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Cherub: The Graphic Novels #1
The Recruit
The bestselling CHERUB series takes its huge appeal into graphic novel format. James hits rock bottom before he's offered a new start in an intriguing organisation ...
A terrorist doesn't let strangers in her flat because they might be undercover police or intelligence agents, but her children bring their mates home and they run all over the place. The terrorist doesn't know that one of these kids has bugged every room in her house, made copies of all her computer files and stolen her address book. The kid works for CHERUB.
CHERUB agents are aged between ten and seventeen. They live in the real world, slipping under adult radar and getting information that sends criminals and terrorists to jail.
For official purposes, these children do not exist.
Praise for the CHERUB
'Punchy, exciting, glamorous and, what's more, you'll completely wish it was true' - Sunday Express
'Crackling tension and high-octane drama' - Daily Mail
'A really good book that you could re-read over and over again' - Guardian
'Pacy writing, punchy dialogue and a gripping plot, it's got it all' - Daily Express
'Fast-moving action ... and cool gadgets!' - The Times
Visit cherubcampus.com - the essential internet destination, packed with exclusive content and with in-depth biographies of CHERUB characters, out-takes and bonus stories.
A terrorist doesn't let strangers in her flat because they might be undercover police or intelligence agents, but her children bring their mates home and they run all over the place. The terrorist doesn't know that one of these kids has bugged every room in her house, made copies of all her computer files and stolen her address book. The kid works for CHERUB.
CHERUB agents are aged between ten and seventeen. They live in the real world, slipping under adult radar and getting information that sends criminals and terrorists to jail.
For official purposes, these children do not exist.
Praise for the CHERUB
'Punchy, exciting, glamorous and, what's more, you'll completely wish it was true' - Sunday Express
'Crackling tension and high-octane drama' - Daily Mail
'A really good book that you could re-read over and over again' - Guardian
'Pacy writing, punchy dialogue and a gripping plot, it's got it all' - Daily Express
'Fast-moving action ... and cool gadgets!' - The Times
Visit cherubcampus.com - the essential internet destination, packed with exclusive content and with in-depth biographies of CHERUB characters, out-takes and bonus stories.
176 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2013
36 people are currently reading
882 people want to read
About the author
Robert Muchamore
154 books1,928 followersRobert Muchamore was born in Islington, London in 1972. He still lives there, and worked as a private investigator up until 2005 and the critically-accepted release of Maximum Security.
The Hunger Games phenomenon is part of the huge YA / Children's book explosion that has grown, thanks to the British Rat pack of YA authors, Anthony Horowitz, Robert Muchamore, Mark A. Cooper and Charlie Higson. We owe much of the hunger games sucess to authors such as Robert.
Robert was inspired to create the CHERUB series by his nephew after he complained about the lack of anything for them to read. CHERUB: The Recruit was Robert's first book and won the Red House Children's Book Award 2005 in the Older Readers Category.
Following the last book in the CHERUB series, it was revealed that a trilogy would be released starting from August 2011 that will focus on a new set of CHERUB agents centred upon Ryan Sharma and also involve an sixteen year old Lauren Adams. The first book will be called People's Republic.
Check out the Hendersons Boys series. Henderson's Boys is a series of young adult spy novels written by English author Robert Muchamore. The series follows Charles Henderson, the creator of the fictitious CHERUB organisation.
CHERUB is currently being made into a TV series.
The Hunger Games phenomenon is part of the huge YA / Children's book explosion that has grown, thanks to the British Rat pack of YA authors, Anthony Horowitz, Robert Muchamore, Mark A. Cooper and Charlie Higson. We owe much of the hunger games sucess to authors such as Robert.
Robert was inspired to create the CHERUB series by his nephew after he complained about the lack of anything for them to read. CHERUB: The Recruit was Robert's first book and won the Red House Children's Book Award 2005 in the Older Readers Category.
Following the last book in the CHERUB series, it was revealed that a trilogy would be released starting from August 2011 that will focus on a new set of CHERUB agents centred upon Ryan Sharma and also involve an sixteen year old Lauren Adams. The first book will be called People's Republic.
