(2) YA Evil Villains International League series. Sixteen-year-old Keeper Chance and his best friend, Toby Boggs, are the youngest recruits to E.V.I.L., the Evil Villains International League. Each member has special talents (e.g., Toby has super tech skills, amazing hearing, and an excellent sense of smell), but Keeper doesn't know what his are yet. In this follow-up to Keeper Chance and the Conundrum of Chaos (rev. 1/25), fellow E.V.I.L. member Showboater has disappeared with an important file, and the rival Heroic Elite Reconnaissance Organization is also trying to find him. Keeper and Toby are joined by Y, a beautiful girl with an affection for our protagonist. The long crime story is studded with scenes of bedlam and mayhem balanced by humorous dialogue, rollicking situations, and clever wordplay. Frustrating the search for Showboater is Ditto, a spy for hire whose skill is doppelgdnging: everyone mistakes him for someone else, and thus no one really knows what he looks like, making it difficult to find him -- and making it hard for him to know himself. Within the larger madcap hunt for Showboater, Ditto and Keeper both are on paths to discover their true selves. As with the first volume, this book is all about the sheer fun of reading.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2025

(2) YA Evil Villains International League series. "The man known as Chaos had entered Peachmont High School through a back door," looking to recruit sixteen-year-old junior Keeper Chance for the Evil Villains International League, or E.V.I.L. Chaos has followed Keeper for a long time and is impressed at how purposely and consistently mediocre he has been in school -- but he also suspects that Keeper is a genius with a useful skill to contribute to the organization. Joining the group appeals to the teen, as his current life at home with his cruel "hobgoblin" of a grandmother is untenable. While preparing for their initiation ceremony, Keeper and his new friend, Toby, get mixed up with a mystery involving the whole organization. People go missing, including several members of E.V.I.L.; a beautiful girl with stealth moves is tracking Keeper; and her father is stalking him, too, for his own questionable purposes. Evanovich adeptly paces the novel, weaving several threads into a web of evil but leavening the tale of dastardly mischief with humor and a bit of romance. There's plenty of action as the protagonist uses his skill (even if no one, including himself, seems to know what it is) to help solve the crime and ensure his initiation. The story will delight readers even as they must await the sequel.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2025