#Prettyboy Must Die

Gr 9 Up—In the spirit of Anthony Horowitz's "Alex Rider" and Charlie Higson's "Silverfin" books, Reid offers an action-packed story of a teenage secret agent whose cover has been blown, putting his entire high school in danger. Peter Smith, aka Prettyboy, is (or was) part of a special CIA training operation for young spies. After botching a mission in Ukraine, Peter is put on leave and sent to high school in the United States. Unwilling to let go of a hunch about a hacker involved with the arms dealers he was tracking in Ukraine, Peter follows leads that indicate the hacker is also masquerading as a student in his school. With a trusty and affable sidekick who has spent most of his life in a bunker (resulting in some humorous pratfalls and cultural blunders), Peter is able to respond quickly when Ukrainian arms dealers descend on his school in an effort to locate and, perhaps, eliminate him. Unlike the predecessors in the genre, this volume fails to fully engage readers on an emotional level, leaving some of the most suspenseful scenes lacking in intensity. There is little character development and many of the plot devices require a suspension of disbelief that may ask too much of teens. However, the book reads easily and should please fans of spy thrillers.