Uncaged by John Sandford (review)

Odin’s new activist girlfriend convinces him to help her group break into the corporate labs of Singular, an Oregon company ostensibly seeking a cure for Parkinson’s Disease, and free the lab animals on which they are experimenting. Odin and his crew find more than they expected and now they’re on the run, drawing Odin’s younger sister, Shay, into the maelstrom. She leaves their foster home to track Odin down in California, and she is fortunate to find shelter in a hostel run by quirky guerilla artist, Twist. Assisting Twist with one of his high-profile projects gets Shay’s picture out in the press, and high profile is just what she doesn’t need to be if she’s going to help Odin. When Odin makes contact and hands over a dog called X with a nasty attitude and wires coming out of its head, Shay is now in as much trouble as her brother—pursued by Singular operatives who will definitely kill anyone who threatens to leak their real agenda. So just how mad are these mad scientists? They’re on the way to reaching the hypothetical “Singularity,” with a hybrid of man and machine that could assure human immortality and, of course, world domination for the developers. The authors artfully juggle people, places, and plotlines, keeping each thread in sharp focus and spooling out details at an ever-accelerating pace. Shay, Twist, and the street kids from the hostel are well-limned protagonists, but X may be the one to watch. There’s more to his wiring than the authors are letting on just yet, and readers will be pacing until the next installment.