Keeper Chance and the Conundrum of Chaos

August 5, 2024
Sixteen-year-old Keeper Chance, who has a knack for intuitive tinkering and lives with his grandmother, is doing his best to adopt a slacker persona and fly under the radar at school. Then he’s recruited by Chaos, head of Chapter 626 of Evil Villains International League, an organization described as “necessary evil”: “We’re the sock that goes missing in the dryer. We’re the kid who won’t stop screaming on the plane.” Keeper joins
fellow recruit Toby, a talented hacker with exceptional hearing and smell, in pulling off a daring cookie heist (essential for
initiation), only to stumble across a truly villainous kidnapping scheme. Together with Y, daughter of the mysterious do-gooder Sensei Love, Keeper must thwart this abduction ploy and claim his place among his new community. Evanovich’s debut, a tongue-in-cheek take on comic book tropes, features a quirky cast with mundane, oddball powers such as talking down prices or sucking the fun out of any situation. The villains barely tip the scales past petty nuisances, making this a pleasantly goofy story and a satisfying beginning to Keeper’s adventures, with plenty of room for further exploration. The protagonists read as white. Ages 10–up. Agent: Celeste Fine, Park & Fine Literary.

Starred review from November 1, 2024
Grades 5-8 *Starred Review* Sixteen-year-old Keeper jumps at an invitation to join the local group of the Evil Villains International League (E.V.I.L.), only to find his opportunities for malfeasance hampered not only by his own inclinations but by the need to rescue a stolen dog, its owner, and several of his villainously inept new colleagues from a serial kidnapper. Fortunately, he gets help from born sidekick Toby Boggs as well as Whylene "Y" Love, an enigmatic outsider with awesome martial arts skills. Though assured by costumed head villain Chaos that everyone has at least one special ability or superpower, through it all Keeper never does figure his out. Still, while fellow villains can, for example, induce symptoms of food poisoning in others, cause tornadoes, or expertly suck the fun from any conversation, Keeper's misadventures and exploits (several of which involve real danger) have a strong tendency to go well. The author (sly dog) only strews tantalizing clues throughout without ever revealing the actual nature of Keeper's powers, leaving it to readers to draw their own conclusions in the wake of this droll and sapient debut.

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January 1, 2025
"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. Dean Schneider

(Copyright 2025 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)