Conspiracy 365: April

(Conspiracy 365: Book Four)

by
Gabrielle Lord

Kane Miller, April 2010, 185 pp.
ISBN: 978-1-935279-53-2

Genre: Young Reader
Subgenres: Thriller
Reviewed: 4/23/2010

Reviewed by: Conan Tigard

Book Cover

Excerpt

4 April

Saint Marie Hospital

Intensive Care Unit

11:51 am

"Attention! Attention! This is not a test. We are experiencing a serious breach. Do not approach this person," he commanded, as a security camera picture of me by Gabbi's bed flashed up in a box beside him on the screen. "He is a wanted criminal and is considered extremely dangerous. Staff, remain calm. Please proceed with your patients to the designated evacuation areas . . . Attention! Attention!"

I raced past the reception area towards the big exit doors. I pushed past them, flying down a few steps as a squad car screeched to a halt at the curb almost in front of me! The cop in the passenger seat turned in my direction and our eyes locked. Of all the cops in the city it had to be him! The cop who has tripped over Boges in the old St. Johns Street house, when he was trying to arrest him . . . The cop who, more importantly, I jabbed with a tranquilizer before stealing his pepper spray. This was unbelievable!

"That's him!" he yelled. "The little low-life who stuck a needle in me! He's the kid the whole state is after! Grab him!"

He fumbled with something as he climbed out of the car, giving me more time to get away.

"Stop him! Police! Don't let him get away!" he shouted into the street.

I weaved around the startled people, who really couldn't get out of my way fast enough.

Not daring to take the time to look back, I ran around a corner and kept going. My mind was whirling -- thinking about Gabbi finally coming around, and seeing my mum for the first time in ages, who felt like a stranger to me. My excitement conflicted with my sadness, and now I had the panic of being chased again.

Behind me, I could hear the squad car revving up and coming after me. It was a busy street, but I was an easy target. Somehow I would have to lose them.

I made another fast left-hand turn down a side street. They switched the siren on and continued after me. I raced towards the end of the street, but then my heart sank when I saw what was ahead of me.

I'd run myself into a dead end!

A tall cyclone fence blocked my escape into the green sports field that was behind it. The squad car was close. I had no choice. I hurled myself up the fence, got to the top, and was about to swing my leg over when my backpack slid off of me and crashed down to the ground!

Everything, all my arsenal, was in that backpack. I made a split-second decision. I would have to go down and get it! With the squad car almost pulling up beside me, I jumped back, snatched up the bag, hurled it over the fence, then threw myself at the wire netting again.

Pepper-spray Cop was on me like a flash!

His hands grabbed my leg -- the leg that still hadn't fully recovered from the lion gash. The pain made me scream and kick out with strength I didn't know I had. I heard him yell as my kick connected with his face, and I twisted and wrenched myself free, scrambling over the top of the fence, landing heavily on the grass on the other side.

I felt like yelling Yes! and doing a victory dance! But I had other things on my mind. I had to get out of there. And I knew it wouldn't take them long to back up the squad car and drive around the other side of the sports field to catch me.

I cut across the center, running as hard as I could. Once on the other side, I had to climb over more cyclone fencing.

Just as I jumped down on the footpath, I heard the approaching siren No!

The cops were there already!

I looked around for a way to escape. Just a little way ahead I could see a narrow walkway. I swerved into it and kept running all the way to the other end. As I reached another corner, I glanced back to see the squad car parked in the distance at the end of the walkway. Pepper-spray Cop was jumping out of the car. But he was too far away, and too slow, to have hope of catching me now.

Synopsis

Callum "Cal" Ormond is holding Lachlan's head out of the creek. Lachlan is unconscious and is trapped beneath his overturned car, which Sumo and Kelvin had run off the road with their SUV. As footsteps approach, Cal knows that he cannot flee leaving Lachlan to drown. When a police officer shows up and takes over for Cal, Cal runs off into the night.

Finding an empty cabin, Cal discovers some supplies: night goggles, vegetable ration pack, chocolate ration pack, meat ration pack, and a military map showing a live fire exercise area near the cabin. He then takes out the piece of paper he had stolen from Oriana de la Force's house and examines it. It is the Ormond Riddle. He reads the six lines, which don't make a lick of sense to him, and then realizes someone has cut off the bottom of the page. Remembering that there is supposed to be eight lines, Cal realizes he must find the rest of the paper so he has the entire riddle.

