Masterminds: Criminal Destiny

By Gordon Korman

The clones of Project Osiris are free—but they’re being hunted . . .

After their narrow escape from their “perfect” hometown, Eli, Tori, Amber and Malik are finally in the real world and determined to expose the leaders of Serenity. They decide to go straight to the top, to track down Tamara Dunleavy, the mysterious billionaire and founder of Project Osiris. Evading capture by breaking laws and sneaking into houses, hotels, buses and cars—are they becoming the criminals they were destined to be?

What they discover will change everything—leading them straight back into the Plastic Works and the heart of the experiment, in order to uncover the deadly criminals they’re cloned from and any evidence that will convince the outside world to believe the truth. But the outside world isn’t exactly what they expected—strangers aren’t just unfriendly, they’re downright dangerous. And the wrong move could send them right back into the arms of Dr. Hammerstrom—and trapped in Serenity for good.

On a breakneck journey from Jackson Hole to a maximum security prison, Eli, Tori, Amber and Malik will stop at nothing to take Project Osiris down.

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• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Feb 2, 2016
• ISBN: 9781443428781

Gordon Korman

Gordon Korman published his first book at age fourteen and since then has written more than one hundred middle grade and teen novels. Favorites include the New York Times bestselling Ungifted, Supergifted, The Superteacher Project, The Unteachables, Pop, Notorious, Unplugged, Operation Do-Over, Slugfest, and the Masterminds series. Gordon lives with his family on Long Island, New York. You can visit him online at gordonkorman.com.

Reviews for Masterminds

[robinsonstef · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

4.5
Project Osiris was an experiment to find out what happens when criminal masterminds are cloned and raised in ideal, happy, loving situations. When Tori, Amber, Malik, Eli, and Hector found out that they were part of the experiment they refused to be someone's science project any longer. In Masterminds, the first book in the series, the kids busted out of Serenity, New Mexico, the town where they were brought up. All but Hector survived the escape. Having been sheltered for their whole lives, they knew nothing about the outside world and how it works. Luckily they made it to the private school their friend, Randy, was transferred to after he got too close to the secrets of Project Osiris. Randy gave them a place to stay for a while so they could come up with a plan. When the “purples” (the police from Serenity) showed up at the dormitories their planning time was cut short.The kids had to think smart and break free. It wasn't easy, but they made their way to Denver. Amber knew the best thing to do was to find a police officer and explain their story. After all, cloning humans was illegal, and their so-called parents and everyone else in the experiment deserved to be arrested. Unfortunately, telling a police officer only makes them think you're crazy or messing with them, and Amber gets arrested. The kids realize they need evidence to prove they're clones from master criminals. Since they don’t know which criminals, it's even more important they have proof. On the internet they find out the name of a millionaire who was going to fund Project Osiris, and they set out to find her. But she refused to acknowledge that she knew anything about a cloning experiment. It isn’t easy, but they decide that the only thing they can do is go back to Serenity and the traffic cone factory, where they'd first discovered the truth. The kids know there's evidence there- they’d seen it. When they arrive, the factory had a fire. Could any proof still remain? Will someone in Serenity keep them from going back to freedom? How long can four kids survive on their own without money or a real understanding of the outside world? Read this page turner to find out.

I read the first book in the series last summer, and it ended on a cliffhanger. So I was looking forward to reading Masterminds: Criminal Destiny by Gordon Korman. It started right where book one left off. The format was the same, with Eli, Amber, Malik, and Tori each taking different chapters to give us the story through their eyes. One thing I liked was seeing how the characters handled the outside world. They broke a lot of laws, but they were in a tight spot and some of the illegal things they did couldn’t be avoided. After all, they were in an unbelievable situation. The characters grew on me and I liked seeing the way their friendships evolved. Just like the first book in the series- this one ended on a cliffhanger. I found out the third, and last, installment of the series is out- so I hope I can read them in the next couple weeks. I recommend this to kids in fourth grade and up who like mystery and adventure. I know I can’t wait to see what happens to these kids with criminal mastermind DNA.

[adamwolf_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I 5stared the first book in the series. This one wasn't quite as good. I'm still definitely going to read the third.

The first third could have used quite a bit more tightening.

[Leanna · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Hi I read the first book to the series a couple of days ago and I think that it was one of the best books I’ve read I haven’t finished this one just yet in fact I’m just starting but I’m sure this one will be just as great! Maybe you could join me and read this book, and help contribute to the comment section for this book. It’s a great book but the only comment is mine, so join me and help get this book the recognition it deserves! ?✌️

[carriewuj · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

#1 was good enough to keep us interested in what happens to the project Osiris kids now that they've broken away from Serenity. #2 falls short and we won't pursue #3 despite the cliffhanger ending. Basically the kids are on the lam, all over the West, in and out of harrowing situations. They need to somehow prove they are clones, which is going to be harder than they anticipated, because it is such an unbelievable story and they are so naive about the real world and they have no proof. They sneak back to Serenity as one solution -- but it's a ghost town. No one is left and the records are all missing except one scrap of paper which may help. Then they decide to track down the source of their genes, which becomes a whole adventure in itself. One surprise surfaces from Book 1 and presents an interesting twist, but I won't spoil it. If you are loving the series, go for it, otherwise, skip.