James Choke is almost twelve, and his life is starting to spiral out of control. After he responds to one of his classmates teasing him about his fat mother he’s suspended, not something Gwen Choke will take well. Although she often seems more interested in her shoplifting empire than him, she takes school seriously. When he finds his mother’s dead body, though, James has bigger worries than school – he’s placed in a home, separated from his half-sister Lauren, and his slide into criminality accelerates.
Until James is recruited by CHERUB, a super-secret organisation of child spies. Aged between ten and seventeen, CHERUB agents are smart, tough and well trained. If James makes it through basic training he’ll go out on missions, infiltrating organizations that adults can’t. In the process, he’ll be drilled in a variety of martial arts, critical thinking, endurance training, espionage tactics, and be expected to maintain a decent grade in regular subjects.
This is the first in a blockbuster series, and Muchamore hits the ground running. James is a strongly drawn, flawed character with believable motivation, and once you grant the underlying premise the novel is convincing. The other characters, particularly the other CHERUB agents, are equally well portrayed and the adults cover a spectrum of personalities. I enjoyed The Recruit so much I went straight to the second in the series, and only regret I’m writing the review so much later I can’t give any specifics about what made it so enjoyable. - Alex
PS If you're wondering what CHERUB is an acronym for, get in line - nobody knows, but Muchamore's very interested in hearing from anyone who has ideas!
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