Review: The Mission

Author: Allen Zadoff
Series: Boy Nobody, #2
Released: September 4th 2014
Publisher: Orchard
Length: 430 pages
Source: Publisher for review
Buy: The Book Depository

He was the perfect assassin. No name. No past. No remorse. Perfect, that is, until he began to ask questions and challenge his orders. Now The Program is worried that their valuable soldier has become a liability. And so begins a new mission. A test of sorts. A chance to prove his loyalty. But nothing about this mission is as it seems: not The Program, his allegiances, nor the truth. More thrilling action-adventure from Allen Zadoff in the breathtaking sequel to The Hit (previously Boy Nobody).

Allen Zadoff just proved to us once again that he’s excellent at what he does. (I Am) The Mission is, if possible, even more exciting than its predecessor. There is no end to secrets and betrayals in this book and our Boy Nobody, highly trained but still merely a 16-year-old, has to face them all and somehow manage to stay alive.

Militant cults are, in my opinion, one of the scariest things in the world, but Zach infiltrates one without question, following The Program’s orders to kill the cult’s leader. The leader recruits teenagers from all over the country and trains them to become domestic terrorists. It’s clear to us from the beginning that he needs to be stopped and our young trained assassin is the best man for the job.

However, even The Program, Boy Nobody’s organization, isn’t exactly trustworthy, and Zach suddenly finds himself all alone in the world. With no one but a 14-year-old hacker to rely on, he has to fight enemies on all sides, test his boundaries and prove his loyalty over and over again and still somehow come out on top. But Zach is more than up to the challenge. It’s not only his training that keeps him alive, it’s his heart and his desire to always do what’s right. I love this about him – he is loyal to a fault, but he still applies common sense and thinks about everything he does.

By now, we’ve figured out that pretty girls are Zach’s Kryptonite, and so has The Program. He has a soft spot that’s easy to understand and sympathize with, but it’s still a weakness that has cost him dearly twice already, and one that can and probably will be exploited by his enemies. Sam is long gone in this book, but there is Miranda now, another girl Zach wants to trust despite all evidence to the contrary.

This book ends with a rather painful cliffhanger, which makes me glad I waited until now to read it. The final installment will be her in a few months and we’ll finally learn the truth about Zach, his family, The Program and every other question that has yet to be answered. The countdown has begun – where’s a time machine when you need it?

A copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher for review purposes. No considerations, monetary or otherwise, have influenced the opinions expressed in this review.

Please note that this series has different cover and different titles in the US. There the series is called Unknown Assassin, and this book is titled I Am the Mission.