Thursday 10 January 2013

Book Tour & Review - Model Spy

 Synopsis
Teen genius Kelly James is in a lot of hot water. A whiz with computers, she agreed to help her college rA, David, uncover some top-secret information. After all, she doesn’t have many friends and David has always been nice to her. it doesn’t hurt that he’s supercute and irresistible, too. All she has to do is hack into the government’s main computer system. but a few hours later, her whole life changes. she is caught and taken in for questioning, only this isn’t your run-of-the-mill arrest. rather than serve a juvenile detention sentence, she accepts the option to change her name and enlist in a secret government spy agency that trains teen agents to go undercover. As if that wasn’t overwhelming enough, she discovers that David works for this agency as well! And before she even begins to understand what is going on, she’s sent on her first mission as an undercover model. And who better to partner with than David himself!

Author 
Shannon Greenland dreaded reading and writing as a kid. Ironic, as she’s now a successful award-winning author. Her 5-book series for young adults, The Specialists, as well as her other novels, received such honors as National Booksellers Best, Daphne du Maurier and Romantic Times recognition, National Readers Choice, CAPA nominee, Aspen Gold Readers Choice Award, Holt Medallion and the Popular Paperback award from the American Library Association.

Penguin Publishing launched Greenland’s latest novel The Summer My Life Began in May 2012, and brings her entire spy series to e-form this winter.

When not writing, Shannon’s eager for adventure outside of a book’s pages. Hiking, rafting, climbing, caving, swimming, snorkeling, sailing, surfing, mountain biking, spelunking, canoeing, power lifting, running, camping, para sailing . . . she’s done it all.
Originally from Tennessee, the world traveler divides her time between Florida and Virginia where she mentors, tutors, and teaches math and gives authors talks at area schools.


  Twitter: @ShannonGreenlan    
Facebook: Shannon Greenland    
Goodreads: Shannon Greenland

EXCERPT:
The entire greenhouse brightened with white light, and a shrill siren went off.
David grabbed my hand, and we took off down the path. Metal grids began unrolling from the ceiling, securing the greenhouse's glass panes and prohibiting anyone from exiting. We cut through hedges and greenery and slid through a spiny shrub to our entrance hole.
TL was right there, waiting for us. I glanced up to see a metal grid grinding toward us. David grabbed the back of my shirt and pants and shoved me through, then dove after me. A split second later, the grid slammed over our hole, shutting us out.
We bolted across the open frosty lawn to where Jonathan waited. In the distance we heard the pack of Dobermans. Jonathan dropped to his hands and knees at the base of the wrought-iron fence. Using him as a step, David bounced onto his back and over the ten-foot tall barrier. I went next with TL giving me a helpful push up and over. David caught me, TL landed beside us, and Jonathan quickly scaled the fence.
With Jonathan safely on our side, we took off across the road and into the woods.
A mile later, we burst through the trees on the outskirts of an Ushbanian town, a different one from where the modeling school and hotel were located. I knew from our preoperations session that we would split up if something like this happened. David and I in one direction, TL in another, and Jonathan in yet another.
A police siren pierced the air. David grabbed my hand and yanked me down an alley. We ran past a Dumpster and skidded to a halt when a police car pulled in the opposite end. David backed me up against the side of a building and plastered his body to mine. Our chests heaved against each other with winded breaths.
He buried his mouth against my ear. "Wrap. Your. Arms. Around. Me."
I did as he instructed, my heart hammering, keeping the police car in my peripheral vision. It slowly rolled toward us. "It's coming," I hissed, desperately trying to think of what to do next.
"Sorry," he mumbled right before crushing his mouth to mine.
Oh my God, I'm sixteen, and I've never been kissed. Please let me be doing this right.

My Review

I was asked to be a part of this book tour and I thought the book sounded really intersting so I accepted. I quite like spies and mysteries in YA.
I started this book at about 2 in the afternoon and I had finished it by 5. I couldn't put it down. I even walked round the house holding my ipad in front of me reading as I moved (and walking into walls!)
This book starts with Kelly being arrested for breaking into a high security computer system, instead of being put into Juvy, she is given the option of joining a Spy agency, you then follow her through training, meeting fellow agents and her first mission.
Kelly is a great characters, a complete nerd and geek, into computer programming more than people, she comes across as a bit awkward and very clumsy, always bumping into things (she sounds scarily like me, except I'm no IT whiz) Throughout the book you really get to see her grow and adapt as a character which I like, it really feels like you are going through the story with her and see her develop.
At the agency she meets a host of characters, TL who is in charge a mix of stern instructor and encouraging mentor, David, oh David. What can you say about David? Starts of as a bit of a dude, not sure if you can trust him but then becomes someone heart-melting. Each member in Kelly's training group is given a code name, Bruiser, Wirenut, Beaker, Mystic and Parrot, Kelly herself becomes GiGi. They all play a part in her life as a spy, some more than others. Bruiser is probably my favourite, sweet and innocent freckled red-head with serious Martial Arts moves.
I loved the storyline and how everything makes sense throughout, I didn't page count or anything whilst reading this book, I was too absorbed in it, and in some ways it was over too fast. I wasn't sure how much I would like this book before I started it, but now I really want to get hold of the rest of the series, I'm totally hooked!!!

My Rating






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