Furious Jones and the Assassin's Secret

February 17, 2014
In this exciting, rapid-fire mystery, Kehoe (the Vincent Shadow books) introduces the ludicrously named Furious Jones (“Man, I hated my name,” he thinks), whose father, a bestselling author of spy thrillers, is murdered before Furious’s eyes at an event for his new book. Furious goes on the run, hiding from the CIA and assassins alike, while he unravels his family’s secrets. It turns out that his mother was a killer for the government before her untimely death, his father was writing an exposé on a powerful criminal organization, and all clues lead to a small Ohio town. Twelve-year-old Furious goes undercover in high school (on top of being remarkably resourceful, he’s also 6’4”) to locate the one person who knows everything. Right from the start, Kehoe ratchets up the paranoiac tension and adrenaline, while keeping Furious’s successes at least vaguely realistic. While the book-within-a-book plot device doesn’t exactly read like Clancy or Grisham, this adventure works very well as an over-the-top thriller, one that leaves room for sequels. Ages 8–12. Agent: Sloan Harris, ICM.

February 1, 2014
The teenage years are usually a time of self-exploration, but for Furious Jones, it's a time to explore his family history. Furious (yes, that's his real name) has been living with his chief-of-police grandfather in peaceful Connecticut since his mother's recent shooting death. When he hears that his father, a famous author of best-selling spy novels, is giving a speech in New York City, Furious slips away to be there. Hoping to reconnect with the only parent he has left, he instead witnesses his father's murder, in a manner uncannily like his mother's. It turns out his mother had been an assassin for the CIA, and Furious' father's books were based on his mother's exploits. Now the family has been targeted by the mob, and it appears the CIA may not have their best interests at heart, either. Furious has no choice but to go on the run when his grandfather too is murdered: It's clear that Furious is next. Working from clues planted in his father's last book, the 12-year-old heads to the small town in the Midwest where his mother was gunned down, there to begin his quest for revenge. Credibility and questions of morality take a back seat to action as Furious dashes from one plot twist to the next, sparing little time for introspection. Readers caught up in the action will not mind the gaps. (Thriller. 8-12)

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May 1, 2014
Grades 6-9 Back in the day, there was an unwritten rulenobody got murdered in a middle-grade mystery. Kehoe takes that trope and stomps it to death in the first of the Furious Jones series. By 50 pages in, pretty much everyone Furious (don't ask) loves is gone, and the 12-year-old (who looks 16) is on the run to Galena, Illinois, where his mother was murdered. Having learned she was a CIA assassin (!), Furious is determined to find the mob family and CIA turncoat responsible for her death and . . . then what? Furious has little money and no friends, and he is hazy about his endgame. Nevertheless, he knows how to make things happen. Kehoe has read his Lee Child et al. and is bringing their genre to a young audience. A bit is silly, particularly the end where a presidential candidate plays a role, and the reproduced chapters written by Furious' father, a best-selling author, are just bad writing. Fans of nonstop action and clever kids will adore this, though, and readers looking for explosive adventure won't be disappointed.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)