S.T.E.A.L.T.H.: Access Denied; Jason Rohan

The first in an explosive new series from Jason Rohan is unputdownable.

When Arun Lal’s dad is kidnapped, Arun is shocked to learn that his dad isn’t an analyst at the Bank of England. Instead of counting money, Krishan Lal is involved in a top-secret government project - codename MANDROID - and the criminals who have nabbed him desperately want to get their hands on it.

Arun, along with his two friends - Donna and Sam - are thrown into a race against time to rescue Krishan and to keep the MANDROID out of the hands of some very bad people. Failure to accomplish either of these two things could mean Arun will never see his father alive again and tech designed to help the world could be used to endanger everyone…

Brave, clever, resourceful and tech-savvy kids get the better of dangerous criminals and show the police and secret services how to do their job in a high-octane, high-stakes thriller. S.T.E.A.L.T.H. Access Denied is all the best bits of Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible film franchise and Jack Bauer’s 24 series that is expertly targeted at children of nine plus where all of the action, tension and drama is packed into a gripping, adrenaline-fuelled two-hundred-and-ninety-seven pages.

Crammed with kidnappings, a modern-day piece of tech that has all the hallmarks of a transformer from my childhood, high-speed chases, shoot-outs, crashes, fake deaths and double crosses, Rohan serves up an exhilarating ride of non-stop action. With time-stamped chapters and the action taking place in a little over fourteen hours, events unfold at a frenetic pace and things never let up. There’s never time to pause for breath and there’s always the urgent need to read just one more chapter to find out what will happen next.

In addition to the relentless, heart-pounding action, Rohan offers up plenty of food for thought, particularly around the MANDROID project and the dangers of technology if it gets into the wrong hands. He raises issues around money versus morality when people paid to do good are swayed by those that will pay them more to do bad. Racial prejudices are also challenged through Donna’s parents whose black mum is a lawyer and a white father who is in prison.

A brilliant espionage read with the promise of more to come.

With huge thanks to Allen & Unwin and Nosy Crow for the copy I received in exchange for an honest review.

Recommended for 9+.