Friday, March 15, 2013

The Cloak Society

By Jeramey Kraatz

The Cloak Society: An elite organization of supervillains graced with extraordinary powers.

Ten years ago they were defeated by the Rangers of Justice and vanished without a trace. But the villains of Cloak have been biding their time, waiting for the perfect moment to resurface. And twelve-year-old Alex Knight wants to be one of them.

Alex is already a junior member, and his entire universe is Cloak’s underground headquarters, hidden beneath an abandoned drive-in theater in Sterling City, Texas. While other kids his age are studying math and history, Alex is mastering his telekinetic powers and learning how to break into bank vaults. His only dream is to follow in his parents’ footsteps as one of the most feared supervillains in the world. Cloak is everything he believes in.

But on the day of his debut mission, Alex does the unthinkable: he saves the life of a young Ranger named Kirbie. Even worse…she becomes his friend. And the more time he spends with her, the more Alex wonders about the world outside of Cloak—and what, exactly, he’s been fighting for.

 

I admit, I’m partial to superhero books because you can potentially get some really awesome character stuff going on, and who doesn’t like a little superpower here and there? I mean, look at Hollywood making their millions on Marvel and DC characters! Well, this book is told from the eyes of young villain-in-training Alex Knight (if that name isn’t a giveaway I don’t know what is) that slowly comes to the realization that he really isn’t villain material, because, well, he saved the life of a hero and they become friends. He’s unwilling at first to listen to her, but becomes uneasy about the way he is treated and the plans that the Cloak has for the future…and the countless people who will die for them to achieve their plans. This is really more a coming-of-age for Alex than a story of good vs. evil, though it is that. What I liked is that, knowing this is a series, the setup was pretty good, and I was interested to see where the plot takes the young group of would-be heroes toward the end in their attempt to save the world. I really can’t give a complete review of this first book without reading the next book, but I think that it will get better as it goes and this book will be fun for kids who enjoy comic book heroes and like to read novels.

 
I give it a 3.5 for potential and fun.

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