This is the second book in the Zak Darke Agent 21 series (the first being, of course, Agent 21). Rather than struggle to sumarize the story for you I’m going to let Chris Ryan introduce you to the plot of the book:
Sound exciting? It is. Like the first book in the series, this one goes from one action sequence to the next, with barely enough time to catch your breath. The setting is different, yet just as foreign to Zak. This time his mission involves sneaking on board the ship of a vicious outlaw.
I have to say that I didn’t enjoy this as much as the first one. While I LOVE the idea of a teen spy, I didn’t feel like this plot line utilized that aspect enough. They could have just as easily sent an adult to accompany him, and probably should have done so.
SPOILER ALERT
There are also several details that either just straight up don’t make sense or that aren’t adequately explained – like why on earth would a kid go fishing at the end of a pier at night (this is how he does surveillance since there’s no appropriate cover)? Wouldn’t that draw some attention? And his plan for dealing with the thugs who are holding the building site for the school hostage. Seriously? You’re going to take their ammo in the night and then take their guns away? They’d just get more weapons or sneak into your tents at night and slit your throats. Very bad idea. There are more of these small points that don’t make sense, but I didn’t make a list of them. But overall they added up to me feeling like the plot wasn’t adequately edited.
The part that really didn’t work for me, though was the teen villain. In the first book Zak uses his age to befriend the son of the bad guy. In this book the bad guy IS a teen. It doesn’t work for me. It’s just too unrealistic.
END SPOILER
Overall I’d say if you read the first novel and enjoyed it, give this a go – just be prepared to work a bit harder on that suspension of disbelief thing this time around.
Book Title: Agent 21: Reloaded
Author: Chris Ryan
Edition: Paperback
Published by: Red Fox
Released: March 1, 2012
Genre: Young Adult, Espionage, Thriller, Fiction
Pages: 352
Date Read: July 15-18, 2013
Rating: 6/10