Nine Days by Fred Hiatt

Synopsis from Goodreads: A fast-paced contemporary thriller in the vein of James Patterson and Anthony Horowitz set against the bustling backdrop of Hong Kong, Vietnam, and the border of China. This heart-pounding adventure takes place as two teens, an American teenage boy and his friend, a Chinese girl from his Washington, DC-area high school, must find her father who has been kidnapped—and they only have nine days. Although the characters in the novel are fictionalized, they are based on a real Chinese family who were part of the Chinese Democracy Movement and inspired this story.

Number of pages: 256
My review: Seeing as that I've been to China (and Hong Kong) I absolutely loved this book. It definitely took me back to all the culture, sights, sounds, and just amazingness that is China. Not only that but I loved how the author implemented the political sector and what is going on, not only in China, but also in the United States as well. It was implemented in such a way that it wasn't like I was reading all this information about politics that I was bored, it flowed well with the story line, and really pulled the whole story together very nicely.
I also loved how this was based on a true story, so I could totally imagine a lot of this stuff happening. All the different situations that Ti-Anna and Ethan got into. It was extremely fast paced, and just kept flowing and flowing. Definitely makes me wish I was back in China *nostalgia*
When I was finished reading I was kinda wishing that there would be a sequel! It ended on sort of cliff-hanger ending, but also tied up a lot of loose ends, and left me feeling overall pleased with the whole novel. This definitely inspired me to want to read more novels on Asia in general, or novels about kidnapping and social unrest in communist China.
You're sort of getting a history lesson, action adventure, and tour of China and Hong Kong, all in one book. It wasn't overpowering, super easy to read, and I loved the whole darn thing. Ti-Anna and Ethan were really strong characters who were just smart. It's not often I come across characters that actually have some common sense (they're all either so in love that they can't think straight, or just so engrossed in become a mythical creature and trying to discover who they are that there's no room to show off their intelligence.)
Anyways, I would definitely recommend this for adults and young adults it was so great! I gave it 5 out of 5 stars on Goodreads!
See you soon!

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Agent Colt Shore: Domino 29 by Axel Avian

Synopsis from Goodreads: When an ordinary kid learns he’s the heir to a secret agent dynasty, F.A.L.C.O.N puts him on a case to protect a famous rock group and find a missing journalist. Before he knows it, Colt Shore has gone from body guard to rock star to full-fledged agent when he learns that a human trafficking ring plans to kidnap a group of teenage girls. It will take more than his ingenuity and skills and a couple of cool gadgets to protect his new friends and rescue the captured girls before it’s too late.

Number of pages: 370
Release Date: May 15, 2013
My review: This book was such a great surprise for me. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did and I can honestly say that this is one of my favorite books of 2013! Agent Colt Shore had it all; action, adventure, secret agents, cool gadgets, and a really great plot to top it all off.
Right from the start we are thrown into a world where there is a high school set up for secret agents in training for a company called FALCON. But, unlike other YA books where the characters are placed into this school and they have to go through the whole "who am I? I'm not a *insert type of person here including but not limited too; vampire, werewolf, etc.* No, Colt knew from the start that he was an agent in training which I really liked. Of course there were secrets here and there that were revealed and that definitely made the book all that more interesting.
As Colt begins his adventure, and right up until the end, I liked how we kinda of got a history of the different places he was going or a connection to real life events that had transpired in different places of the globe. This made me a lot more interested and curious about the real life issues going on in these settings and often I'd set the book down to do my own research, which was way, way, cool.
Agent Colt was one of those characters that I felt an immediate liking to. He was level-headed and wise despite the fact that he was a 15 year old newbie in his field, but he just had this aura about him that drew you in.
Also, often with books like this about secret agents and adventure and stuff you feel that the characters get too lucky, but I didn't feel that way at all. All of the obstacles that Colt had to overcome sounded reasonable and like something that could happen in real life.
Overall, it was just a really awesome and fantastic book. I can't express to you how good it was. Of course, once I finished the book all I could think was, when is this going to be made into a movie, and when is there going to be a sequel?

Here's some more info about Agent Colt Shore: Domino 29 and Axel Avian, the author!

axelavian@gmail.com – write and say hello or ask questions .

AxelAvian.com – Come and browse the site for more on locations and characters in the book. PLUS - a challenging Android and iphone game ap called Agent Colt Shore: Falcon Academy on the website to be released on May 15^th as well.

AMAZON Hour!! – Buy the book May 15^th before noon on Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Agent-Colt-Shore-Domino-29/dp/1933608528/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367417773&sr=8-1&keywords=agent+colt+shore+domino+29

Check out Axel’s latest YouTube installment of “Regular Guy Spy” where he answers reader questions about his mysterious past as a secret agent. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBtoIQ8O_zI

You can follow Axel on Instagram!!

The publishing company is running a Fan Fiction writing contest with some great prizes: write another chapter of Agent Colt Shore using one of the characters from the book and submit to Karen.lee@arundelpublishing.com

Want to win the book for yourself? Enter below! We have five books to give away!

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See you soon!

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