Special Forces Cadets 5: Hijack

By Author / Illustrator

Chris Ryan

Genre

Adventure

Age range(s)

11+

Publisher

Hot Key Books

ISBN

9781471407888

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

03-09-2020

Synopsis

From the bestselling author of STRIKE BACK, Chris Ryan returns with a new action-packed series.Tough enough? Smart enough? Max will require all his skills just to stay alive as a Special Forces Cadet...The Falkland Islands, South Atlantic Ocean. Intelligence has been received that Argentina is plotting to invade, but is it reliable?The Special Forces Cadets are sent in to investigate, disguised as nature watchers, but when they split up to conduct essential research, two of them are captured and imprisoned. Their lives are in grave danger, but with the main operation at a crucial stage, the others are under orders to leave their friends to their fate.Can the cadets prevent a war and make it out alive?

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Reviews

The Falkland Islands are the setting for the latest adventure in the Chris Ryan Special Forces Cadets series. Teenagers Max, Abby, Lukas, Sami and Lili are working undercover for the British government posing as a group of wildlife tourists in the Falkand Islands, whose real mission is to investigate intelligence reports suggesting an imminent invasion of the islands by Argentinian forces.

As the group begin their surveillance on the Islands, they realise that the intelligence is correct and split up to monitor the clandestine activities of the Argentine frogmen and report this information back to UK Military. Only things don't go according to plan when two of the group become hostages of the Argentinian forces, and the countdown to the invasion begins!

This is a thrilling adventure of a read! From the beginning the story is full of intrigue and the action follows quickly and doesn't stop whether on land or at sea. The story moves at breath-taking speed and so much happens in what is essentially only a few days which for me is a real strength of this novel, as the reader is placed at the heart of the action.

One thing I feel I would have liked included in the book is a plan of the boats featured and perhaps a map of the Falklands, so I could better understand and follow the action. The lack of this didn't hinder my enjoyment of the novel as Chris Ryan has created a novel that focuses on the story and action rather than one that gets tied up with military technical details - which I feel will make it appeal to a wider readership. Also although this is book five of the series, I don't feel I've missed out on key details having not read the previous novels, as snippets of information are carefully interwoven into the adventure to help fill in the back ground.

Hijack is real page turner of a novel and will leave you (like me) wanting to read other books in the Special Forces Cadets series!

208 pages / Ages 11+ / Reviewed by Stephen Leitch, school librarian