This is the second volume in a fun little series about teenagers who are The Only Hope for Earth's resistance to alien invasion. No, that doesn't make much sense, but, really, it doesn't have to. Lewis gives us an engaging group of teenage friends, a secret government agency that's supposed to be the main line of defense but may be compromised, secret heroes and villains, and a fast pace with neat stuff happening on nearly every page.

The intended audience is young adult readers, but if you can let go and enjoy the ride, it's entertaining for older readers, too.

Colt McAllister is the youngest of a large family of boys, and in the previous volume, his parents were killed right around the time he got accepted to the same Virginia military high school all his brothers attended. He's now living with his grandfather, a World War II veteran, while waiting to go off to that academy--which is the school for the secret force which is fighting the aliens. While he's waiting, he's hooked up with a few friends who'll also be going off to the academy.

It's not a quiet, restful time, though. Colt is, for various reasons, a Major Threat to the aliens, and they're out to get him before he can be trained and groomed for his destined role. Colt and his friends spend the time avoiding assassination attempts, which is really tricky because the aliens are shapeshifters and have a dandy little multinational medical devices corporation at their disposal. Of course, the teens also have access to some cool stuff; Colt's grandfather, World War II vet, is really the Phantom Flyer, a World War II hero who is believed to be just a comic book superhero. Colt and his friends get to practice with old, out-of-date versions of the modern equipment they'll be using at the school, and it's a good thing: it helps them keep Colt alive.

When they get to school, things get even more dangerous, as they discover that they can't assume anyone is trustworthy, because they can't assume anyone is who he seems to be.

Call it a guilty pleasure, call it light entertainment, but it's a lot of fun.

Recommended.

I received a free electronic galley from the publisher via NetGalley. ( )

Summary: We catch up with Colt, Danielle, and Oz as they are getting ready to go to the CHAOS military academy. The boys are practicing obstacle courses with their jet packs when an alien wasp comes out of nowhere to attack them. Colt and Oz do some quick thinking to defend themselves, but this is the first of many odd occurrences that seem to be focused purely on Colt. Colt gets some information that leads him to believe that the director of CHAOS has hired an assassin to kill him. This is why he keeps being attacked by aliens, robots, and the like. Who can he trust? Oz is the director's son, is he in on it? Should Colt head to the CHAOS academy or will he let this keep him away from his seeming destiny? Also, Colt finds out a surprising secret that his family has kept from him. Knowing this changes everything that Colt has ever known about himself. For such a small book, there really is a ton of things that happen.

My thoughts: I've enjoyed these books and look forward to the next installment. They are extremely quick reads. Part of this is that the chapters of very short, but part of it is that the action never ceases. From beginning to end, there are heart pumping, barely escapable situations that you can't help but root Colt through. Danielle is also a lovely character. She reminds me of Velma from Scooby Doo. She knows too much for her own good, shares her wisdom, but also is a loyal, caring friend that dishes out the best advice. There is distance between Colt and Oz throughout this novel because of the plot to kill Colt, which was distracting to me. I think it was the only downside of the novel. I like Colt and Oz's friendship. I could logically see what the author was trying to do and the tension he was trying to build, but I just didn't feel it. It fell flat. I couldn't tell enough of a change in their friendship to feel anything other than an uninterested, busy teenage life. All in all, this is perfect for a quick adventure and highly recommend for our reluctant teen boy readers. ( )

To start with, I got this as an e-ARC so I wasn’t able to tell whether this was the first book of the series. Part way through the book, I looked it up to find it was the second book. There were some things that felt awkward reading this out of order but for the most part I was able to connect to the characters and follow the plot of the book. This wasn’t a favorite of mine but that’s not the books fault. I’m not real big on military action sort of stories. This is a book about aliens but it’s more about the young men who have been enlisted into a special military organization to combat the aliens. For those who likes those sorts of stories, this one is for you. There was too much detail in the weaponry for my taste. I don’t care how many different types of assault rifles and the numbers that are associated with them. For me, the book had too much of that. It pulled me out of the story. And there was a lot of it. There’s amazing technology in this book for those who like it. There’s realistic holographs for training (and if you get hurt in the holograph room, you really get hurt), robots for training and as servants, and hoverboards. It’s a thrilling young adult novel perfect for those who love military and espionage. In this story, Colt is heading off to CHAOS training. (I can’t remember what the acronym stands for but it’s something like covert – alien - something.) While trying to get there he discovers someone is trying to kill him. The head of CHAOS has ordered the murder of several government officials and it appears that he wants to get rid of Colt too. Colt is the grandson of the great CHAOS legend Phantom Rider. He’s left not sure of who to trust especially since his best friend is the son of the CHAOS leader. It did keep me guessing and I have to say I didn’t see the twist that came. I enjoyed the action and all the alien descriptions. This was similar in tone to comic books in the 40’s and 50’s – Captain America and the like. I think it makes for a great read for young men who love all that sort of stuff. ( )

The next instalment in the C.H.A.O.S. series, Alienation is definitely action-packed. And with action-packed I mean PACKED. One moment we're flying around with jetpacks, trying to evade a tank-size wasp. Just moments later we're attacked by some scary shapeshifting assassin.

I had this whole nice long and thoughtful review planned out, but Goodreads decided this was a perfect moment to start some maintenance. So it was deleted. I will thus be making a nice pro-con list!

Pro:
- Tons and tons of action. If I had a little brother, I would immediately recommend this book to him
- Will appeal to lovers of super-hero stories and comic book readers
- Imaginative creatures and technologies. It has a cool futuristic feel. Who doesn't love shiny gadgets?
- It has a super cool grandpa that can kick ass
- Very clean action. There is some blood, but definitely no ripping out entrails here
- Even though the book is published by Christian literature publisher Thomas Nelson, Alienation is not preachy at all

Con:
- You get thrown into the action right away. At times I wondered what the connection was with the actual plot
- I sometimes missed an emotional connection with Colt. At times he just feels cold and distant
- I was looking forward to some character development in this book, but I wasn't completely satisfied.

All in all, Alienation is a great fast-paced book that I would recommend. ( )

I received an ecopy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book is the second installment in the C.H.A.O.S. series by Jon S. Lewis. C.H.A.O.S. stands for Central Headquarters Against the Occult and Supernatural.

From Goodreads: "After his parents were killed in a car accident, Colt McAllister was drawn into a world he thought only existed in comic books-one where mind control, jet packs, and flying motorcycles don't even scratch the surface."

Colt, Danielle and Oz are back for more adventures! Yay! I have to say that I absolutely love this series! It may be about comic book characters, but the story is action packed and has characters that are fully fleshed out, and continue to grow from the first page to the last. Even the secondary characters are three dimensional and very individual.

In this installment Colt, Dani and Oz are all accepted to the CHAOS program and they go to live at the school. We learn a lot more about Colt's role in the survival of the human race, and why he is so important. We have some great conflict between Colt and Oz, and Dani continues to be front and center. My favorite character, Grandpa McAllister, is his same ornery self, and we get to meet lots of new characters at the kids' school.

This is a great series for boys to get into, which is always great. I have a 15 year old son who I introduced to this series, and he can't read it fast enough! There are so many books out there for teen girls, so it's really awesome when I can find one I can recommend for the boys, too!

In summary, I loved everything about this series and read it in one sitting! I can't wait to find out what's going to happen next - I just hope I don't have long to wait! Highly recommended for teens and young adults who love a good action packed story :D ( )