The opening of the story with the anxieties of typical high school student such as making the team or worrying about getting into college gives The Combination by Elias Carr an immediate connection to the reader. But the school is anything but ordinary as  bats swoop through the hallways and the doors are locked for the student’s safety. Perched over an ancient sinkhole, St. Philomena High was designed by a brilliant yet mad architect.  With the right combination, it becomes a doomsday machine.  The plot is a bit far-fetched.  Stilted, disjointed dialogue and the stereotypical characters hinder the suspense of the story.  Short chapters with fast moving action in simple vocabulary keeps interest  in solving the mystery and saving the students.  This book could be a good read for an emerging middle school reader.