Camilla, kept me reading from a character standpoint.
The romances in Prodigy were good if unspectacular. They weren’t the focal point of the book by any means which was good, especially because they didn’t pretend to be, but they were sweet. Especially with Cooley and Sadie. The chemistry between the two of them, while baffling to their peers, worked very well. The romances revealed a lot about who Cooley, and especially Goldsmith, really are inside.
As I mentioned earlier, the plot was slow in the beginning, but because of it being in a school setting, especially one so strict as Stansbury, that did fit. Once the action really started to pick up there was plenty of excitement. Prodigy includes multiple firefights, a pretty exciting skirmish, some good old-fashioned slugfests and plenty of rule bending. The twists and turns near the end will keep you guessing and it will certainly leave you surprised!
Overall Prodigy is a good read, but not a great one. The opening bits took to long to get interesting and there was a lot of POV jumping and info dumping. The story was pretty good once it got moving, but the risk of losing some of the readers to disinterest in the beginning keeps Prodigy from being excellent for the masses. I enjoyed the book, but I’m not itching to dive back into that world.
Rating: 2.5/5
The main characters Cooley and Goldsmith, the Valedictorian, were alright as main characters. Cooley had plenty of fight and personality to him, but it was mostly predictable for his character type and that lessened the impact. Goldsmith had the usual transformation from stuck up know-it-all to devoted friend. Again, predictable. The standout was Cooley’s girlfriend Sadie. Not only did she have the most interesting storyline but she had the most changes and twists surrounding her throughout the book so that she seemed quite unique indeed. I really enjoyed her character and the spunk that she displayed at times was fantastic. Her, and the #2 to Goldsmith, Camilla, kept me reading from a character standpoint.
The romances in Prodigy were good if unspectacular. They weren’t the focal point of the book by any means which was good, especially because they didn’t pretend to be, but they were sweet. Especially with Cooley and Sadie. The chemistry between the two of them, while baffling to their peers, worked very well. The romances revealed a lot about who Cooley, and especially Goldsmith, really are inside.
As I mentioned earlier, the plot was slow in the beginning, but because of it being in a school setting, especially one so strict as Stansbury, that did fit. Once the action really started to pick up there was plenty of excitement. Prodigy includes multiple firefights, a pretty exciting skirmish, some good old-fashioned slugfests and plenty of rule bending. The twists and turns near the end will keep you guessing and it will certainly leave you surprised!
Overall Prodigy is a good read, but not a great one. The opening bits took to long to get interesting and there was a lot of POV jumping and info dumping. The story was pretty good once it got moving, but the risk of losing some of the readers to disinterest in the beginning keeps Prodigy from being excellent for the masses. I enjoyed the book, but I’m not itching to dive back into that world.
Rating: 2.5/5
June 15, 2009
The year is 2036. Stansbury School, A New Order of the Ages, is an exclusive preparatory school that gives its students the best possible education along with the best intellect- and performance- enhancing drugs. Those that graduate at or near the top of their class are destined to become world leaders and captains of industry. But when someone begins murdering the school’s alumni, Stansbury’s administrators turn to Thomas Oliver Goldsmith, the senior class valedictorian, and presumably, the very crème-de-la-crème, to investigate the murders on the QT and possibly avoid a messy PR situation. In order to do this, of course, he must team up with the disillusioned class under-achiever and near-dropout William Winston Cooley.
I loved the cover design and the overall premise, and that was about it. Prodigy is a quick read, and mildly entertaining, but I found it to be clichéd and predictable.
I loved the cover design and the overall premise, and that was about it. Prodigy is a quick read, and mildly entertaining, but I found it to be clichéd and predictable.
May 21, 2016
In the near future, an exclusive and experimental K-12 school has been operating for a couple of decades. The students live in near isolation in a completely controlled environment inside a skyscraper in the desert. They are fed performance enhancing drugs and go on to become leaders in all fields, from running the government to curing cancer. Someone is killing former students who did not live up to potential, and attempting to frame a current student. He and his most trusted friends must figure out why before he is expelled.
I wanted to like this book. It was just too hard to get into. Once the author got past setting the scene, it was a fairly entertaining mystery. It just took the bulk of the book to explain the setting and the characters. I would have liked more character development than flat descriptions. The story seemed secondary, as though it's purpose was to highlight the setting instead of the other way around.
I wanted to like this book. It was just too hard to get into. Once the author got past setting the scene, it was a fairly entertaining mystery. It just took the bulk of the book to explain the setting and the characters. I would have liked more character development than flat descriptions. The story seemed secondary, as though it's purpose was to highlight the setting instead of the other way around.
September 28, 2020
I'm still laughing (and crying) at this quote made early in the book: "The problem was not the student's access or social skills. It was the teachers. they were being paid more than ever before (a famous case in New York City was an eleventh-grade math teacher who earned $211,498 in salary and overtime in 2008 while his seventeen-year-old students were functioning at a fourth grade level) working without accountability for their students' performance."
Sigh.
Sigh.
June 13, 2008
Contrary to what the book jacket may say, there isn't anything particularly timely about this story, and it's coming of ageness is pretty run-of-the-mill (individualization in the face of peer pressure/corrupt or morally ambigious authorities and/or social constructs). But the plot is interesting enough that you want to know how all the pieces are put together once you start reading it.
August 26, 2013
Very well written. A futuristic tale about a super elite prep school, and the moral compromises the student-specimens must make. If you take the competition to be admitted to top colleges, and the overmedication of ADHD youths to the logical extreme, there you are. This book was apparently made into a short film. It deserves a longer feature.
August 4, 2014
Really wish I read this freshman year of high school. Although it's set in a futuristic/sci-fi perspective, the ideas that are played out in the story are not too far fetch to relate back to home. Ending wrapped the story in a cheesy but very lovable way. Lots of twists and turns, and I didn't expect certain turn outs to occur. Things got crazy near the end; likable.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 27, 2013
It was really, really, slow at first then almost towards the end it really picked up. It was kind of confusing at first trying to understand the way the school is made and such and the way the future is, but towards the end, I couldn't put it down!!
April 13, 2015
Should have been classified as a YA novel.
Would have given 1.5 stars if that was available. First 50-75 pages were good...then the inconsistencies and faulty logic started to catch up to it...by the final chapters I was just waiting for it to (finally) end.
Don't waste your time!
D
Would have given 1.5 stars if that was available. First 50-75 pages were good...then the inconsistencies and faulty logic started to catch up to it...by the final chapters I was just waiting for it to (finally) end.
Don't waste your time!
D
February 20, 2012
Unlikable protagonists and cliched evildoers. Too bad because the premise of the perfect school sounded interesting.
March 31, 2008
Fairly entertaining.
April 14, 2009
My company INTREPID PICUTRES is currently making this book into a movie!
Check it out!!!!
Check it out!!!!
September 16, 2012
The "action" scenes almost felt like a movie script, but the idea was somewhat interesting nonetheless.
March 27, 2009
I really liked this. It had a very fast pace, and stayed interesting and suspenseful all the way through.
Read
April 26, 201211/18/2010 Damaged CDs. Discs 3 & 4. Returned early.
Want to read
January 15, 2011I had to turn this one back in. I just didn't get into it like I thought I would. Maybe I'll try again in the future.
January 28, 2012
Mildly entertaining. The book had a great premise, but really fell short in the execution. Dialogue felt stilted and forced leaving the story floundering to keep my attention.
February 10, 2012
The description on the cover sounded like a better story than what was inside, but it wasn't bad overall.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews