(Hooked on Books)
Cassie Clark: Outlaw, written by Brian Falkner, is an action-packed novel full of shocking plot twists and exciting thrills. This book is about a teenage girl on a mission to find her father, a prominent figure in the government, who has disappeared. The newspapers say he ran off with a news reporter, but Cassie will not, cannot believe it. She follows leads around the country, brushing with death on multiple accounts. Above anything, this journey tests her judgement, her courage, her strength, and her loyalty as a daughter and a friend.
What I really liked about this book was that even though Cassie experiences everything abnormal and unlikely, she is an entirely relatable character! She is a teenage girl struggling with her emotions, finding it nearly impossible to decide who to trust, and is put through the ultimate test of bravery when forced to make crucial decisions on her own. She must work out who she is and how she fits into the world, and it's an incredible journey to embark on with her.
The supporting roles in this book are fantastic. Her mother, sister, friends, love interest, enemies and allies all added depth to Cassie's character, while giving the reader a rollercoaster ride of emotions. Cassie has her flaws but learns to make them strengths with the help of the people around her, whether they are trying to save her or destroy her.
One of my favourite relationships in this book was the one between Cassie and her younger sister. You can instantly tell they have had their ups and downs, and maybe not always gotten along. They have opposite personalities, and don't understand one another, but throughout the book their relationship develops and strengthens; a true lesson in sistership and resilience.
Cassie Clark: Outlaw is the perfect read for people who love teen fiction, action, coming of age, and drama genres. The storyline and characters are a strong reminder of our own lives, while giving us the unexpected and unknown in the form of life and death situations and hierarchy, which is what makes it impossible to put down. Falkner certainly knows how to tell a good story.
(Alysontheblog)
Cassie Clark is an eighteen-year-old university literature student with a depressed mother, a prickly younger sister, a great friend called Jackson from Jackson, Mississippi, and a bodyguard. She is still recovering in hospital from being knocked off her bike when Cam, the bodyguard, tells her that her Speaker of the House of Representatives father has gone missing.
Cassie refuses to believe the reports that her father's disappearance is connected to an infidelity, and she and Cam do a bit of investigating. But when Ethan Arbuckle, the husband of the journalist her father is supposed to have had an affair with who has also disappeared, sneaks her a note: trust no one, both Cassie and the reader start double guessing everyone's motives.
Cassie enlists her mate Jackson, and his friend who is a conspiracy theorist and computer geek, to help her work out what story Janice Arbuckle might have been working on that made her a target. And she unearths a conspiracy theory of massive proportions, centred on agents so powerful they seem unassailable.
Cassie is loyal to her mother, despite her depression making her quite unpleasant, and to her sister whose vindictiveness is bottomless. But she inadvertently puts them, and her friends, in great peril, as she is determined to get to the bottom of the plot, which doesn't end with her father, but reaches up to the highest echelons of U.S. Politics.
“I got brains. I got the ability to figure stuff out, to solve problems.” And Cassie does, without Cam, without Jackson, she battles on – and it comes in handy that she has done gymnastics and Kendo training! Cassie Clark: outlaw is full-on action; dams and bridges blowing up, forests set alight, snipers shooting through windows … yet Cassie still finds moments to ponder the beauty of the Joshua tree desert in the starlight, and to have regrets she didn't recognise the writing talent of her sister, or the loneliness of her mother.
Despite the outlandish plot and daring actions of Cassie, the reader is drawn along, even Cassie is shocked at the pace: “I can't believe that just a few weeks ago I was worrying about my end-of-year exams and my weight.” And she negotiates some pretty hairy situations, including having to make a snap decision which of two extremely important people to save.
Cassie Clark: outlaw is a YA novel, the language is quaintly softened (although it doesn't avoid violence or death), and Cassie has a bit of a crush on Cam, but it would suit anyone of any age who likes a good adventure/thriller. And there is a big hint that there will be more Cassie Clark adventures to come.
(The School Library)
Cassie Clark is an independent, resourceful 18-year-old, so when her father, a prominent American politician, disappears in unusual circumstances, she determines to investigate.
Cam, her bodyguard, is one person that Cassie feels close to, but once her father disappears, Cam is reassigned to a new position leaving her to her own devices as she delves into the murky world of politics, violence, and conspiracy, not knowing who she can trust.
So much is happening in the plot that Falkner doesn't have the time to develop the characters he creates; we meet them, form an impression – good or bad - and then we move on, but that is all part of the frantic pace of a book that is full of tension and suspense, accentuated by his staccato writing style.
The quote on the front cover, “I am outside the law and I am coming for you”, comes from the very end of the last chapter, so we know Cassie will be back to get to the bottom of her father's disappearance and the mayhem that ensued. A sequel would benefit from having some of the characters developed more fully and in more depth.
This is a gripping book that could easily be read in two or three sittings. I would recommend it to all readers around 13 years plus.
(Weekend Herald)
Back in the dim and distant past, “every man wants to be a James Bond” was one of our high school speech topics. Even at the tender age of 14, I wondered why 007 was held up as some sort of role model when there was so much that seemed, to me, plain wrong about his behaviour and attitudes, especially toward women.
Where, I wondered, were the gutsy, determined and plucky women who were having adventures and saving the world? It's a long time since I've been at high school, so I like to think the James Bond topic is long gone and 14-yearold students can find plenty of female spies to read about. Then again, the more things change and all that . . .
But thanks to New Zealand-born/Australianbased author Brian Falkner, a spirited young woman has now burst upon the scene in the form of Cassie Clark — and perhaps in the near future, someone might give a speech on why girls might want to be her.
Or sort of like her because in book one of what surely is the start of a series, Cassie isn't having the best time. She's survived a hit and run and is back at college when she learns her father, a senior congressman, speaker of the house and third in the line of succession to the US Presidency, is missing.
Headlines indicating he's involved in a “love tryst” swirl; Cassie gets mad and decides she'll uncover the truth. Only it's a good deal murkier, more fantastical and, ultimately, deadly dangerous than she imagined. Before she knows it, she's set up for crimes she most definitely did not commit and on the run from some seriously bad people.
At first, she's helped by her secret service agent bodyguard Cameron Henderson. At 24, he's just a handful of years older than Cassie who has an unrequited crush on him, which gives her an endearing vulnerability and, at times, muddies her judgments.
She makes mistakes and wrong calls, doesn't know who to trust and puts the life of her computer geek best friend in harm's way. In other words, Cassie is human, vulnerable and relatable but simultaneously determined, quickthinking and whip-smart. Falkner knows how to write pacey action scenes — his last books were the alternative history fantasies Battlesaurus where Napoleonic-era soldiers faced off against dinosaurs (trust me, they were good). The abundant action sequences in Cassie Clark Outlaw — terrorist attacks on dams, car chases in the dead of night in the desert and helicopter crashes — could be straight out of a movie and, of course, you'll wonder at Cassie's ability to deal with it but, hey, she's “outside the law and I'm coming for you”.
It's a gripping story that can be read simply as a YA thriller, but Falkner opens the book with a quote from John F. Kennedy: ‘The very word secrecy is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings.” So for those who want or chose to see it, there's an extra layer involving the fraught world of politics, media and freedom to muse on.
(The Sapling)
Action, adventure, a kick-arse teenage girl hero? Sign me up. I love to see books like this in the market.
Cassie Clark has had a bad few days. While recovering in hospital from a hit and run accident she gets the news that her Dad (US Speaker of the House) is missing. The media seem to think that he's run off with a journalist and is holed up somewhere in a love nest. Cassie isn't convinced and with the help of her very good-looking bodyguard Cam, heads off to find the truth. It isn't long before she is up to her armpits in danger and conspiracy theories. There's even a tinfoil hat reference.
The story moves at breakneck action movie pace. It does pause, though, to explore Cassie's complicated relationship with her family. Returning home after her father's disappearance, Cassie finds a less than warm welcome. Her sister, who stayed at home with their difficult mother, has some pretty strong feelings about Cassie and her need to investigate their missing father. For those who prefer not too much in the way of family drama, fear not, the story is soon back to being an action-packed romp.
(Wardini Books: Gareth Ward)
An adrenaline fuelled, kick ass roller coaster of a YA novel. Cassie Clark is indeed an Outlaw - set in the U.S. it's a novel of intrigue, conspiracy theories and reinvention with a cracking pace and plenty of action.
(NZ Booklovers: Rebekah Fraser)
Cassie has survived a hit and run, but now she hears her father has disappeared – supposedly run off with a journalist. As a senior congressman and Speaker of the House, her father is an important player in the tense world of American politics.
Cassie knows he wouldn't leave his career or his family, but in the high-stakes world of politics, who can she trust?
Big players are determined she doesn't find out what happened, and she no longer has a security detail. Cassie follows the trial of who silenced her father and finds it is part of a web of terrorist plots. Falkner draws on conspiracy theories that we all are aware of to create a story with a frenetic pace.
Falkner is known for his characters with complex family or personal lives, often with special skills too. Cassie is no different. As a character she is believable in her emotions and feelings. However, her actions occasionally step outside the realm of realistic. Her complex relationship with her mother and sister is one that would have been nice to explore further, although that would cut into the action slightly.
Cassie Clark: Outlaw is an intense read. From the very first page readers are thrown into the action and drama of Cassie's almost surreal life. As the thriller unfolds, reader's heartbeats and adrenaline levels will rise. There were moments were I had to physically pause reading the book, take a breath, and remind myself that Cassie is a fictional character. Falkner does a superb job of sucking the reader right into the story, becoming emotionally vested in the lives of the characters.
The plot twist was a bit predictable. But while that might have been disappointing in other stories, in this book it added to the tension. Readers will be drawn through the story waiting for the betrayal that they know is going to happen, to happen. When it finally arrives, it is still brutal and unexpected.
With maps inside the book's cover, readers can follow Cassie's journey across North America. While it was a little hard to flick between both front and back cover, it was an appreciated touch for a reader who doesn't have the best geographical knowledge.
Cassie Clark: Outlaw is a book you will want to read as fast as you can to find out what happened, while also reading as slow as possible because you won't want it to end.
(Hooked on Books) ▼
Cassie Clark: Outlaw, written by Brian Falkner, is an action-packed novel full of shocking plot twists and exciting thrills. This book is about a teenage girl on a mission to find her father, a prominent figure in the government, who has disappeared. The newspapers say he ran off with a news reporter, but Cassie will not, cannot believe it. She follows leads around the country, brushing with death on multiple accounts. Above anything, this journey tests her judgement, her courage, her strength, and her loyalty as a daughter and a friend.
What I really liked about this book was that even though Cassie experiences everything abnormal and unlikely, she is an entirely relatable character! She is a teenage girl struggling with her emotions, finding it nearly impossible to decide who to trust, and is put through the ultimate test of bravery when forced to make crucial decisions on her own. She must work out who she is and how she fits into the world, and it's an incredible journey to embark on with her.
The supporting roles in this book are fantastic. Her mother, sister, friends, love interest, enemies and allies all added depth to Cassie's character, while giving the reader a rollercoaster ride of emotions. Cassie has her flaws but learns to make them strengths with the help of the people around her, whether they are trying to save her or destroy her.
One of my favourite relationships in this book was the one between Cassie and her younger sister. You can instantly tell they have had their ups and downs, and maybe not always gotten along. They have opposite personalities, and don't understand one another, but throughout the book their relationship develops and strengthens; a true lesson in sistership and resilience.
Cassie Clark: Outlaw is the perfect read for people who love teen fiction, action, coming of age, and drama genres. The storyline and characters are a strong reminder of our own lives, while giving us the unexpected and unknown in the form of life and death situations and hierarchy, which is what makes it impossible to put down. Falkner certainly knows how to tell a good story.
(Alysontheblog) ▼
Cassie Clark is an eighteen-year-old university literature student with a depressed mother, a prickly younger sister, a great friend called Jackson from Jackson, Mississippi, and a bodyguard. She is still recovering in hospital from being knocked off her bike when Cam, the bodyguard, tells her that her Speaker of the House of Representatives father has gone missing.
