Masterminds by Gordon Korman

Here is another exciting adventure series by Gordon Korman.  Eli, Malik and Tori live in an ideal town called Serenity.  There is no crime, there is no poverty, and all the citizens try extra hard to be good neighbors.  It is such a nice place that Eli never minded that he had never left his hometown. One day a friend invites him to bike outside the city limits to see an old car that he found out in the desert.  As soon as Eli leaves the city limits, he becomes violently ill and is picked up by the security force of a nearby factory and taken to the hospital.  When he awakens, he discovers that the friend he was with when he left town has been shipped off to live with his grandmother.  The sudden departure of his friend, and a mysterious note he left behind make Eli, and his friends, Malik and Tori, begin to question all they ever knew about their life. Is Serenity all that it appears to be?

This story has elements of "The Truman Show" but with even more complicated motivations for the false utopia.   As always, Korman's characters are well drawn, his plot is intriguing, and his action scenes are carefully crafted for optimal impact.  The story ends with only partial resolution, but do not despair.  Number 2 in the series, Criminal Destiny, will be released in just two weeks.(323 p)