Tigerpetal Press : Book Review: January

Conspiracy 365 Book 1: January by Gabrielle Lord

I liked it

My brother received this series all the way back when he was in elementary school, and he recently gave it to me. I figured I’d read it.

Read: November 25 – November 26, 2023

Genre: Action, Adventure
Audience: Teen, YA
Book contains: conspiracy, kidnapping, attempted murder, deadly virus

Purchase a copy from Amazon.ca

A Quirky Conspiracy Adventure with Unique Features

After the death of his father, fifteen-year-old Australian citizen Callum Ormond is left with a vague letter and a mysterious drawing of an angel. Then, on New Year’s Eve, he’s accosted in the street by a raving stranger warning him about the Ormond Singularity, how they killed his father, and how they were after him too.

It seems that the moment the new year starts, Cal’s life is cast into ruins. First, a raving lunatic on the street, then a nearly fatal boating accident, a robbery, and the dangers keep coming. He can’t really go to anyone for help aside from his best friend, Boges, and the two boys try to put together the pieces of a mystery Cal’s dad left behind for him—a mystery that will keep putting his life in danger for the next twelve months, it seems. It took me a second to realize that this book is set in Australia, mainly because “Richmond” is a very common city name, though there were clues—the spelling of certain words, the use of “mum” instead of “mom”, etc.

This is a pretty short book, so I didn’t even bother looking for anyone reading it online. It’s also quite obscure, so I doubt anyone has done it.

This book is really unique in a few ways. First of all, the page numbers run backwards. The book starts on page 185 and the last page is 001. It’s told in first person perspective by Callum and is broken up quite a bit with timestamps. Each chapter is a day of the month that the book follows (though it doesn’t include every day, as some days don’t move the plot forward).

The main character, Cal, is your typical fifteen-year-old. He has a best friend named Boges, and he lives with his mum and his little sister, Gabbi (who he adores). His uncle, who is his deceased father’s identical twin brother, isn’t his favourite person and is written to be a highly suspicious character within this book.

It’s the typical style of a book written for preteen boys. Exciting action scenes, suspense, thrill. There are very few touchy-feely moments, and though he has a good sibling relationship with his younger sister, he doesn’t interact with his mom a whole lot while allowing himself to be honest with her; he doesn’t want to add any stress onto her shoulders. There is constant tension and conflict between him and his uncle, Rafe.

This book (series in general) is a good choice for preteen boys with an interest in conspiracies, mystery, and action.

Bonus: I just found on Google that the series received a miniseries on Australian television back in 2012. Twelve episodes (one per month/book), in case you’re interested in checking that out after reading the series. Check out the IMDb page.

Conspiracy 365 Book 1: January by Gabrielle Lord

A Quirky Conspiracy Adventure with Unique Features

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