CHERUB:The Recruit by Robert Muchamore

A terrorist doesn't let strangers in 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. For official purposes, these children do not exist.


Meet James Adams. He is a couch potato until the day his mother dies, and he is sent to live in a care home, and his beloved little sister Lauren is taken in by her hating father. And then James is recruited by CHERUB. CHERUB is a secret organisation set up by the government which uses kids aged ten to seventeen to go on secret missions, but no-one suspects them, because, who suspects kids? 


You know, I've never actually read a spy book. Yes, I know, unbelievable as I'm such an avid reader, and as there's so many out there! But even though I haven't read any other book like The Recruit, I honestly don't think you could get  better! It's AMAZING! It's action-packed, and there's always something happening, so you never get bored. You can't put it down!


The Recruit is told in third person, which I think is better in action books, but you still really felt with James, if you know what mean. I liked him, but he wasn't a particularly interesting character. I really liked his friend Kerry, I thought she was so great! I'd love to be friends with her! And James's little sister Lauren, whom unfortunately we didn't get to see a lot of, seemed like a character with a lot of potential. Hopefully we'll get to see more of her in future books. I thought the relationship between the characters was fantastic too, especially between James and Kerry, and James and Lauren.


I honestly think this is one of the best books I've read! Ever! It was brilliant the way the book told about James'  'boot camp' and introduced CHERUB, but also about his first mission. I thought it was just going to be all about the spy training and even though that would have been enjoyable, it wouldn't have been very exciting. So I was delighted when  James did the mission. It added hugely to the story.


Muchamore's writing is just fantastic! It's really compelling. Straight away when I had finished reading The Recruit, I wanted more! I was really regretting not getting the first two books in this series at the library. And then, guess what? I went to the library last week, and they didn't. Even. Have. The. Second. Book. I was like, nooooooooooooooo!


Would I recommend this? Yes. To whom? Everyone? Is it just a boys book? No way! I think boys and girls alike will enjoy it, as long as they're aged above about 12. It's enjoyable, original, exciting and damn right amazing! Please, please read this. You won't regret it. Seriously.  And I just thought there,this, or another book in in the series,  would make such a brilliant movie! I hope that happens some day.... WAIT! Just Googled it, The Recruit is becoming a movie! Woooh! But according to Wikipedia there's no set release date or anything, so it probably won't be out for a while :(


So, people of the world, if you haven't already, get down to your local bookshop and get yourself a copy of The Recruit. I think you'll like it :)


                                                        Rating 5/5


Source: Library
Pages: 352
Age Group: 12+
Official Publication Date: 15th April 2004
Publisher: Hodder Childrens Books
Author Website: www.muchamore.com or www.cherubcampus.com


P.S. Sorry about the white background on some of the text,  I don't know what it is so I can't get rid of it! Does anyone know how to fix it, by any chance?...