Finally falling asleep for a few hours, Cal awakes to find Sumo and Kelvin creeping up on his cabin. Escaping into the darkness again, he is shocked when bullets start zipping past his head. Cal discovers that he is in the middle of the live fire exercise and just as Sumo is about to grab him, a bullet hits Sumo in the chest.

Finding his way to a gas station, Cal plugs in his cell phone to charge it and calls Boges. Boges tells him that his Gabbi is non-responsive and his mother is going to turn off her life-support system. Cal realizes that he must get back to the hospital and prevent his mom from killing his sister. He climbs into a open trunk of a car and hides under a blanket. The car belongs to Mrs. Melba Snipe and when they arrive at her home, she opens the trunk and tells Cal to get out, having known he was in there the whole time. She is an elderly woman and offers to put Cal up for the night and give him a hot meal. She also gives him some of her son's clothes. The next morning, she ask Cal to deliver a message to her friend, Elvira, when he arrives in the city.

The next night, while sleeping in a field, a boy about Cal's age, named Griff Kirby, tries to steal Cal backpack. The ends up traveling together back to the city, where they split up. Cal heads directly to hospital and sneaks into Gabbi's room. He holds her hand and talks to her, and her eyelids begin to flutter. When Cal's mom comes into the room, she calls for security, hoping that they will stop Cal from leaving again. But Cal is quicker then they are and is able to get away.

Not knowing where to go, and happy that Gabbi may be waking up from her coma, Cal remembers the note for Elvira. He travels to her house, which is near where he, Boges, and his father used to go fishing. Cal finds an empty boathouse behind Elvira's house that he holds up in.

Much later, Boges shows up at the boathouse and Cal shows him the riddle. Boges shows Cal a picture of the Ormond Shield. Winter then shows up and Boges drives her away with his suspicion of her. Soon after she leaves, Sligo's men come flying up in a car. Cal runs from the boathouse and finally returns after getting away from his pursuers. He had forgotten his backpack when Sligo's men showed up and now it is gone. Everything about the Ormond Riddle had been lost and Cal doesn't know what to do.

Conspiracy 365: April is the fourth thrilling book of twelve in the Conspiracy 365 series written by Gabrielle Lord. This book is intended for young readers 10 and up.

Review

Conspiracy 365: April is another chapter in the life of Cal Ormond who is on the run for something he didn't do. As the riddle unfolds, Cal realizes that he barely knows anything about his family history. With the help of his best friend, Boges, and a mysterious girl, Winter, Cal begins to make a little headway into solving this puzzle. Now, if only he could figure out who the guy is that looks exactly like him.

There are a few new characters in this book. I liked the older woman, Mrs. Melba Snipe, that gave Cal a helping hand in this book. I'm sure we will meet her more later, as Cal is living in her friend's boathouse. Griff Kirby was another interesting addition to the cast. After their initial misunderstanding, the two boys get along very well.

I still don't know if I am supposed to trust Winter. Boges doesn't trust her any further than he could throw her. She seems to want to help, but Sligo always seems to be close by whenever she visits Cal. And there is no way Cal wants to see Sligo again.

Cal's mother is driving me crazy. I have wondered how she could ever accuse Cal of hurting his sister and his uncle. But now I understand that maybe is was this mysterious twin that Cal keeps running into. Who is this guy? Why does he look just like Cal? Is he a twin brother that was separated from Cal at birth? So many questions . . . so few answers.

Once again, Gabrielle Lord spins a web of mystery and intrigue as Cal stumbles through April. It is his fourth month on the run and things do not seem to be getting any easier for him. The pace of the story is quick and the dialog flows beautifully. The action scenes always put me on the edge of my seat as I witness Cal scrambling for his life. Each book ends in a cliffhanger, which absolutely kills me. I am glad that the next book is only a month away. Each book in this series is released every month for the duration of one year.

Overall, Conspiracy 365: April is another wonderful action-packed story. I really love this storyline and always look forward to the next book. I cannot wait to see how Cal gets out of the mess he finds himself in at the end of the book. I guess I will just have to wait patiently for Conspiracy 365: May. Man, is it ever hard to wait!

I rated this book an 8 out of 10.