The Recruit by Robert Muchamore

The Recruit by Robert Muchamore

A lot of my classmates have read The Recruit and I was looking forward to reading this book as all my friends who had read the book thoroughly enjoyed it and rated it highly!

It is a very fast-moving and cleverly written with an enthralling storyline. It is so fast-moving that throughout the 322 pages there is more than one major event happening.
The main character, James Choke, starts off the story as a rebellious schoolboy and soon gets expelled and sent to a children’s home where he has more than one meeting with the police! Soon CHERUB picks him up and he goes on training to become a top, young agent.

This book shows all the characters feelings very well and it also captures a lot about the way the author feels about modern school children, how they behave and how they feel about different occasions.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, just like my classmates, and look forward to reading the rest of the series. Fantastic! 10/10!!

By Charles Standen

The Recruit is the first in, what is currently, a nine volume series of books written by Robert Muchamore. The story follows the adventures of James Choke, a rather unfit and generally disinterested young man, who is performing indifferently at school and is in danger of sliding into a life of crime.

The tragic death of his mother sees James sent to a children’s home. This brings with it an unexpected opportunity to join a shadowy government organisation know as ‘Cherub’ that uses children as spies. The book follows James’ induction into the organisation and the very tough training that turns him from a teenage tearaway, to a responsible and focussed individual, capable of being a ‘teenage spy’.

The latter half of the book follows James on his first mission, in which he is required to team up with another member of ‘Cherub’ to join, and spy on, a commune of eco-protesters in the hope of identifying some eco-terrorists within the organisation. I will not spoil the story, suffice to say that James has a number of adventures and close calls before completing his mission.

The story is well written, realistic, fast paced, and an engaging tale. I know Charles enjoyed this book and has gone on to read other books in the series, and I can see why it appeals. It shows both the good and the bad aspects of a modern teenager’s life, as well as providing a good bit of adventure and escapism. I would recommend this to any teenage boy (or girl) particularly those who enjoy books of the same genre such as the Alex Rider series. Highly recommended 9/10.

Iain Standen