The Deception is the forty-sixth book in the Animorphs

Animorphs

Animorphs is an English language science fiction series of young adult books written by K. A. Applegate and published by Scholastic. Five humans, Jake, Marco, Cassie, Rachel, and Tobias, and one alien, Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill , obtain the ability to morph into any animal they touch. They name...

series, written by K.A. Applegate. It is known to have been ghostwritten

Ghostwriter

A ghostwriter is a professional writer who is paid to write books, articles, stories, reports, or other texts that are officially credited to another person. Celebrities, executives, and political leaders often hire ghostwriters to draft or edit autobiographies, magazine articles, or other written...

 by Elise Donner. It is narrated by Ax.

Plot summary

The book begins in the exact place where #45 The Revelation had ended. The Animorphs have just begun a Z-space transmission with the Andalite fleet. They inform the Andalite fleet of an impending ambush on the Anati world. The Andalites are skeptical of the genuineness of the information thinking that the earth resistance might lie to them in order to become their top priority. They remain skeptical even when Ax confirms the information, saying that he may have confused his loyalties.

Ax, Tobias and Marco (who now lives in hiding with them) intercept a Yeerk transmission that the newly promoted Visser One (Esplin 9466)

Visser Three

Visser Three, born as Esplin 9466 Primary and later known as Visser One, is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the sci-fi book series Animorphs, written by K.A. Applegate. He is the leader of the Yeerk forces on Earth, having inherited the planet from Edriss 562, who was Visser One at...

 has a plan to conquer the world by a war between the most populated country (China) and the United States. The humans would exhaust their weapons and would not be able to retaliate. The Animorphs steal an F-16 from an air base and fly out to sea to an aircraft carrier. They crash it into the sea so the Yeerks would not think they were being invaded. They infiltrate the ship and find Visser Two, whose host is a high ranking officer in the Navy (Admiral Carrington). The Yeerks find out that the Animorphs are on the ship and have reinforcement. Bug fighters began invading the aircraft carrier. The Animorphs attack, and fight alongside the non-controller American military personnel. The yeerks have commandeered an American submarine and plan to use it to launch a nuclear attack against the Chinese and instigate WWIII.

In order to stop this, Ax commandeers a Grumman F-14D Tomcat fighter loaded with a nuclear warhead, against Jake's decision, abducts Visser Two, and threatens to use the bomb to destroy the Yeerk pool and the city above it (along with the families of all the Animorphs). Visser Two is unable to call Ax's bluff (although even Ax himself is not sure if he was bluffing) and he calls off the attack that would have instigated the war. Ax is left wondering whether or not he would have been capable of launching the nuke, if the rest of the Animorphs, particularly Jake, will ever be able to forgive him. Ax directly betrayed Jake's explicit order, something he swore he would never do again.

Contributions to the series' story arc

• Visser Three is promoted to the position of Visser One.

Morphs

Morpher	Morphs acquired	Morphs used
Jake Jake Berenson Jake Berenson is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists from the science-fiction book series Animorphs, written by K. A. Applegate. Until the penultimate book of the series, his last name was never revealed, and he was known only as Jake...		Siberian tiger, Seagull, Flea Flea Flea is the common name for insects of the order Siphonaptera which are wingless insects with mouthparts adapted for piercing skin and sucking blood...
Rachel Rachel (Animorphs) Rachel is a fictional character from the sci-fi book series Animorphs. Her full name is never explicitly mentioned in the books, but her relation to her cousin Jake Berenson through their fathers makes it most likely to be Rachel Berenson, if it was never changed or hyphenated.-Biography:Before the...	Human Human Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...  (Michele Leary)	Human Human Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...  (Michele Leary), Grizzly Bear Grizzly Bear The grizzly bear , also known as the silvertip bear, the grizzly, or the North American brown bear, is a subspecies of brown bear that generally lives in the uplands of western North America... , Seagull, Flea Flea Flea is the common name for insects of the order Siphonaptera which are wingless insects with mouthparts adapted for piercing skin and sucking blood...
Tobias Tobias (Animorphs) Tobias is a fictional character from the sci-fi book series Animorphs written by K.A. Applegate. His surname is never mentioned, but had the Ellimist not altered time in order to take his father, Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul, back to his old life, his full name would have been Tobias Fangor, the...	Human Human Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...  (male navy lieutenant)	Human Human Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...  (male navy lieutenant), Seagull, Flea Flea Flea is the common name for insects of the order Siphonaptera which are wingless insects with mouthparts adapted for piercing skin and sucking blood...
Cassie Cassie (Animorphs) Cassie is a fictional character from the sci-fi book series Animorphs, written by K. A. Applegate. Her last name is never mentioned, although she referred to it as being "nice" in The Secret.-Biography:...		Wolf, Seagull, Cockroach Cockroach Cockroaches are insects of the order Blattaria or Blattodea, of which about 30 species out of 4,500 total are associated with human habitations... , Flea Flea Flea is the common name for insects of the order Siphonaptera which are wingless insects with mouthparts adapted for piercing skin and sucking blood...
Marco Marco (Animorphs) Marco is a fictional character from the sci-fi book series, Animorphs, written by K. A. Applegate. His last name is never mentioned.-Biography:...		Gorilla Gorilla Gorillas are the largest extant species of primates. They are ground-dwelling, predominantly herbivorous apes that inhabit the forests of central Africa. Gorillas are divided into two species and either four or five subspecies... , Seagull, Cockroach Cockroach Cockroaches are insects of the order Blattaria or Blattodea, of which about 30 species out of 4,500 total are associated with human habitations...
Ax Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill is a fictional character from the sci-fi book series Animorphs.-Biography:Aximili is a young Andalite who becomes stranded on Earth when the Andalite Dome Ship GalaxyTree is shot down by Yeerk fighters...	Human (random male), Human (male fighter pilot), Human (male navy lieutenant), Human (male soldier), Human (Admiral Carrington).	Human Human Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...  (all the humans in the last column), Seagull