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Choose Your Own Adventure #38
Sabotage
The reader is given the task of penetrating Nazi German lines, journeying through occupied France in 1942, and rescuing members of the Resistance trapped in the Alps
132 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
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About the author
Jay Leibold
36 books4 followersPseudonym used by Jay Montavon. Author of fifteen books in the original Choose Your Own Adventure series, including the five-book "Secret of the Ninja" saga.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 6, 2026
He would go on to author several somewhat memorable Choose Your Own Adventures including Spy for George Washington, The Antimatter Formula, You Are a Millionaire, and The Search for Aladdin's Lamp, but Jay Leibold's first attempt at the series was Sabotage, a World War II thriller. As a freedom fighter for the Allies, you are working with a pair of French Resistance agents named Simone and Raoul. Colonel de Grelle assigns you to rescue Jean-Paul and Marie LaRoche, French agents captured by Herr Kruptsch and his Nazis. An unknown double-agent is plotting against you, so how should you proceed?
Raoul and Simone disagree how to approach Baderhoff Castle in the Bavarian Alps, where Jean-Paul and Marie are being held. Side with Raoul and disguise yourself as fishermen, and you'll have to outwit a German patrol. Succeed, and you’re soon zooming along the countryside in an automobile that breaks down. A farmer offers overnight accommodations, but should you accept? Decline politely, and Raoul suffers an injury on the long walk ahead. A monastery may hide you from the Nazis, but if Kruptsch shows up will you be able to escape? Maybe you bypassed the monastery and continued to Baderhoff Castle, where you’ll read a secret note de Grelle entrusted to only you. It identifies the traitor in your midst, but will that help you free Jean-Paul and Marie? If you stayed with the farmer earlier, Kruptsch tracks you down. At gunpoint, will you spill the secrets you know? Stay mum, and Kruptsch sends you away by automobile, but a daring escape is possible. You'll end up deserted in the Alps, but might you reunite with Jean-Paul and Marie out here? The option exists to commandeer an armored military tank; will anyone be able to stop you in it?
Agree to Simone's plan near the start, and you three parachute into the Alps to rescue Jean-Paul and Marie. German Alpencorps soldiers are hot on your tail, but Simone is skilled at traversing mountains. Survive the numbing trek to Baderhoff Castle, and you'll choose from multiple entry strategies. In one story branch, you either trick the traitor into revealing key information, or lock the traitor in a cell. Perhaps you initially mounted your assault on Baderhoff Castle by scaling the roof several floors up; you could smash through a glass skylight to retake Jean-Paul and Marie from the guards. If instead you entered disguised as German military, there are other ways to free the prisoners. Much earlier, if you relied on Raoul's expertise in the mountain blizzard rather than Simone's, you struggle to remain ahead of the Alpencorps. Stay on your feet past the point of exhaustion and you might find a cabin for shelter, as well as the major lucky break your weary body is begging for. At Baderhoff Castle you sneak around setting up explosives for after you locate Jean-Paul and Marie, but one small mistake could equal a violent end.
Sabotage is straightforward: break into Baderhoff Castle, emancipate Jean-Paul and Marie, then evacuate. Several storylines cover the same plot points, but there's enough variety to keep the reader entertained awhile. The best comparison through the first thirty-eight original Choose Your Own Adventures is R.A. Montgomery's Escape, another book with minimal surprise but a steady narrative. Sabotage wasn't a bad start for Jay Leibold, and his writing would evolve to be more exciting.
Raoul and Simone disagree how to approach Baderhoff Castle in the Bavarian Alps, where Jean-Paul and Marie are being held. Side with Raoul and disguise yourself as fishermen, and you'll have to outwit a German patrol. Succeed, and you’re soon zooming along the countryside in an automobile that breaks down. A farmer offers overnight accommodations, but should you accept? Decline politely, and Raoul suffers an injury on the long walk ahead. A monastery may hide you from the Nazis, but if Kruptsch shows up will you be able to escape? Maybe you bypassed the monastery and continued to Baderhoff Castle, where you’ll read a secret note de Grelle entrusted to only you. It identifies the traitor in your midst, but will that help you free Jean-Paul and Marie? If you stayed with the farmer earlier, Kruptsch tracks you down. At gunpoint, will you spill the secrets you know? Stay mum, and Kruptsch sends you away by automobile, but a daring escape is possible. You'll end up deserted in the Alps, but might you reunite with Jean-Paul and Marie out here? The option exists to commandeer an armored military tank; will anyone be able to stop you in it?
