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Lubchenko #2
The Rise of Lubchenko
Slacker Evan Macalister receives an anonymous call warning him that his father's partner, Jim Richmond, has smuggled live smallpox virus into Europe and is planning to sell it to a terrorist group--and kill Evan's father to cover his tracks--so with his best friend Ruben and new girlfriend Erika in tow, Evan jets off to Europe to save the day. By the author of Finding Lubchenko.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published June 8, 2006
About the author
Michael Simmons
12 books5 followersLibrarian note: there are several authors on Goodreads with this name. This is Michael^^^Simmons.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 5, 2015
Holy smokes! What a great cover on this one! This is the sequel to Finding Lubchenko, one of my favorite "guy" books. I wasn't as impressed with this one, but Simmons still writes a great adventure story. You have to love Evan Macalister. He's quirky, great-looking (he tells you), intelligent, lazy, and loves to make his dad's life a living you-know-what. Evan's dad is rich and makes millions off the smallpox vaccine. The problem is that bad people keep trying to steal the smallpox strain to create biological weapons. In the first book, Evan saves the day. In this one, Lubchenko (the mysterious CIA-like dude in France) saves them, and Evan saves his dad's life without his dad finding out. Evan has a great relationship with his girlfriend and her one-liners are great. She really puts Evan in his place, especially the scene where they are at a topless beach in southern France. She's hilarious. I will still recommend this one to the readers of Finding Lubchenko. It ought to stay off my shelves.
August 17, 2022
The Rise of Lubchenko is the 2nd, and so far, last book in the Lubchenko series. I never read the first book, since my local library did not carry a copy, but luckily, this book has filled me up quickly on the previous events that occurred in the first book. From the perspective of rich boy, Evan Macalister, briefly provides us a quick summary of his first misadventure in dealing with a conspiracy related to his Dad's pharmaceutical business. But with the help of Lubchenko, a secretive agent he met while in France, Evan managed to rescue his father's reputation and retrieve the stolen info on time without anybody noticing his involvement. But Evan's time of peace doesn't last too long. Just as he plans a new party with his two pals: Ruben & Erika, both who also went along in his adventure, an anonymous caller brings up that his father's partner is smuggling the smallpox virus overseas to terrorists. Now the trio must, once again, save the day, traveling to France to find Lubchenko and get his help in retrieving the virus before it becomes a weapon of bioterrorism. The main problem is that Lubchenko is no longer in his original spot and they use all of their intuition to locate his whereabouts because time is running out, as Evan's father may also be walking into fire in the process.
As said, I never read the 1st book before reading this one, but my worries were uplifted with the catch-up Evan provided at the beginning. Not only does it catch up on speed with the plot, but also a little background about our lead protagonist and his friends. Evan is a cocky rich boy, believing his charisma can get him out of anything, even though he is forced to spend summer school due to severely failing grades. He also have a complicated, distant relationship with his father, who is always out on business and lashing out at Evan for his misbehaviors. Evan believes this is likely due to the loss of his mother years ago, making his father more cold towards him. His best friend is Ruben, who also comes from a wealthy background, but is the opposite where Evan is charismatic, he is the worry wart, and butt-monkey for Evan's teasing. Erika is Evan's girlfriend, who is much more collective than either boy and is s more responsible and tolerant to their antics, even though Evan doubts at how serious their relationship is. Surprisingly, Lubchenko only makes a couple pages of an appearance before disappearing off as I thought he would have more prominence in a series named after him. Though, considering it's from Evan's POV, Lubchenko wouldn't be the main character in this story. I can clearly hear Evan's voice as the narrator where he brings a lot of jokes and typical teenage boy dialogue when it's needed, but also shows a more serious side when things get a little more dangerous later on.
I found the story is be easy to follow through, as the premise already would hook you in on the fact that a giant conspiracy is about to be unleashed to the world, playing on like an action thriller, though in teenage fashion. Throughout the story also, Evan is questioning his relationship with both his father and his friends, implying he may be a little unsure about where he stands with either. Of course, it gets quickly glimpsed over during the climax, but it does hint that his friendship is as strong as he thought, but also the tension between father and son remains the same despite a minor intervention. Funny enough, death threats don't appear to phase the trio as they take it nonchalant, though given what they endured previously, they might be used to it. The ending does imply Evan is willing to improve himself on some degree to make things better for everyone as the tension soon dies down. Even the characters question some stuff the plot didn't show or answer in terms of tying loose ends, but if Evan is right, things will simmer down back to peacefulness where they would just have to trust that Lubchenko is able to handle the bigger threats they cannot do on their own. Overall, this is a page-turning YA book for boys who love mysteries that is done in a way that is very entertaining and digestible.