Check out the Hendersons Boys series. Henderson's Boys is a series of young adult spy novels written by English author Robert Muchamore. The series follows Charles Henderson, the creator of the fictitious CHERUB organisation.
CHERUB is currently being made into a TV series.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews
January 30, 2020
I had already read the book, but wanted to try a graphic novel. I would not get another, I think if you are too lazy too read or can't read you should get an audio book as that way you get the whole book not just bits cut out.
July 13, 2023
c'était divertissant!
james est chiant, mais au moins c'est acab et pro-écoterrorisme donc ça va
james est chiant, mais au moins c'est acab et pro-écoterrorisme donc ça va
April 16, 2015
This is a book about 13-year-old James Choke/Adams (he changes his last name). His mom dies of drug abuse and his step-dad is abusive. So he gets sent to an orphanage and becomes a orphan. A spy spies on him and decides that James is worthy of being a spy. He then goes to the spy HQ and starts his 100 day training.
I picked this book up because I liked the novel of this book, so I wanted to see how a different style of book impacts the story.
I finished this book because I wanted to see what they had changed in the graphic novel and what was different from the novel.
I would recommend this book to Barath because I think he likes spies and stuff like that.
I picked this book up because I liked the novel of this book, so I wanted to see how a different style of book impacts the story.
I finished this book because I wanted to see what they had changed in the graphic novel and what was different from the novel.
I would recommend this book to Barath because I think he likes spies and stuff like that.
October 19, 2018
The Recruit by Robert Muchamore is a graphic novel about a boy named James, a boy who has problems controlling his anger and with an exceptional ability in math. After waking up in a school he is recruited to be on the British secret service, but his first mission might be his last. I recommend to those who like books about spies.
July 21, 2021
There's so many important scenes missing (from the actual book). I wished those were included because at some point it felt rushed. Other than that I really enjoyed it and helped me solidify the way I imagined the characters.
May 21, 2025
J’ai davantage aimé le roman.
Dans la bd, tout est en surface. L’important dans le tome 1, c’est le programme de 100 jours. Malheureusement, il est peu élaboré dans la BD.
Dans la bd, tout est en surface. L’important dans le tome 1, c’est le programme de 100 jours. Malheureusement, il est peu élaboré dans la BD.
October 19, 2017
This was an unbelievable, amazing book. It is about a boy that has a very hard life, his mom is very fat and she is an alcoholic and smoker. The boy wakes up one morning in a secret spy facility and learns to pick locks and get highly trained. I would definitely recommend this book.
January 30, 2018
I read the CHERUB series when I was younger, and it was one of those book series where I eagerly awaited each new release. I loved the series back then, and looking back on it now I still think I’d enjoy it enough to re-read it again - though I know my own preferences and views have changed enough that certain aspects no longer appeal to me. I got this graphic novel a while back and finally picked it up to read through it.
I usually enjoy the first book in a series more than the ones that come after it, given that they set the scene and introduce the reader to the setting/situation (or the world, in the case of fantasy). That applies to the CHERUB books too but I’m not the biggest fan of the second half of The Recruit, I didn’t find the mission that interesting. In that sense, I think the later books are better, but given this is a graphic novel I was interested to see how it was portrayed.
I’m not a huge fan of the artwork, but that’s more about personal preference. Also, not sure some parts translated well into this format. Some of the most interesting parts from the books - the full Basic Training experience, details about espionage and all the examples of James’ resourcefulness, and also the instances where he messed up and got in trouble and showed he was still very much a 12 year old kid - were left out, probably to keep the book at a manageable length or because it was difficult to convey everything. You only really get to see half of James’ character in the graphic novel because you don’t have any access to his thoughts, but I figure if anyone really was that interested they’d have a reason to give the novels a go. Saying all this, it was interesting to see a visual representation of the original novel, and it sort of made me want to go back and read all the CHERUB and HB books again.
I usually enjoy the first book in a series more than the ones that come after it, given that they set the scene and introduce the reader to the setting/situation (or the world, in the case of fantasy). That applies to the CHERUB books too but I’m not the biggest fan of the second half of The Recruit, I didn’t find the mission that interesting. In that sense, I think the later books are better, but given this is a graphic novel I was interested to see how it was portrayed.
I’m not a huge fan of the artwork, but that’s more about personal preference. Also, not sure some parts translated well into this format. Some of the most interesting parts from the books - the full Basic Training experience, details about espionage and all the examples of James’ resourcefulness, and also the instances where he messed up and got in trouble and showed he was still very much a 12 year old kid - were left out, probably to keep the book at a manageable length or because it was difficult to convey everything. You only really get to see half of James’ character in the graphic novel because you don’t have any access to his thoughts, but I figure if anyone really was that interested they’d have a reason to give the novels a go. Saying all this, it was interesting to see a visual representation of the original novel, and it sort of made me want to go back and read all the CHERUB and HB books again.
March 9, 2020
Ne connaissant pas les livres originaux je me suis lancé dans cette adaptation en bande-dessinée qui ma paraissait plutôt prometteuse. On sent clairement qu'il y a une volonté d'adapter un gros roman, bien que la nouvelle graphique soit assez conséquente les nombreuses ellipses ou bonds dans toutes les directions ne sont pas très très fluides mais dans l'ensemble rien de très choquant.
En ce qui concerne l'histoire elle est surprenamment captivante ! Je m'attendais à quelque chose de moins édulcoré et de moins violent vu qu'on essaye de viser un public jeune mais au contraire, la mère de James meurt, sa vie est constamment parcouru d'une violence à la fois sociale et physique...
De plus on est loin de l'histoire d'espionnage classique, ne vous attendez pas à lire les aventures d'un mini james bond junior qui sort de sa poche des gadgets magiques défiant les lois de la science. Il y a un rapport très terre à terre, très sensé et réaliste avec des thématiques qui peuvent faire écho à ce que nous vivons (le terrorisme, les communautés hippies en amérique, la haine sociale, l'harcèlement scolaire.)
Dans l'ensemble j'ai donc pas mal apprécié cette bande dessinée , je suis plutôt déçu que john aggs n'ait pas continué de dessiner les volumes à suivre, ses dessins collaient parfaitement à l'ambiance générale et je crains que ceux de david combet soient trop simplet et enfantins, je vais quand même m'y attarder par curiosité.
En ce qui concerne l'histoire elle est surprenamment captivante ! Je m'attendais à quelque chose de moins édulcoré et de moins violent vu qu'on essaye de viser un public jeune mais au contraire, la mère de James meurt, sa vie est constamment parcouru d'une violence à la fois sociale et physique...
De plus on est loin de l'histoire d'espionnage classique, ne vous attendez pas à lire les aventures d'un mini james bond junior qui sort de sa poche des gadgets magiques défiant les lois de la science. Il y a un rapport très terre à terre, très sensé et réaliste avec des thématiques qui peuvent faire écho à ce que nous vivons (le terrorisme, les communautés hippies en amérique, la haine sociale, l'harcèlement scolaire.)
Dans l'ensemble j'ai donc pas mal apprécié cette bande dessinée , je suis plutôt déçu que john aggs n'ait pas continué de dessiner les volumes à suivre, ses dessins collaient parfaitement à l'ambiance générale et je crains que ceux de david combet soient trop simplet et enfantins, je vais quand même m'y attarder par curiosité.
May 19, 2023
Yes, I'm going to review this! No, I don't have anything better to do!
The plot is a sushi restaurant conveyer belt of well-trodden beats, nicely presented, if lacking in imagination and depth. The young protagonist is perfectly flawed, being both fantastic at getting punched in the face and quick to punching others in the face. The illustrations are absolutely the highlight. It's expressive, colourful, and energised artwork (except for that front cover, which is ugly as heck).