Cassie refuses to believe the reports that her father's disappearance is connected to an infidelity, and she and Cam do a bit of investigating. But when Ethan Arbuckle, the husband of the journalist her father is supposed to have had an affair with who has also disappeared, sneaks her a note: trust no one, both Cassie and the reader start double guessing everyone's motives.
Cassie enlists her mate Jackson, and his friend who is a conspiracy theorist and computer geek, to help her work out what story Janice Arbuckle might have been working on that made her a target. And she unearths a conspiracy theory of massive proportions, centred on agents so powerful they seem unassailable.
Cassie is loyal to her mother, despite her depression making her quite unpleasant, and to her sister whose vindictiveness is bottomless. But she inadvertently puts them, and her friends, in great peril, as she is determined to get to the bottom of the plot, which doesn't end with her father, but reaches up to the highest echelons of U.S. Politics.
“I got brains. I got the ability to figure stuff out, to solve problems.” And Cassie does, without Cam, without Jackson, she battles on – and it comes in handy that she has done gymnastics and Kendo training! Cassie Clark: outlaw is full-on action; dams and bridges blowing up, forests set alight, snipers shooting through windows … yet Cassie still finds moments to ponder the beauty of the Joshua tree desert in the starlight, and to have regrets she didn't recognise the writing talent of her sister, or the loneliness of her mother.
Despite the outlandish plot and daring actions of Cassie, the reader is drawn along, even Cassie is shocked at the pace: “I can't believe that just a few weeks ago I was worrying about my end-of-year exams and my weight.” And she negotiates some pretty hairy situations, including having to make a snap decision which of two extremely important people to save.
Cassie Clark: outlaw is a YA novel, the language is quaintly softened (although it doesn't avoid violence or death), and Cassie has a bit of a crush on Cam, but it would suit anyone of any age who likes a good adventure/thriller. And there is a big hint that there will be more Cassie Clark adventures to come.
(The School Library) ▼
Cassie Clark is an independent, resourceful 18-year-old, so when her father, a prominent American politician, disappears in unusual circumstances, she determines to investigate.
Cam, her bodyguard, is one person that Cassie feels close to, but once her father disappears, Cam is reassigned to a new position leaving her to her own devices as she delves into the murky world of politics, violence, and conspiracy, not knowing who she can trust.
So much is happening in the plot that Falkner doesn't have the time to develop the characters he creates; we meet them, form an impression – good or bad - and then we move on, but that is all part of the frantic pace of a book that is full of tension and suspense, accentuated by his staccato writing style.
The quote on the front cover, “I am outside the law and I am coming for you”, comes from the very end of the last chapter, so we know Cassie will be back to get to the bottom of her father's disappearance and the mayhem that ensued. A sequel would benefit from having some of the characters developed more fully and in more depth.
This is a gripping book that could easily be read in two or three sittings. I would recommend it to all readers around 13 years plus.
(Weekend Herald) ▼
Back in the dim and distant past, “every man wants to be a James Bond” was one of our high school speech topics. Even at the tender age of 14, I wondered why 007 was held up as some sort of role model when there was so much that seemed, to me, plain wrong about his behaviour and attitudes, especially toward women.
Where, I wondered, were the gutsy, determined and plucky women who were having adventures and saving the world? It's a long time since I've been at high school, so I like to think the James Bond topic is long gone and 14-yearold students can find plenty of female spies to read about. Then again, the more things change and all that . . .
But thanks to New Zealand-born/Australianbased author Brian Falkner, a spirited young woman has now burst upon the scene in the form of Cassie Clark — and perhaps in the near future, someone might give a speech on why girls might want to be her.
Or sort of like her because in book one of what surely is the start of a series, Cassie isn't having the best time. She's survived a hit and run and is back at college when she learns her father, a senior congressman, speaker of the house and third in the line of succession to the US Presidency, is missing.
Headlines indicating he's involved in a “love tryst” swirl; Cassie gets mad and decides she'll uncover the truth. Only it's a good deal murkier, more fantastical and, ultimately, deadly dangerous than she imagined. Before she knows it, she's set up for crimes she most definitely did not commit and on the run from some seriously bad people.