Agree to Simone's plan near the start, and you three parachute into the Alps to rescue Jean-Paul and Marie. German Alpencorps soldiers are hot on your tail, but Simone is skilled at traversing mountains. Survive the numbing trek to Baderhoff Castle, and you'll choose from multiple entry strategies. In one story branch, you either trick the traitor into revealing key information, or lock the traitor in a cell. Perhaps you initially mounted your assault on Baderhoff Castle by scaling the roof several floors up; you could smash through a glass skylight to retake Jean-Paul and Marie from the guards. If instead you entered disguised as German military, there are other ways to free the prisoners. Much earlier, if you relied on Raoul's expertise in the mountain blizzard rather than Simone's, you struggle to remain ahead of the Alpencorps. Stay on your feet past the point of exhaustion and you might find a cabin for shelter, as well as the major lucky break your weary body is begging for. At Baderhoff Castle you sneak around setting up explosives for after you locate Jean-Paul and Marie, but one small mistake could equal a violent end.
Sabotage is straightforward: break into Baderhoff Castle, emancipate Jean-Paul and Marie, then evacuate. Several storylines cover the same plot points, but there's enough variety to keep the reader entertained awhile. The best comparison through the first thirty-eight original Choose Your Own Adventures is R.A. Montgomery's Escape, another book with minimal surprise but a steady narrative. Sabotage wasn't a bad start for Jay Leibold, and his writing would evolve to be more exciting.
December 10, 2015
Casablanca 1942, eres un importante miembro de la resistencia Francesa, uno de tus camaradas te encomienda la misión de rescate de dos compañeros, retenidos por la Gestapo en un castillo situado en los Alpes Suizos.
Claramente, ' Sabotaje' se trata de una obra de R.A. Montgomery bajo el seudónimo de Jay Leibold ( a pesar de no ponerlo en los créditos interiores), ya que aborda un tema bélico relevante de forma realista y coherente, como es habitual en éste autor y co escritor de la mitad de libros de la serie.
A lo largo de las páginas nos encontraremos con opciones a elegir que serán decisivas para el éxito de nuestra misión; todas las opciones tienen su consecuencia coherente ( he hecho varias aventuras y he podido comprobarlo. En unas aventuras iremos por mar, aire o carretera, escalaremos, activaremos bombas, nos infiltraremos como nazis o nos haremos pasar como monjes,descubriremos agentes dobles, nos enfrentaremos a trampas,encrucijadas, persecuciones y tiroteos, aludes y otros riesgos que hay en los parajes naturales, camino de los Alpes, etc..
A pesar de tener un numero elevado de soluciones (39), las aventuras son semi largas y están bastante bien desarrolladas, y en el caso de ser más escuetas, bien resueltas. Una cosa que me ha sorprendido ha sido que, tratándose de Montgomery, no haya hecho una introducción más larga a nivel histórico..por lo demás, el resto es 'marca de la casa': serio, sobrio, realista, entretenido y coherente..¿ qué más se puede pedir para un niño?
Recomendado para los chavales que quiera vivir una aventurita en la segunda guerra mundial. Montgomery nunca falla.
Claramente, ' Sabotaje' se trata de una obra de R.A. Montgomery bajo el seudónimo de Jay Leibold ( a pesar de no ponerlo en los créditos interiores), ya que aborda un tema bélico relevante de forma realista y coherente, como es habitual en éste autor y co escritor de la mitad de libros de la serie.
A lo largo de las páginas nos encontraremos con opciones a elegir que serán decisivas para el éxito de nuestra misión; todas las opciones tienen su consecuencia coherente ( he hecho varias aventuras y he podido comprobarlo. En unas aventuras iremos por mar, aire o carretera, escalaremos, activaremos bombas, nos infiltraremos como nazis o nos haremos pasar como monjes,descubriremos agentes dobles, nos enfrentaremos a trampas,encrucijadas, persecuciones y tiroteos, aludes y otros riesgos que hay en los parajes naturales, camino de los Alpes, etc..
A pesar de tener un numero elevado de soluciones (39), las aventuras son semi largas y están bastante bien desarrolladas, y en el caso de ser más escuetas, bien resueltas. Una cosa que me ha sorprendido ha sido que, tratándose de Montgomery, no haya hecho una introducción más larga a nivel histórico..por lo demás, el resto es 'marca de la casa': serio, sobrio, realista, entretenido y coherente..¿ qué más se puede pedir para un niño?
Recomendado para los chavales que quiera vivir una aventurita en la segunda guerra mundial. Montgomery nunca falla.
July 5, 2020
La serie de Elige tu propia aventura es, literalmente, un clásico de nuestra infancia. He releído algunos, años después, y me parecen un poco cortos de miras, limitados en las posibilidades, pero cuando tenía 10 años cada uno de ellos era una maravilla lista para ser explorada hasta que hubiera dado todo lo que tenía dentro.
Al final siempre sabías que ibas a recorrer todos y cada uno de los caminos posibles. La emoción estaba, por tanto, en ganar y pasarte la historia al primer intento. Si no podías, pues nada, seguro que en el intento 18 acababas encontrando el camino. A veces los autores iban "a pillar", poniéndote los resultados buenos detrás de decisiones que eran claramente anómalas.
Recuerdo haber aprendido tanto palabras como hechos y datos en estos libros. No nadar contra la corriente cuando quieres llegar a tierra, dónde colocarse cuando un avión va a despegar, un montón de cosas interesantes y un montón de historias vividas, decenas por cada libro, que convirtieron a las serie en una colección fractal, donde cada vez podías elegir un libro nuevo entre los que ya tenías.
Llegué hasta el tomo 54 y dejé de tener interés por la serie, pero la serie siguió hasta superar los 180 títulos. Tal vez mis hijos quieran seguir el camino que yo empecé. Si quieres que lo sigan, pasa a la página 7.
Al final siempre sabías que ibas a recorrer todos y cada uno de los caminos posibles. La emoción estaba, por tanto, en ganar y pasarte la historia al primer intento. Si no podías, pues nada, seguro que en el intento 18 acababas encontrando el camino. A veces los autores iban "a pillar", poniéndote los resultados buenos detrás de decisiones que eran claramente anómalas.
Recuerdo haber aprendido tanto palabras como hechos y datos en estos libros. No nadar contra la corriente cuando quieres llegar a tierra, dónde colocarse cuando un avión va a despegar, un montón de cosas interesantes y un montón de historias vividas, decenas por cada libro, que convirtieron a las serie en una colección fractal, donde cada vez podías elegir un libro nuevo entre los que ya tenías.
Llegué hasta el tomo 54 y dejé de tener interés por la serie, pero la serie siguió hasta superar los 180 títulos. Tal vez mis hijos quieran seguir el camino que yo empecé. Si quieres que lo sigan, pasa a la página 7.
April 26, 2023
Always love these books and all the different and crazy endings!
June 18, 2012
Historical fiction isn't usually my area of interest but Sabotage (Choose Your Own Adventure #38) by Jay Leibold turned out to be one of my favorite books of the series. The plot follows you and two other French Resistance fighters in 1942 on your secret mission to sneak into a Nazi occupied castle in Switzerland and free a pair of your friends who may or may not be held by your arch-nemesis Herr Kruptsch. Should you choose to cross the border via a beat up old fishing steamer or do it by parachuting from a reconnaissance plane? Should you hide out with your injured friend in a monastery or in the small town just past it? Horse or bicycle? Train or motorcycle? The decisions in this book are good, tough choices. And there are plenty of ways to succeed in your mission so you can feel free to choose the path you want without worrying, for the most part, that your adventure will end on the very next page. I really enjoyed getting into the role of these characters. You can hijack tanks, try to figure out if there's a traitor, or pull a friend up onto a rooftop and risk falling as well or follow their suggestion and hope they grab the roof ledge.
The continuity is very good and makes for a feeling of hurried desperation because if you take too long, say, trying to to find where your friends are located in the castle it might be too late by the time you get there. Even with the good continuity there are still some random moments at play like when choosing one path leads to the Nazi Alpencorps dogs ambushing you and the other has you stumbling across an old shepard's place that smells like sheep and confuses the dogs owners. I thought the fellow resistance fighters with you had some nice characterization bits and the art by Ralph Reese is absolutely fine and does a very good job of portraying the exciting bits without spoiling everything in the text. It's a little cartoony (it is a children's book) but not overly so.
