A group of loner children, a kind-hearted genius, a masterminded villain who plans to take over the world. All merged together, they create a thrilling story full of mystery, spy-work, danger, and humor.

I began this on the way home from the library, and I was hooked from the first paragraph to the last. The characters were excellent (the villain could have used some more motive, but then again, I'm particular with villains), the plot was a glued-to-my-seat sort of exciting, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

So if you happen to be wandering the aisles of a bookstore and come across this little volume, be sure you don't have to be anywhere in a hurry because you won't be able to put it down.

I love this book! It was my sister and I's favorite book for a year or two. Like you said, I thought the main characters, at any rate, were great, and the plot was also fast-paced and exciting. Nice to see an author who can combine the two!

There are another three books in the series (a prequel and two sequels), but they're not nearly so good. The next two get more into action-novel territory, with less interesting character development and some questionable morals (the second book's all about "We're not going to use the evil methods of the bad guys!", and then they lie and deceive their way to victory...). But still very entertaining.