At first, she's helped by her secret service agent bodyguard Cameron Henderson. At 24, he's just a handful of years older than Cassie who has an unrequited crush on him, which gives her an endearing vulnerability and, at times, muddies her judgments.
She makes mistakes and wrong calls, doesn't know who to trust and puts the life of her computer geek best friend in harm's way. In other words, Cassie is human, vulnerable and relatable but simultaneously determined, quickthinking and whip-smart. Falkner knows how to write pacey action scenes — his last books were the alternative history fantasies Battlesaurus where Napoleonic-era soldiers faced off against dinosaurs (trust me, they were good). The abundant action sequences in Cassie Clark Outlaw — terrorist attacks on dams, car chases in the dead of night in the desert and helicopter crashes — could be straight out of a movie and, of course, you'll wonder at Cassie's ability to deal with it but, hey, she's “outside the law and I'm coming for you”.
It's a gripping story that can be read simply as a YA thriller, but Falkner opens the book with a quote from John F. Kennedy: ‘The very word secrecy is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings.” So for those who want or chose to see it, there's an extra layer involving the fraught world of politics, media and freedom to muse on.
(The Sapling) ▼
Action, adventure, a kick-arse teenage girl hero? Sign me up. I love to see books like this in the market.
Cassie Clark has had a bad few days. While recovering in hospital from a hit and run accident she gets the news that her Dad (US Speaker of the House) is missing. The media seem to think that he's run off with a journalist and is holed up somewhere in a love nest. Cassie isn't convinced and with the help of her very good-looking bodyguard Cam, heads off to find the truth. It isn't long before she is up to her armpits in danger and conspiracy theories. There's even a tinfoil hat reference.
The story moves at breakneck action movie pace. It does pause, though, to explore Cassie's complicated relationship with her family. Returning home after her father's disappearance, Cassie finds a less than warm welcome. Her sister, who stayed at home with their difficult mother, has some pretty strong feelings about Cassie and her need to investigate their missing father. For those who prefer not too much in the way of family drama, fear not, the story is soon back to being an action-packed romp.
(Wardini Books: Gareth Ward) ▼
An adrenaline fuelled, kick ass roller coaster of a YA novel. Cassie Clark is indeed an Outlaw - set in the U.S. it's a novel of intrigue, conspiracy theories and reinvention with a cracking pace and plenty of action.
(NZ Booklovers: Rebekah Fraser) ▼
Cassie has survived a hit and run, but now she hears her father has disappeared – supposedly run off with a journalist. As a senior congressman and Speaker of the House, her father is an important player in the tense world of American politics.
Cassie knows he wouldn't leave his career or his family, but in the high-stakes world of politics, who can she trust?
Big players are determined she doesn't find out what happened, and she no longer has a security detail. Cassie follows the trial of who silenced her father and finds it is part of a web of terrorist plots. Falkner draws on conspiracy theories that we all are aware of to create a story with a frenetic pace.
Falkner is known for his characters with complex family or personal lives, often with special skills too. Cassie is no different. As a character she is believable in her emotions and feelings. However, her actions occasionally step outside the realm of realistic. Her complex relationship with her mother and sister is one that would have been nice to explore further, although that would cut into the action slightly.
Cassie Clark: Outlaw is an intense read. From the very first page readers are thrown into the action and drama of Cassie's almost surreal life. As the thriller unfolds, reader's heartbeats and adrenaline levels will rise. There were moments were I had to physically pause reading the book, take a breath, and remind myself that Cassie is a fictional character. Falkner does a superb job of sucking the reader right into the story, becoming emotionally vested in the lives of the characters.
The plot twist was a bit predictable. But while that might have been disappointing in other stories, in this book it added to the tension. Readers will be drawn through the story waiting for the betrayal that they know is going to happen, to happen. When it finally arrives, it is still brutal and unexpected.
With maps inside the book's cover, readers can follow Cassie's journey across North America. While it was a little hard to flick between both front and back cover, it was an appreciated touch for a reader who doesn't have the best geographical knowledge.
Cassie Clark: Outlaw is a book you will want to read as fast as you can to find out what happened, while also reading as slow as possible because you won't want it to end.
