The Syndicate

Wow, I’m still recovering from the surprise. Last week, I found an envelope in the mail for me. That is not so surprising, but then I saw what was in it: an arc of The Syndicate by Shelena Shorts. I can tell you, I was having a bad day that day, but then all was well. I couldn’t stop smiling 🙂 On the first page Shelena had written ‘Surprise!’ and I can tell you, it was one of the best surprises I have ever had. So, in this post I’m going to tell you what I think of The Syndicate, the new Shelena Shorts novel, in stores on July 9th. You can pre-order it on Amazon.

The story is told from a male point of view, which I think is very cool. I read many books, but only few of them have male point of views. Vasile  (or Vasi for friends 😀 ) is an eighteen-year-old boy who is a member of The Syndicate. The Syndicate is a group of people (Elders, scouts, readers, guards) who protect society from Hybrids. Hybrids are creatures who bite humans, infecting them with a virus that will eventually make that person very crazy and dangerous. So they’re not very nice people to be arround. The Syndicate has different Circles arround the world and have been there for centuries. Vasi’s father was the Elder of The Syndicate, but he was killed when Vasi was fifteen years old. So Vasi has a right to be an Elder, but since he was so young the Circle decided to appoint Henri (another member of the Circle) as the Elder.

The thing is, only males can be infected by the virus that causes them to go insane. So there has never been a female target. Until the day Vasi is given the task to take out someone named Riley. At  first he and his sister Rosie (Rosie is also his scout. That means she is the one giving him information about who his target is and what his target does on a daily basis so he can decide when and how to kill the target) think this Riley person is a male. But they discover Riley is a she; she is a female. And then they find out she is definitely not a Hybrid. Vasi thinks it is very strange The Syndicate targeted her, so he talks to Henri and says he can’t do it because there is no reason to kill her. But Henri tells him Riley is some kind of ‘bad news’ and ‘a danger for the circle’. Vasi is determined to find out why they put Riley on the ‘hit list’ and in the process he gets to know her. They fall in love and more than ever Vasi is sure she is no danger to The Syndicate. But then they find out things about her family history… Riley has the power to kill all the Hybrids for once and for all, and that would mean The Syndicate would not be necessary anymore. And that means The Syndicate would disappear. Was the circle right? Is Riley a threat to them? Vasi thinks she isn’t, but what will the others do?

I had some trouble getting into the story, but maybe that had something to do with me not being able to keep reading: I’m so busy with upcoming finals at school I haven’t had much time to read. (that’s why it took me a few days to finish the book). But once I was in ‘the zone’ or ‘Vasi’s World’ I loved every word of the story. Again, a very original plot (at least I’ve never read such a story : P ) with all the things you could ask for in a great story: suspense, action, mystery, love, friendship and so much more. In comparison to The Pace Series, this book has more action in it. So, I think it will be a great story to read for everyone, because it has something for everybody.

The only thing I could find in the story that I didn’t love was the ending; Shelena has done it again. She has me desperately waiting for the next book… Keep your fingers crossed; hopefully there will be many more!