As said, I never read the 1st book before reading this one, but my worries were uplifted with the catch-up Evan provided at the beginning. Not only does it catch up on speed with the plot, but also a little background about our lead protagonist and his friends. Evan is a cocky rich boy, believing his charisma can get him out of anything, even though he is forced to spend summer school due to severely failing grades. He also have a complicated, distant relationship with his father, who is always out on business and lashing out at Evan for his misbehaviors. Evan believes this is likely due to the loss of his mother years ago, making his father more cold towards him. His best friend is Ruben, who also comes from a wealthy background, but is the opposite where Evan is charismatic, he is the worry wart, and butt-monkey for Evan's teasing. Erika is Evan's girlfriend, who is much more collective than either boy and is s more responsible and tolerant to their antics, even though Evan doubts at how serious their relationship is. Surprisingly, Lubchenko only makes a couple pages of an appearance before disappearing off as I thought he would have more prominence in a series named after him. Though, considering it's from Evan's POV, Lubchenko wouldn't be the main character in this story. I can clearly hear Evan's voice as the narrator where he brings a lot of jokes and typical teenage boy dialogue when it's needed, but also shows a more serious side when things get a little more dangerous later on.
I found the story is be easy to follow through, as the premise already would hook you in on the fact that a giant conspiracy is about to be unleashed to the world, playing on like an action thriller, though in teenage fashion. Throughout the story also, Evan is questioning his relationship with both his father and his friends, implying he may be a little unsure about where he stands with either. Of course, it gets quickly glimpsed over during the climax, but it does hint that his friendship is as strong as he thought, but also the tension between father and son remains the same despite a minor intervention. Funny enough, death threats don't appear to phase the trio as they take it nonchalant, though given what they endured previously, they might be used to it. The ending does imply Evan is willing to improve himself on some degree to make things better for everyone as the tension soon dies down. Even the characters question some stuff the plot didn't show or answer in terms of tying loose ends, but if Evan is right, things will simmer down back to peacefulness where they would just have to trust that Lubchenko is able to handle the bigger threats they cannot do on their own. Overall, this is a page-turning YA book for boys who love mysteries that is done in a way that is very entertaining and digestible.
July 4, 2018
In the sequel to Finding Lubchenko, Evan Macalister is once again saving the world; this time from an Smallpox infestation that would kill millions. His stained relationship with his father has not improved, and he continues to be happily oblivious to the feelings of others. He and his friends, Rueben and Erika are off to Paris to stop his father's business partner from selling a strain of Smallpox that their company uses to research vaccinations and cures for the disease.
It is hard to like Evan. The author shows him thinking a lot about his feelings for family and friends, but it's really nothing more than self-serving emotions designed to make him more likeable to the audience. The book was well written, but there were no real revelations or twists to make it more than just an okay story about an unlikeable teen and the messes he creates for himself.
It is hard to like Evan. The author shows him thinking a lot about his feelings for family and friends, but it's really nothing more than self-serving emotions designed to make him more likeable to the audience. The book was well written, but there were no real revelations or twists to make it more than just an okay story about an unlikeable teen and the messes he creates for himself.
August 21, 2021
I did not enjoy this book. The author's writing style is exhausting to read because many sentences are too short (not even actual sentences). Evan (the key character) is not relatable and he is not at all emotional which prevents the reader from getting hooked on the book. To be honest, I do not really care about him. I stopped reading after more than half of the book because I had to push myself the whole time to continue reading and I realized the last part probably would not be any better. I cannot recommend this book to anyone, but if I had to, I would recommend it to young boys who struggle with normal books because of the grammar. Maybe they can relate to Evan better than I did and they should not be annoyed because of the style.
July 5, 2015
Not as good as the first book, Finding Lubchenko, but still a fun ride. The voice of the main character is hysterical.
April 22, 2009
This book was just as good as the first, if not better.
June 6, 2011
I loved this book!! It was alot better than the first one and it kept you guessing!:) It took me awhile before I could solve the mystery. I hope the auther writes another book!:)
November 24, 2011
If you couldn't tell this is the sequel to finding Lubchenko and also fabulous!
October 5, 2012
this book has a slow beginning so its hard to stay focused but its interesting
June 19, 2016
Silly. The writer's style is fun but the adventure is completely unbelievable. Probably a book that reluctant male readers would enjoy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 22, 2018
The rise of lubchenko in my opinion was not that good of a book. I thought the action was not as intense as it was supposed to be. Overall the book itself is just to short and not focused on just a simple problem, it shows all of the sequences of the problems and the main character trying to solve them as if they're solvable. I think this book could have more potential and more focused on events that are current in the situation rather than other events that are to happen later on. Michael Simmons is a good author no doubt its clear, but it just doesn't compare as well to Finding Lubchenko (the first Lubchenko series of books). If your interested in a lot of conflicts and surprising endings to problems then you should read this book if not then I would not suggest it.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews