I adore this series. It’s Young Adult, and it’s a series of espionage thrillers. It’s completely unrealistic – often bordering on absurd – but it is just so much fun to read.
This is the fifth book in the Agent 21 series, and the first that doesn’t centre on Zak Darke, a teenager who was recruited in the first book by a shadow government organization that trains young recruits to infiltrate enemy organizations to gather intel.
This book focuses on a young boy called Ricky who has run away from a bad foster family (his own family are dead). He’s better off than most runaways his age though, because he has a rented room to call his own. His landlord is shady and cruel, but he doesn’t ask questions or call the authorities on his underage tenant. Ricky survives on what he can steal as a pickpocket, something he’s talented at and manages to do while keeping half an eye on the other teenage runaways who aren’t a friendly bunch.
One night he picks the pocket of the wrong man and his entire life changes. Soon he has been moved into a fancy apartment in London with a fully stocked fridge and an allowance. In exchange, he must take lessons in practical skills like how to avoid being tailed, how to tail without being detected, how to use everyday objects for self-defense and how to observe and memorize his surroundings at a single glance. His training isn’t complete when he is asked to help find the missing daughter of a prominent man, and everything falls apart.
That’s as much of the plot as I can share without risking giving away important spoilers, but you get the idea.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It wasn’t what I expected – I thought it was going to be just the most recent installment in the Zak Darke series. That threw me a little at first, but I came to like Ricky, and I was rooting for him to succeed and make good choices with the opportunities presented to him. I think his character is easy to relate to and invest in, because I think everyone has wondered what the world would look like with nothing and no one. Would you survive? Would you have what it takes to eke out an existence with no assistance, skills or resources?
This book definitely won’t be for everyone. There are plot holes, there are things that don’t quite track, and the characters aren’t developed in a lot of depth. But it’s a great book if you enjoy reading YA thrillers and are looking for something that won’t take long to read, that will have you rooting for the main character, and that will keep you on the edge of your seat. This is a great book for that, and it really hit the spot of what I was in the mood to read at the time!
Ricky has lived on the streets for a while now. Life is tough, but he’s sharp and quick, and he gets by.
Until he steals from the wrong people…
Luckily for him he is rescued by a stranger who makes him an offer he can’t refuse: a flat and money in exchange for learning certain skills – surveillance techniques and hand-to-hand combat.
But what is this all for?
Ricky is about to find out… – Goodreads
Book Title: Under Cover
Author: Chris Ryan
Series: Agent 21 #5
Edition: Paperback
Published By: Red Fox
Released: February 26, 2015
Genre: Fiction, Young Adult, Thriller, Espionage
Pages: 308
Date Read: March 11-13, 2018
Rating: 7/10
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.26/5 (238 ratings)