Book Reviews and More: The Dragonfly Effect - Gordon Korman

The Dragonfly Effect

The Hypnotists Book 3

Scholastic Canada

ISBN 9780545503389

eISBN 9780545503402

ASIN B00S7AZINY

The Dragonfly Effect - Gordon Korman - The Hypnotists Book 1

This book was originally published in 2018. According to Goodreads there are 8 editions of this third and final volume in this series. But only the eBook and audio book are still in print, even though it is just 10 years old. My introduction to Korman’s works was the 39 Clues back in 2009. Since then I have read over 95 of his books including this volume, a few of them more than once. I set the goal of reading all his books about 2020. I am now down to 12 left in his canon, and I have completed all the stand alone books and am now just working my way through the remaining books in a few series. Not counting omnibus editions I believe that as of the summer of 2025 Korman has published 109 books. With each that I read I am entertained and often challenged. My son, who is 17 often, reads these books to me or with me, and he still loves them. When I posted my review of book 1 in this series a few weeks ago, several people commented they read it in school, but did not know it was part of a series. I am looking forward to hearing their feedback because I loved the whole series. But back to the work at hand.

The description of this volume states:

“The third entry in the mesmerizing adventure series from the masterful, #1 New York Times bestselling author Gordon Korman!

The government has promised to protect Jax Opus and his family from enemies that want to use his hypnotic power to bring more evil into the world. Jax has reluctantly agreed to be protected. But protection has its price -- and soon Jax learns that if the government is going to help him, it's going to want some help in return. The reach of Jax's hypnotic talents is especially dangerous because he doesn't have to be looking at people directly to control them. No, he can hypnotize people through video broadcasts -- so a person can be innocently checking a computer, and suddenly have a hypnotic message planted. Even worse? Jax is not the only person who can do this. He is up against a hypnotic mastermind who has more than a few tricks up his sleeve. It's a race against time and the power of evil in this heartstopping adventure from #1 New York Times bestselling author Gordon Korman.”

About the author at the back of this volume we are informed:

“Gordon Korman is the #1 bestselling author of five books in The 39 Clues series as well as seven books in his Swindle series: Swindle, Zoobreak, Framed, Showoff, Hideout, Jackpot, and Unleashed. His other books include This Can’t Be Happening at Macdonald Hall! (published when he was fourteen); The Toilet Paper Tigers; Radio Fifth Grade; The Chicken Doesn’t Skate; the trilogies Island, Everest, Dive, Kidnapped, and Titanic; and the series On the Run. He lives in New York with his family and can be found on the web at his website.”

I was always hesitant to give this series a try, it was the second to last series for me to start from those still in print, in some format. I have to admit I was greatly surprised by this story and the series. I made the mistake of judging a book by its cover, and I feel this is a pretty cheesy cover. From what I have read this story is about the middle of the road for intensity among Korman’s books, but there are some pretty serious events or attempted events in this work, and things in volume third volume take it to a global level

Jax Opus has a strong pedigree, one he is completely unaware of until some surprising events take place and bring him to the attention of meeting Dr. Elias Mako and his institute. Now he and his parents are under the protection of the military. They are part of a military experiment on Hypnotic warfare. Jax meets a young boy whose powers might not only rival his but also surpass them. And Along with an old adversary from Mako’s institute he is going through the rigours of school and hypnotic experiments while basically trapped on a military base. Together with his old friend and another former student of the institute they must try and put an end to a world altering plan. But Jax has never been able to beat Mako and too much is at stake for him to fail. To find out if they succeed read this thrilling conclusion to this excellent trilogy.

This book and series has wonderfully written characters, the whole series moves at a great pace, and the is an excellent conclusion to a wonderful series. This story is another great read from Korman’s masterful pen.

Books by Gordon Korman:

MacDonald Hall Series:

This Can't Be Happening at Macdonald Hall (1978)

Go Jump in the Pool (1979)

Beware the Fish! (1980)

The Wizzle War (1982)

(formerly The War With Mr. Wizzle)

The Zucchini Warriors (1988)

Light’s Camera, Disaster (1991)

(aka Macdonald Hall Goes Hollywood)

The Jokes on Us (1995)

(formerly Something Fishy at Macdonald Hall)