The Recruit by Robert Muchamore
The Recruit is the first in the Cherub series – one of Scotch library’s most popular. The series is about a 12 year old boy named James, who is orphaned and sent to a foster home where he is recruited by Cherub, a branch of the British Secret Service which trains boys and girls to become spies.
Within the first ten pages of The Recruit, James has thrown a taunting girl named Samantha against a wall, (not realising a protruding nail would gash her face), come home to find his obese mother drunk, described the toasted sandwiches his sister makes out of nutella, honey, icing sugar, golden syrup and chocolate chips, and been beaten and terrorised by Samantha’s brother. Non-stop action laced with humour and topped by terror makes this a one- sitting read. Be hooked!
Mrs Sweeney
May 28th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
I, being a reader of perhaps more ‘respectable’ literature fail to see the attraction reeling in the sales behind this series. My only prediction is that teenagers have become hooked on writing with simplistic style, simplistic themes and what I dare to call silhouettes as characters. The characterisation, or lack thereof, is atrocious, and reminds me of such reads as the Alex Rider novels.