The opening situation, revolving around the protagonist's difficult family dynamics, emotional issues, and resulting trouble at school, is intriguing enough. Unfortunately, the protagonist is soon recruited by a secret agent taskforce so that he can help infiltrate a 'hippie terrorist' group that is thought to be targeting oil companies and dirty politicians, and this is where much of the intrigue wanes...
It's like the bag of tortilla chips I buy sometimes when I'm alone and feeling depressed after work and eat all of. Am I going to elaborate further? (No.)
Jumping ahead, the mission is a mildly exciting success. White boy saves the day. White girl helps. Other white people are there. It concludes with the message that 'oil companies are bad, sure, but attempted murder by bombs and anthrax aren't the correct solution to that problem, so what can you do but shrug?' And the thing is, I'm just not especially convinced by that argument, anymore. Maybe I played too much final fantasy VII as a kid. Maybe I'm an eco terrorist waiting to happen. Maybe I think we actually could save future generations of people with some well placed explosives now.
Anyway. It's just your usual adventure of its kind, intended for edgy preteens. Well, have at it, little dudes!
The plot is a sushi restaurant conveyer belt of well-trodden beats, nicely presented, if lacking in imagination and depth. The young protagonist is perfectly flawed, being both fantastic at getting punched in the face and quick to punching others in the face. The illustrations are absolutely the highlight. It's expressive, colourful, and energised artwork (except for that front cover, which is ugly as heck).
The opening situation, revolving around the protagonist's difficult family dynamics, emotional issues, and resulting trouble at school, is intriguing enough. Unfortunately, the protagonist is soon recruited by a secret agent taskforce so that he can help infiltrate a 'hippie terrorist' group that is thought to be targeting oil companies and dirty politicians, and this is where much of the intrigue wanes...
It's like the bag of tortilla chips I buy sometimes when I'm alone and feeling depressed after work and eat all of. Am I going to elaborate further? (No.)
Jumping ahead, the mission is a mildly exciting success. White boy saves the day. White girl helps. Other white people are there. It concludes with the message that 'oil companies are bad, sure, but attempted murder by bombs and anthrax aren't the correct solution to that problem, so what can you do but shrug?' And the thing is, I'm just not especially convinced by that argument, anymore. Maybe I played too much final fantasy VII as a kid. Maybe I'm an eco terrorist waiting to happen. Maybe I think we actually could save future generations of people with some well placed explosives now.
Anyway. It's just your usual adventure of its kind, intended for edgy preteens. Well, have at it, little dudes!
June 2, 2017
Fun, action-packed graphic novel for young adults/older kids. It's a little bloody, but nothing too bad (no real gun violence or bad language).
I haven't read the novel, but the reviews seem pretty favorable. I like James; he seems like a good kid who just hasn't had his best chance. His home life is unstable at best, and he has no support, anger issues (understandably), and the worst luck.
I don't think the ending/end-mission translated all that well into a graphic novel...everything seemed to happen off page, and is explained in text/dialogue to James post-mission.
+ Points for the post mission debriefing with Dr. McAfferty, where James has to wrestle with possibly supporting Help Earth. I think those four pages at the end are critical for teaching kids complex thinking, and a nice lesson in 'not everything is black and white'.
I haven't read the novel, but the reviews seem pretty favorable. I like James; he seems like a good kid who just hasn't had his best chance. His home life is unstable at best, and he has no support, anger issues (understandably), and the worst luck.
I don't think the ending/end-mission translated all that well into a graphic novel...everything seemed to happen off page, and is explained in text/dialogue to James post-mission.
+ Points for the post mission debriefing with Dr. McAfferty, where James has to wrestle with possibly supporting Help Earth. I think those four pages at the end are critical for teaching kids complex thinking, and a nice lesson in 'not everything is black and white'.
