Book Review: Conspiracy 365: January by Gabrielle Lord

Conspiracy 365: January
by Gabrielle Lord
Conspiracy 365

Kane Miller
ISBN-10: 1-935279-49-1
ISBN-13: 978-1-935279-49-5
Publication Date: January, 2010
List Price: $10.00

Review: It’s New Year’s Eve. 15 year-old Callum Ordman is a boy living in Australia. His dad went to Ireland for a business meeting, but he came back jumbled up. He couldn’t talk and could only draw what he wanted. He died. Doctors think he died of a disease. January is only the beginning of the Conspiracy 365 series by Gabrielle Lord. Cal doesn’t realize it but, gangs will be after him to figure out things about the Ordman Riddle and they will kill.

Cal is heading home when he runs into a madman. The man says ‘They got your father. They are coming for you. You must survive the next year, or they will…’ then he is carried off by an ambulance. Cal then goes to the beach with his mom, uncle, & his sister Gabbi. He and his uncle are on a boat. The tanks that keep it afloat fail & they are pulled into the ocean. Cal climbs up to see sharks. He is rescued by a helicopter after long hours at sea. He goes home and a couple days later finds out that all the money in his family’s bank account is gone. Cal is kidnapped and questioned about the Ordman Riddle and the Ordman Angel. He said no. They asked him if he had any drawings from his dad. He said no again and they locked him up. He escaped. Later the Ordman’s are robbed and the only thing missing is the contents of a box Cal’s mom got from his dad. When Cal comes home another day he finds his uncle lying on the kitchen floor bleeding and his sister Gabbi upstairs not breathing. The authorities arrive and see Cal. They think he did the crimes. So he flees and hides in a home for awhile. He studies the drawings his dad sent him while his friend Boges brings him clothes, food, and keeps Cal updates on events. Later he hangs around a bar and it bursts into a flame then he is pulled into a car. The people interrogate him about the Ordman Riddle. He asks if they are with the other gang. They are surprised and ask Cal again about the riddle. When Cal says he knows nothing again they think he lied and throw him in a tank and fill it with oil.

Overall this is a 5 star book. The page numbers are written backwards so it says how many pages are left. The chapters are days and they are broken up into time periods like 12:37am, 8:23pm, January 2, ect. The Australian setting is a nice switch from other settings. This book has a mystery that will keep you reading until the last page. I think the rest of the series will be just as thrilling and mysterious, but go a little deeper into the whole riddle. I would recommend this book to fans of thrilling, mystery filled novels.

Review written by Zach (6th grade student).

We would like to thank Kane Miller for providing a copy of Conspiracy 365: January for this review.

Have you read Conspiracy 365: January? How would you rate it?