Case File 13 #3: Evil Twins audiobook

When Nick, Carter, and Angelo go hiking on a camping trip, they don’t expect to find the supernatural, but if two books haven’t taught us that the supernatural won’t leave them alone, this third book is sure to convince us. This time, they are confronted by a small creature that can change into an exact mini replica of any of the boys, even mimicking voices to perfection. Carter sneaks the creature home, a decision that leads to trouble, of the city-destroying kind.Nick and his friends are once again hilarious. Their humor keeps things from getting too dark, and I appreciated their comic relief. And, once again, the stakes are higher in this novel than the last two. It leaves me waiting eagerly to see what Savage has in store for the next installment. (There is a fun teaser at the end to where we go next!)Evil Twins also tackles some strong themes of trust and honesty. Much of the trouble is caused by secret keeping, so to solve the problem they’ve caused, they’ll have to own up to their deceptions. This was an interesting turn, as the boys, up until this point, have gotten away with a lot of white lies which were necessary to keep their parents out of the action.Savage has a firm grip on his audience, and he is brilliant at middle-grade writing. While I’m sure he takes his writing very seriously, he creates a story that doesn’t take itself so seriously, and it’s pure entertainment. One thing that impressed me was the presence of strong, intact families. No one has dead parents, drug-addict parents, imprisoned parents, kidnapped parents, etc. The typical middle-grade novel disposes of the parents in some way to make room for the tween hero to move freely. In this book, and the whole series to date (3 books), the parents are present—cooking dinner, setting curfews, the works. The boys, however, conceal their activities from their parents, which tends to add to the conflict. How do they get to a midnight ritual if they have to be home by dark?Audiobook Review: Andy Paris does an admirable job narrating this. His pace is as little slow for my personal preference, but likely a perfect pace for a younger listener. I wish he'd have differentiated the boys' voices more, but overall, it was a good listen.• No language, sexual issues, or drug/alcohol use• No violence• Less gross imagery than the first two books

This was a Goodreads First Reads win. As I myself am a bit old for middle grade books, I sent this one over my baby sister's way and asked her for her honest opinion upon finishing. She assures me that it was an exciting, continuously fun read and has asked me to obtain the first two books in the series for her. She's a tremendous fan of the Goosebumps series, so it no wonder that she enjoyed it so much. She thought the characters were all weird enough to fit the story and that the banter between them was funny throughout. I thank Mr. Savage for the opportunity to read this, as he's now made a new fan in the form of my Fifth Grade sister.

Nick, Angelo, and Carter go on what appears to be botched up camping trip. But they make most of it and try to have fun as well as get entangled into another supernatural phenomena. In this camping trip they meet tiny creature who can replicate any human they want as well as mimic them. Earlier what seems to be innocent thing when Carter takes creature with him to Pleasant Hill but soon it turns out they are becoming part of something more sinister.Book is extremely well written. All jokes are funny. Here we see boys mature and seems to take eachother more serious than they did in previous installments. I would have love to see Mr. B more involved in boys adventures. But boys manage pretty well on their own. Can't wait to read the last one in the series.#BookwithApurva

I listened to the audio book with my ten year old. We both loved it. I think it is my favorite so far. The narrator is excellent and the story was great.

Asher (11yo) read.

This was quite the adventure they had, and they nearly died in this one too!

If you're not familiar with J. Scott's Case File 13 series, it's written for middle graders, who want to read about scary things without being too scary. I like the books because they're fun and imaginative.This book follows the same main characters found in books 1 and 2 of the series. Nick, Carter and Angelo find that after a failed camping trip, they are in possession of an amazing little creature. Because of their actions, they unknowingly unleash a plague upon their little community. The three must return the creature to its home in order to repair the damage.This book continues the fun tradition Savage puts in all the Case File 13 books. So far he's tackled zombies and Frankenstein's monsters. In Book 3 the boys fight doppelgangers, but they're not just entities that look like someone else, they're baddies with evil powers. Savage creates lovable characters you root for and who show examples of courage at a young age.If you're middle-grade child likes new adventures, give this series a try. And even if you're older, you may just want a nice break from your day and read a fun book. And if you download the audiobook and listen to it on double speed, it will only take you a couple of hours. It's time well spent!

What a fabulous mixture of adventures, filled with plot twists and turns that kept me drawn into the book. So glad I was able to read most of it in a single day because I found myself wondering just how the boys were going to work their way out of this one, and I didn't want to wait. I know my junior high boys are going to love it! (ARC)