H.I.V.E.: Higher Institute of Villainous Education

H.I.V.E.: HIGHER INSTITUTE OF VILLAINOUS EDUCATION: Mark Walden: Simon & Schuster: Young Adult: 309 pages

H.I.V.E. is a secret training facility for evil geniuses. Four new recruits, brought to the island location against their will, attempt to escape, but their plans change when disaster strikes the facility.

Try not to think too hard about an orphan being taken to a special school where he meets a somewhat bumbling, plant-loving student named Nigel (Neville, is that you?), two bullies without much brain power, and other somewhat familiar characters. The story premise is clever (although Evil Genius was recently published with a similar idea) and I look forward to the next book in the series (oh yes, there will definitely be more), but I did struggle with the similarities to other teen away-at-school books.

MBC