Blurb
When her inventions put her loved ones in danger, can this brilliant teen rescue them from hostile international agents?
Anna Goode feels her gift is more of a curse. Bullied at school for her high IQ, the sixteen-year-old genius can’t even tell her parents about her clever contraptions for fear they’ll treat her differently. But when a Russian madman kidnaps her family and demands she build him a doomsday device, her sharp mind is the only thing that can save them.
Teaming up with her best friend, Anna races against the clock to gather the materials to meet the villain’s deadline. And now struggling to stay off the CIA’s radar, the daring high schoolers could be the only people between a maniac and millions of lives.
Can these fearless spy kids free Anna’s parents and protect the rest of humanity?
Review
In book one of the Secret Life of Anna Goode series, Anna is a high school student and certified genius with an IQ of 168, so she’s terribly bullied by her classmates. She has a knack at creating imaginative, wonderful gadgets, but hasn’t told anyone about them other than her best friend, Jake.
After Russian terrorists kidnap Anna and her parents, she manages to escape and finds Jake, who goes on the run with her. Tasked with doing the villain’s dirty work, Anna and Jake embark on a journey that could lead to serious repercussions. She’ll have to make a heart-wrenching choice—save her parents, or the world.
I don’t read YA stories often, but I really enjoyed this one. It was great watching Anna find her self-confidence after her life turns upside down. She ruined the plans of a Russian terrorist when before she wouldn’t even stand up to her school bully, so that was pretty sweet.
Some of the things Anna accomplished, however, like breaking into the CDC and into the CIA Headquarters, did seem a little far-fetched. She was only able to get away with it because so many people repeatedly underestimated her. What also seemed far-fetched was that Daniels, Brines, and the other CIA agents accepted help from Anna and Jake and even put them in a dangerous situation, instead of handling it themselves. But of course, this is a teen spy series, so it makes sense that the government would recruit these brilliant kids. I wouldn’t have thought anything was odd if the main characters were adults, so this really is an awesome story.
Ms. Nadeau has a great writing style. It flowed well and kept my attention. Unfortunately, there were a few issues, such as in one scene, a person was called “it” instead of “he/she,” and in another scene, a single person was called “they.”
Besides that, I enjoyed the book and would love to read the next one.
Readers the thrillers or YA books should give Death by Midnight a try. I recommend it.
4 Stars
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