Home Rating: - Courtesy of Teens Read Too
Jordan O'Blenis is worried about his sister, Cassie. They've always been close, even more so since their last adventure. But lately she hasn't been answering her phone or responding to emails. Sure, she's busy. Top secret government projects can keep a person pretty occupied. Jordan knows his sister though, and he's pretty sure there's something else going on. Jordan and Helen, his partner in crime, are determined to find out what that is. And they'll have to do it in person, since Cassandra, Jordan's "super virus," has suddenly acquired an interest in ethical behavior. Off they go to surprise Cassie, and do a little investigating.

It's not long before they uncover a stalker, and their old friends the Harvey's from Bureau 6, as well as some new faces from Bureau 7. (B6 and B7 are kind of like the Canadian FBI and CIA.) Cassie's definitely in trouble. Now what? How do a child computer genius and a child biology genius compete with covert government operatives? Even with the help of conspiracy theorist Jack, their old friend and now Cassie's boyfriend, this could be a bit much. And definitely dangerous.

This book is a non-stop adventure; once it gets going there is rarely a pause. If you liked The Cassandra Virus, this is a great continuation of where that book left off. If you haven't read that one, I highly recommend it, both because it's very good and because this book may be hard to get into otherwise. There isn't a whole lot of discussion of past events; the author assumes you know the characters and their past, which I actually really liked.

I've read a few books by K.V Johansen now, and I really like the way she writes. Everything is very intelligent, but never condescending. Sure, there's some technical stuff that I didn't quite get, not being a computer genius, but I never felt bad or dumb for not knowing. And it never took anything away from the story.

I also liked that Jordan, Helen, and Cassie are geniuses but still socially adept. Well, mostly. Kidnapping and interrogation are always difficult the first time. It's a very fun, often funny, intelligent read. I highly recommend it.

Reviewed by: Carrie Spellman

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Rating: - A futuristic adventure
Reviewed by Dylan James (age 11) for Reader Views (11/07)

This book is in the future and is about five people and a super robot. Jordan (a computer wiz) and Helen (a biologist) are the two kids. The three teenagers are Jack, Sammilea, and Cassie. Cassie, Jordan's sister, works for an artificial intelligence company. Jack is Cassie's boyfriend and Sammilea is Cassie's roommate at college. Something is stressing Cassie so Jordan and Helen get together with Jack and Sammilea and try to figure out what is wrong with her. The super robot named Cassandra is developing a conscience and won't help them spy on Cassie. They take matters into their own hands and discover spies that are after Cassie.

My favorite part of this book was when Jordan, Helen, Jack, and Sammilea try very humorously to catch a spy that is following Cassie.

This book will make anyone who has not read the first one really want to read it and anyone who has read the first book want to read it again. I really think this book would have benefited greatly if it had an introductory chapter briefly describing the first book. The glossary at the end of the book helps a little. Because readers that have not read the first book will be confused, I do not think this book is the best it could be. This book's author is kind of assuming its readers have already read the first one. I think this book leaves you wanting to know too much more about the characters. Because of that, I think this will be a book loved if you have read the first one, but only liked if you have not. I want to make it clear that people that have read the first one will be very delighted with this sequel. It made me laugh a couple of times and was a pretty interesting book.

I think this is a book for lots of purposes: a good bedtime story to read to kids as young as seven and a good action story for kids as old as fifteen. Past 15-years-old, kids might start to want more content in the book. Readers that have read the first book will probably rate "The Drone War" 4 stars. Although there were a few spelling errors, the writing was good in the sense of drawing people in and making them want to keep reading the book.

My overall opinion is that it was worth the time to read "The Drone War."