Aladdin Paperbacks Forbidden City

My daughter devoured this series over the xmas break! She is now rereading them...a sure sign she loved it

Amazing book I am going to buy the next one too

Fantastico

Another fantastic instalment in the series. Fast-paced, exciting and full of interesting locations and clever twists. My son loved it and was straight on to the next book.

The City Spies are back, in what their spymaster describes as their "biggest, most challenging, most complex" adventure yet, or as one of the team members puts it, "Best. Summer. Vacation. Ever." If you've read books 1 & 2, you know what to expect: thrilling action sequences, the sometimes challenging family dynamics of a diverse group of orphans who've been formed into a team (and now are officially a family, with the adoption announced in book 2 now a completed fact), backstory of one of the characters, mysteries that call on their combined talents, a generous dose of humor, visits to top world tourist attractions (with real-life, sometimes surprising, facts), and the vagaries of ordinary life while trying to outwit an international criminal syndicate. My 11- and 14-year-old sons eagerly reorganized their evenings to get maximum family reading time as soon as the book came out, and Mom & Dad had great fun reading it as well. If you haven't read books 1 & 2, do yourself a favor and read them first. Characters appear with little or no explanation, with the author seemingly assuming you know who they are. References to events in prior books are enough to recall them to mind if you've read them, but could be a bit incomplete for someone starting here. Some secondary characters from prior books recur, particularly Charlotte, the former team member whom Brooklyn replaced. How the kids handle the "burned bridges" (Charlotte's term) is a significant secondary theme, and the story offers valuable lessons about forgiveness and reconciliation amid all the action and intrigue. Each book has had a primary focus on one of the spies. Book 1 focused on Brooklyn, book 2 on Sydney. This book focuses on Paris, who as a youth chess champion is tasked with getting close to a North Korean youth chess prodigy. Paris's specialty has always been blending in, but it makes him start to wonder who, under all the layers of fake identities, he really is. But he's also been the moral center of the team, and when he faces decisions of moral significance, we see what he's truly made of, and the other characters--and we--are impressed. Ponti has experience as a TV script writer, and it shows in the constant switches back and forth between different settings. But it keeps you on the edge of your seat, wondering (and guessing) what twist is coming next; some we could foresee, while others blindsided us. We're rooting for both more books in the series and translation to the big screen. All around, a satisfying and entertaining next episode in what we hope will be a continuing series.