August 11, 2023
The CHERUB series was a staple of my childhood, did not enjoy the graphic novel as much, since a lot of important scenes were just not there. I did not like the art of this one very much, it’s clear that Artist does not know how to accurately draw children, or a variety of women, for that matter. Three other named women/girls (excluding Kerry) in this book are all blonde with high ponytails - Samantha, Lauren, and Amy have no visual differentiation between them. I’m convinced these characters were not all described as blonde with high ponytails in the books. James looks about 17 in all his panels honestly. I think this is genuinely a failure on the publishers part by choosing this artist for this graphic novel, you’d think if most of the characters are kids you’d choose an artist who doesn’t draw 9 year olds like they’re 15 and 16 year olds like 22 year old women.
January 15, 2020
The original novels are some of my favourite books from when I was a kid, so a graphic novel? Of a favourite book? I was Excited.
The issue is that this is just too short for eveything it needs to include. I can see this format working for later books in the series, but trying to cram James' backstory AND basic training AND his first mission into this short a book just doesn't work for me. It was lovely seeing some iconic characters again, but it made me want to reread the novel just so I wasn't relying on memories of how this whole world works.
The art style is fab though, not something I usually enjoy but it works great! It leans far more comic book than graphic novel, which definitely brings the more action focused scenes to life.
The issue is that this is just too short for eveything it needs to include. I can see this format working for later books in the series, but trying to cram James' backstory AND basic training AND his first mission into this short a book just doesn't work for me. It was lovely seeing some iconic characters again, but it made me want to reread the novel just so I wasn't relying on memories of how this whole world works.
The art style is fab though, not something I usually enjoy but it works great! It leans far more comic book than graphic novel, which definitely brings the more action focused scenes to life.
July 22, 2020
Cette fois-ci on est dans un peu plus toff. Un ado impulsif se fait arrêter par la police pour vole à l'étalage. Son impulsivité et la rage qu'il a à l'intérieur de lui, lui nuit énormément. Il est à la croisée des chemins. Va t'il tombé dans la délinquance ou ...ou quoi. Il aimerait bien savoir quoi. Il se réveille alors dans une institution, Cherub. Une institution qui lui offre une formation pour devenir agent secret pour sa majesté. Va t-il choisir ce mode de vie? Et si oui, peut-il réussir les épreuves pour devenir agent? C'est une très bonne BD pour les 16 ans et plus. Si vous aimez les James Bond, vous allez aimer cette série.
February 18, 2019
First book in the series that I've read. The plot is a little slow moving. I would have preferred less background and more of a CHERUB mission. I'm willing to read another one to see if the action picks up a little.
April 14, 2022
J'ai adoooré la saga de livres, vraiment géniale.
La BD est dans la même veine, les dessins sont assez originaux et suivent l'histoire. Même s'ils ne représentent pas les personnages comme je les avais imaginé j'ai adoré voir comment c'était dessiné, une très jolie BD quand on a aimé la saga originale.
La BD est dans la même veine, les dessins sont assez originaux et suivent l'histoire. Même s'ils ne représentent pas les personnages comme je les avais imaginé j'ai adoré voir comment c'était dessiné, une très jolie BD quand on a aimé la saga originale.
June 26, 2017
I'm so happy that they have basically stuck to the story. I love the series and am definitely going to carry on with this.
December 19, 2017
Didn’t excite me, story line is pretty predictable but still good concept and execution...
December 31, 2018
I found out after reading that this is based on a book series. This makes sense, in hindsight.
February 3, 2019
Starten var litt seig. Får lyst til å lese meir i cherub-serien.
February 25, 2019
Don't normally read graphic novels but as a big fan of The Recruit I gave it a try. It didn't disappoint.
August 4, 2020
Don't let your kids read this crap, folks.
October 11, 2020
Just read my other rating for this one is the same as the recruit but a graphic novel version
March 4, 2021
very good book with action-packed stories
Read
June 20, 2021No
October 25, 2022
Read this book before and enjoyed it, now just wanting to see the graphic novel
January 11, 2023
A great alternative to reading the full book or for those that want help picturing the whole story.
January 17, 2024
Je m'attendais à mieux
March 2, 2025
not as good as the original goes by the best part which is campus and training
May 9, 2025
graphic novels are difficult to rate but i enjoyed it interesting plot fun designs
Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews