Rating:

Synopsis

It’s the last day of term. Three lads are clearing out their lockers, organizing a sleepover and hatching a plan to splatter a girl with rancid coleslaw.

But things aren’t what they seem.

One boys father is a member of ‘Dark Sun‘, a criminal organization dealing in nuclear weapons technology, while another is a ‘CHERUB’ agent there to stop him.

Written for World Book Day, with the intention of getting reluctant readers (kids and adults – a series of ‘Quick Reads’ books aimed at adults is released at the same time) to pick up a book and read, and in this it does succeed on most parts. This time out, James and Lauren take a back seat as Greg (aka Rat) and Andy infiltrate the home of a scientist with plans to spread deadly nuclear technology throughout the world.

It’s a nice tightly written adventure, with some witty juvenile humour, aimed squarely at the teenage boys market (although it will appeal to girls as well as there are some strong female roles in the series), and doesn’t have any major spoilers for those new to the series (in fact the only real spoilers are a couple of the characters and the roles they play). And that’s the only thing that lets the book down, it so going to appeal mostly to readers already familiar to the books and happy (even looking forward to) reading the book anyway.

However that is a minor criticism, the World Book Day is a fantastic annual endeavor, and this book will I’m sure certainly be counted as a success.

A main aim of World Book Day is to encourage children to explore the pleasures of books and reading by providing them with the opportunity to have a book of their own.

What is CHERUB?

A terrorist doesn’t let strangers into her flat because they might be undercover police or intelligence agents, but her children bring their mates home and they run all over the place.

The terrorist doesn’t know that a kid has bugged every room in her house, cloned the hard drive on her PC, and copied all the numbers in her phone book.

The kid works for CHERUB.

CHERUB is not James Bond. There are no master criminals or high-tech gadgets. CHERUB kids live in the real world. They slip under adult radar and get information that sends criminals and terrorists to jail.

Buy, Dark Sun, by Robert Muchamore, at Amazon, [UK]