by
An Audiobook Review
“This mission is hot! It’s a go!”
GOLDEN GATE is the second of the City Spies books I’ve read, and I love them! Smart kids (I mean VERY smart kids), super-special skills (but natural, no hocus-pocus), wild adventure, world travel, secrets, villains, danger, complex codes, and a bit of teen angst and monkey business. Wow, this series has it all. And James Ponti has put them all together in a page-turning, breathless story with a great ending.
First, these kids come from all around the world, orphans, lost (and found by their leader called “Mother” (even though “he” is a top X-spy with MI-6 – whom they believe is dead). These kids were chosen for their unique skills and rescued from very dark situations. They are normal kids with regular names, but they don’t use them. Their new names are the cities where they were “found.” Brooklyn, Sidney, Paris, Rio; you get the gist.
In the first book, the newbie was “Brooklyn.” We learned her backstory in “City Spies.” We also saw her super computer skills at work (even the ability to hack – ahem) in the team’s Paris operation. (We also learned how “Paris,” the first and oldest on the team, got his name when he saved “Mother” from being killed.) Now, these young members of the British Secret Intelligence Service are ready for another mission: to discover a Mole in MI-6.
The lead sends them to – where else? – San Francisco, where, using ALL their skills, they track down the mole and discover what happened to another missing agent, and nearly get murdered themselves. Along the way, they ride cable cars, visit Chinatown, and spend some time on Alcatraz Island.
Very tight writing, imagination, and clever inventiveness make James Ponti’s City Spies books terrific reads. Kids of middle grades and up (and old adults, too!!!) will love them. Hey, I’ve already bought the NEXT three books!! Yes, they are that good and fun.
Lisa Flanagan is also a terrific narrator for all the voices!
Words and Reviews 