James Choke is one of the toughest kids in school, but after
an 'accidental' injury to one of his class mates he is expelled; only
to go home and find his mother dead in her armchair. He and his sister
Lauren are taken to a children's home for the night. James gets into
trouble after stealing beer from a nearby shop with a gang of older
boys, and finds himself in a cell for the night. In the morning James
wakes up to find himself at an unknown place; a campus called Cherub.
Cherub is an MI5 organisation for kids and after a gruelling 100 days
Basic training; changing his name to James Adams and learning to swim;
James and his friends find themselves qualified as Cherub agents. He
and his 16yr old swimming instructor Amy are given an assignment to
uncover any information about the "hippie town" Fort Harmony. The
Government suspect an environmentalist/ terrorist group,"Help Earth!"
is planted near that area.The two kids stay with a woman from Fort
Harmony and begin to unravel a plot to kill all the oil company
representatives with a deadly disease transmitted from the air
conditioning. James also falls for a girl named Joanna, but will she
distract him from fulfilling his mission or will James and Amy foil
Help Earth!'s plot?
This book is very gripping and a good read. I found it very
hard to put down and it would appeal to both boys and girls. The
Recruit is like the Alex Rider books but a hundred times better. The
book is aimed at older children probably 11+ as it would be unsuitable
for younger readers. The Recruit is also about teenage children so it
is very easy to relate to. I think it would make a brilliant film. I
definitely recommend it!