The Suspicion (Animorphs)

infobox Book |
name = The Suspicion
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = Cassie morphing into an anteater
author = K. A. Applegate
illustrator =
cover_artist = David B. Mattingly
country = United States
language = English
series = Animorphs #24
genre = Science fiction novel
publisher = Scholastic
release_date = December 1998
english_release_date =
media_type = Print
pages = 155
isbn = 0-590-76257-5
preceded_by = The Pretender
followed_by = The Extreme

"The Suspicion" is the twenty-fourth book in the "Animorphs" series, written by K.A. Applegate. It is narrated by Cassie.

Plot Summary

Jake comes over to Cassie's barn, where Cassie and Rachel see a "toy" spaceship attached to the waterpump where Cassie had been hiding the blue box. While they watch, it detaches itself and flies away. The Animorphs immediately hold a meeting and decide to go to goodwill to try to retrieve the spaceship that Cassie had seen earlier attached to the waterpump and donated assuming it was a toy. While there, the spaceship starts shooting at them and demands that they surrender and bring them the blue box. It flies away and they realize that it is headed back to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic to retrieve the Escafil Device. Since it is a spaceship, it can travel much faster than their bird morphs, and when they get back, they discover to their dismay that the waterpump was cut open and the spaceships have stolen the blue box. There are some flashes and Tobias, Cassie, and Marco are significantly smaller. They decide to pretend to surrender to the Helmacrons which are the aliens that are aboard the spaceships. They morph to flies and escape. They discover that they are at a sharing meeting. The other Helmacron spaceship had lured the rest of the Animorphs there in an attempt to steal the blue box. During the meeting, the Helmacrons attack, indiscriminately shrinking everyone at the meeting. Upon seeing the blue box, along with Visser Three's "gentle" prodding, all the controllers start trying to grab it and there is lots of chaos. Cassie morphs into a whale in order to crash the ship. She and the other Animorphs eventually end up on Ax who is the only Animorph remaining unshrunken. Visser Three and many Controllers also end up on Ax. Visser Three briefly sides with the Animorphs, saying, "I don't know about you Andalites, but these Helmacrons are really, really, "really" annoying me." Ax, in harrier morph, flies over to the Gardens where they all acquire and morph anteaters, which unshrinks them while in morph. The Animorphs, Controllers and Helmacrons reach an agreement and everyone is unshrunken. Before the book ends, Marco and Cassie give the Helmacron males a bit of a pep talk, and it ends with the Helmacrons, male and females, squabbling with each other.

Contributions to the Series' Story Arc

*The Helmacrons are introduced.

New Morphs

Trivia

* The front cover quote is, "What counts is on the inside. Most of the time...."
* The inside front cover quote is, "At least it's better than being an ant...."