“I like books that are exciting, because my life is really, really boring.” One of the teens I work with is really into thrillers, particularly spy novels and mysteries, and she summed up pretty neatly why so many of us love to read action-packed books. Here are a few twisty-turny spy novels that might appeal to the budding secret agents in your library.
All annotations are taken from the library catalogue.
1. W.A.R.P. : The Reluctant Assassin / Eoin Colfer
In Victorian London, Albert Garrick, an assassin-for-hire, and his reluctant young apprentice, Riley, are transported via wormhole to modern London, where Riley teams up with a young FBI agent to stop Garrick from returning to his own time and using his newly acquired scientific knowledge and power to change the world forever.
2. The Recruit / 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 one of these kids has bugged every room in her house, made copies of all her computer files and stolen her address book. The kid works for CHERUB. CHERUB agents are aged between ten and seventeen. They live in the real world, slipping under adult radar and getting information that sends criminals and terrorists to jail. For official purposes, these children do not exist.
3. Stormbreaker / Anthony Horowitz
After the death of the uncle who had been his guardian, fourteen-year-old Alex Rider is coerced to continue his uncle’s dangerous work for Britain’s intelligence agency, MI6.
4. The Eye of Minds / James Dasher
Michael is a skilled internet gamer in a world of advanced technology. When a cyber-terrorist begins to threaten players, Michael is called upon to seek him and his secret’s out.
5. A Girl Named Digit / Annabel Monaghan
After identifying a terrorist plot, a brilliant seventeen-year-old girl from Santa Monica, California, gets involved with the young FBI agent who is trying to ensure her safety.