S.T.E.A.L.T.H.: Access Denied by Jason Rohan
| S.T.E.A.L.T.H.: Access Denied by Jason Rohan | |
|
| |
| Category: Confident Readers | |
| |
Reviewer: John Lloyd
 | |
| Summary: Adrenalised hokum, but hokum none the less, as people get kidnapped, super-weapons are under threat – and the country has to rely on three schoolkids who aren't even good friends to put everything back in place. | |
| Buy? Maybe | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 256 | Date: April 2022 |
| Publisher: Nosy Crow Ltd | |
| ISBN: 978-1839943386 | |
|
Share on: | |
|
| |
Arun and Sam have had little to do with Donna, a girl at their school. But things immediately change at the start of this extended sprint of a novel, when she insists Arun's house has become the attention of plain-clothes coppers and that they should bunk off school to find out why. And thus an unlikely trio of misfit young heroes is formed – Sam is really not Donna's idea of company, but he is the computer buff, Donna seems to know all the criminal ins and outs and survival skills, and Arun? Well, it's his lot to find out that all he based his family life on isn't true, and that his father – kidnapped that very morning – is involved in something quite unexpected. But how can this disparate trio hope to best MI6, kidnappers, people able to keep the truth about themselves secret for decades, and so much more?
The young reader will enjoy the thriller sheen on this genre read – the passing of the time shown by each quickly-reached chapter title, and so on. But I doubt you have to be an adult to work out there are flaws. The worst-timed round of tea in British security history? Coming up. Adults seeing world-class subterfuge when it's some kids getting lucky? Present and correct. Way out of date and clunky whinges about illegal downloading? Not really a bonus feature, but a feature.
The end result left me thinking of the Children's Film Unit – and how they made worthy-but-not-quite-with-it-enough movies when I was a kid. This feels worthy in that it engages with the young reader who loves the idea of perhaps being a coder and yet wants to run around London, playing hooky and defeating all them pesky adults. It's not nearly with-it enough, in having the kids the only smart ones in many scenes; the way the adults get the wrong impression so often – and how other adults don't try to put them right – really needed justifying. While on that, I felt the way the three were slow to show signs of cohering as a trio didn't give off the ultimate realism, either.
So, is this too flawed to recommend? Well, no – it's a full-on belter of a crime caper, with bonkers levels of action in the key scenes, and I won't be the first to point out that if it's a kid's choice to read this, then it's a choice well made, there being little wrong in a child reading anything, as long as he's actually reading. But yes, I am aware of too many issues to rate this too highly, and the best young thriller reads can easily be enjoyed by all ages. Finally, not changing my marks but of importance to some, will be the fact that two of the three leads are mixed race, and easily able to stamp out any preconceptions about them. Would that their character lived in a world with more realism, then.
I must thank the publishers for my review copy.
Car-Jacked by Ali Sparkes puts a single kid up against a criminal, and does the joyously unexpected with it. Audiences of both that and this could grow up to love the Cherub series.
Please share on: 
Facebook, 
Twitter and
Instagram
You can read more book reviews or buy S.T.E.A.L.T.H.: Access Denied by Jason Rohan at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy S.T.E.A.L.T.H.: Access Denied by Jason Rohan at Amazon.com.
Check prices, read reviews or buy from Waterstones. Waterstones currently charges from £2.75 for orders under £20, over which delivery is free. You may also click and collect from a Waterstones bookshop at no charge.
Comments
Like to comment on this review?
Just send us an email and we'll put the best up on the site.
