jlwilliams

This book is about a kid named Benjamin Ripley who came home to a man named Alexander Hale who worked for the CIA, and was supposedly one of the best in the spying department. Benjamin had been recruited into the Academy of Espionage of the Central Intelligence Agency for his amazing math abilities and achieving phenomenal grades in school. He was disappointed when he got to the academy, for it did not meet his expectations and he had nearly been killed in the same night. The next day he found out that his recruitment was simply a sham, and that he had been used to draw in an enemy with false information in his student file, and that he was not really capable of being a spy. The academy did not tell him that. Ben wanted to work together with another student, who is said to be one of the best students in the academy. He hoped that he could redeem himself by finding out who the enemy is and defeating him. The many days leading to the discovery of the enemy included instances of Ben being attacked, hurt, his friend, Mike, being put in danger, and attempts of abduction. He also found out that Alexander Hale was a fraud, that he only looked like a hero because he took credit for everyone's work, and that he was actually generally incompetent. Him and the other student found out that the enemy was Murray Hill, a person that was supposed to be his friend. Murray had deceived everyone into thinking he was just a kid in which nothing about the school or the aspects of being a spy piqued his interest, that he wanted a desk job in the CIA because it was too dangerous for him, and that he would never harm anyone. Murray was going to blow up the academy's Hale Building by planting a bomb under it. When Ben found out that Murray was behind all the activity happening in the school, Murray convinced Ben into joining his group and defeat the supposedly good side. After a failed attempt to kill Murray, Ben chases him to the practice fields of the campus. There, a brief exchange of gunfire occurred, which ended in Murray being knocked unconscious by a mound of ice that Ben had shot down from the top of a nearby building in the campus. Everyone gathers around, Alexander Hale claiming to have defeated him. Then, Ben starts to grow fond of the school. That had began his journey into becoming a spy.

In this book, I had noticed a few connections. In the book, Ben has high expectations for the school and a few others things in the book, based on what he has seen before in movies, and is let down when he experiences the real thing. He is let down when he gets to the academy because it turns out to be essentially the same thing as regular school, and he thought that this kind of school would look advanced and that he would be treated better than in regular school. He thought that when a person got shot, they would just shake it off and move on, but when a bullet grazed his arm, it really hurt. People can relate because everyone has certain expectations for something based off of what he/she saw, read, or heard, and then is disappointed because what he/she experiences does not meet his/her expectations. Ben was also surprised when Alexander took all the credit for knocking out Murray Hill. I can relate to this, as others have taken credit for things I have done, such as projects. The last connection I found in this book pertains to the use of words. The words overall demonstrate a wise and sarcastic attitude. One of the lines along the lines of, "Apparently the last time this dorm was weatherproofed was during the Kennedy Administration," exaggerated on how careless and old the school appeared to be. This relates to two books in the Percy Jackson and Olympians series because the book also has a witty and snarky attitude.

I recommend this book to people who like story with suspense, excitement and tension. I found many moments of excitement and suspense in this story. I was finding myself constantly wondering what was going to happen next. Some moments, such as a few explosions were unexpected, hence why I found it exciting. I found this book to be, overall, full of adventure, tension, action and suspense. I found tension and suspense to be the most effective in the book because that is what intrigued me the most. If you like a book with suspense and action, then this book is for you.