Synopses & Reviews
Jake isn't sorry to be suspended from school for 6 weeks. It means he can go home to Burkina Faso, where his parents live and where he's never bored. This visit is particularly eventful; Jake and his sister, Kas, are abducted from a diplomatic banquet and find themselves in the ruthless hands of a man who identifies himself as Yakuuba Sor. However, the real Sor, known locally as The Chameleon, is busy helping poor farmers escape government injustice, and the kidnappers have been hired to make Sor the target of a life-and-death manhunt. Disguise and concealment, mad dashes on horseback and motorbike, cold-blooded murder, "insects" carrying sophisticated tracking equipment, and laser-led missiles aimed at Sor's training camp turn up in this suspenseful adventure that challenges Jake, Kas, and Jake's versatile, high-tech phone to do their very best and survive.
Review
"[A] Dan Brown-esque thriller. . . . Will entice reluctant readers."—
Kirkus Reviews "A satisfying mix of history, exotic locales, computer hacking, and parkour racing. . . . A well-constructed adventure story."—
Booklist "Adventure fans seeking a quick, flashy, and unusual treasure hunting novel will find this one easily fills the bill."—The Bulletin
Review
"The outlaw at the heart of the plot, Yakuuba Sor, brings a heartening complexity and morality to this seldom-seen setting. Nonstop action in the African desert"-Kirkus "This thriller is a great way to get readers hooked while introducing them to the issues affecting contemporary Africa." -School Library Journal, starred review "Nonstop action will please thriller fans."--Bulletin
Synopsis
Danny is a freelance IT specialist—that is, a hacker. He and his pal Omar are both skilled at parkour, or freerunning, a discipline designed to enable practitioners to travel between any two points regardless of obstacles. This is fortunate, because they're off on an adventure that's filled with obstacles, from locked doors to gangs of hostile pursuers. Together they follow a cryptic clue, find a missing map, figure out how to get to Timbuktu without buying a plane ticket, and join the life-and-death treasure hunt, exchanging wisecracks and solving the puzzle one step at a time.An exotic setting and gripping suspense, as well as an absorbing introduction to parkour, make this thriller a genuine page-turner.
Synopsis
Danny is a freelance IT specialist--that is, a hacker. He and his pal Omar are both skilled at parkour, or freerunning, a discipline designed to enable practitioners to travel between any two points regardless of obstacles. This is fortunate, because they're off on an adventure that's filled with obstacles.
Synopsis
A high-tension, high-tech thriller with an African setting. Jake and his sister, Kas, whose father is the British ambassador to Burkina Faso, are abducted, bundled into a van, and driven into the unknown. In smartphone contact with his father, Jake learns that the kidnapper with the spider web tattoo is the remorseless outlaw Yakuuba Sor, who is connected to an international terrorist organization. But is he the real Yakuuba Sor? And is Sor really a dangerous criminal? In this fast-paced tale laced with trickery and murder, Jake and Kas discover that with the corrupt local government and British Intelligence arrayed against them, survival in the African desert may be the least of their problems. Includes an afterword.
About the Author
Stephen Davies, a missionary, lives with his wife and daughter among Fulani cattle herders in West Africa. He has been involved in the setup of a Fulfulde radio station which will broadcast news, griot music, and agricultural advice. In 2003 he won Africa Geographic's "Travel Writer of the Year" competition and in 2006 received the Glen Dimplex New Writers Children's Book Award. This is his second novel to be published in the U.S. He also writes "Letters from Burkina Faso" for the Guardian Weekly and occasionally for the Sunday (London) Times. His website is www.voiceinthedesert.org.uk.