By Rob Thurman
ROC, $7.99, 339 pages

After escaping from the Institute, a secret government lab that created a new breed of genetically altered assassins (called chimera), Lukas Korsak and his brother Stefan, have settled down in a small Oregon town. Doing his best to pass for normal, Lukas works, watches movies, and secretly works on a cure for the children who are still at the Institute. When they go back to the lab, however, they find nothing but death and a group of escaped children led by Wendy – a chimera who can kill with a thought. Lukas and Stefan must race against the clock to stop Wendy and save themselves.

Basilisk is the second book in the Korsak Brothers series and it is a great read. Starting 3 years after the first book left off, the book starts slowly, showing Lukas and Stefan and how they are adjusting not only to living as normal people, rather than trained killers, but their adjustment to becoming family. The book takes off after that and the tension builds slowly as more is unveiled about the Institute, the chimera and Lukas himself. The book is well-paced and thoughtfully written – start with the first book and you won’t be disappointed.

Barbara Cothern

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