There's only one thing that irked me while reading Sabotage. There is one path where you escape from your current predicament and are told you are going to carry on your mission but then it says THE END. I've seen this in lots of other CYOA books and always feel cheated. It stands out in this book because it only happens once. All other paths go out of their way to lead you back to the mission and let you continue your adventure. This book's 132 pages long, which makes it one of the longest in the series (that I've read). Also I found it odd that the map in the beginning of the book doesn't have Casablanca on it since that's where the story opens. Those are the strongest complaints I can find. This really is a well-crafted book!
The continuity is very good and makes for a feeling of hurried desperation because if you take too long, say, trying to to find where your friends are located in the castle it might be too late by the time you get there. Even with the good continuity there are still some random moments at play like when choosing one path leads to the Nazi Alpencorps dogs ambushing you and the other has you stumbling across an old shepard's place that smells like sheep and confuses the dogs owners. I thought the fellow resistance fighters with you had some nice characterization bits and the art by Ralph Reese is absolutely fine and does a very good job of portraying the exciting bits without spoiling everything in the text. It's a little cartoony (it is a children's book) but not overly so.
There's only one thing that irked me while reading Sabotage. There is one path where you escape from your current predicament and are told you are going to carry on your mission but then it says THE END. I've seen this in lots of other CYOA books and always feel cheated. It stands out in this book because it only happens once. All other paths go out of their way to lead you back to the mission and let you continue your adventure. This book's 132 pages long, which makes it one of the longest in the series (that I've read). Also I found it odd that the map in the beginning of the book doesn't have Casablanca on it since that's where the story opens. Those are the strongest complaints I can find. This really is a well-crafted book!
December 17, 2008
I read scores of 'Choose Your Own Adventure' books and similar 'text based adventure' series during the craze in elementary school and junior high.
This one, which casts you as a resistance fighter conducting an alpine raid against the Nazis, was always one of my favorites.
IMO, A good 'Choose Your Own Adventure' book has the following qualities - lots of oppurtunities to make choices, a large number of possible endings, a few surprising twists that add readability, and some sort of internal logic that lets you correctly guess at least most of the time which path leads to the most satisfying rewards. 'Sabotage' succeeds on all counts.
This one, which casts you as a resistance fighter conducting an alpine raid against the Nazis, was always one of my favorites.
IMO, A good 'Choose Your Own Adventure' book has the following qualities - lots of oppurtunities to make choices, a large number of possible endings, a few surprising twists that add readability, and some sort of internal logic that lets you correctly guess at least most of the time which path leads to the most satisfying rewards. 'Sabotage' succeeds on all counts.
December 21, 2010
Kind of annoying.
June 30, 2024
bueno estoy segura de que todavia me quedan algunos finales que no exploré, pero no quiero bajarme todo el libro ya de una. la verdad que estuvo muy bueno. me hubiera gustado que a lo mejor el doble espia fuera cambiando segun las aventuras, porque una vez que ya lo descubri en mi primera aventura, ya sabia siempre que era el (aunque tenia la esperanza de que lo cambiaran).
mas alla de eso, muy buen libro, super entretenido y me dio a entender que no tenes que confiar en ninguna de las veces que se te acerca un extraño a ayudarte (porque plot twist!! obviamente es un nazi escondido ajsja)
mas alla de eso, muy buen libro, super entretenido y me dio a entender que no tenes que confiar en ninguna de las veces que se te acerca un extraño a ayudarte (porque plot twist!! obviamente es un nazi escondido ajsja)
April 13, 2020
Espionage! Kicking some nazi ass! Double crossing! Murder! Train hijacking! What more could you ask for!?
August 11, 2025
La puta me re regalé enseguida
December 11, 2007
This Choose Your Own Adventure book (the first one I was exposed to) pits you, the reader, against Herr Krupstch, a Nazi henchman who looks sort of like Richard Widmark and Sydney Greenstreet.
April 29, 2011
Adventure #38 of the 'Choose your own adventure' series, Sabotage... in these books the reader gets to be the central character by choosing what path the tale follows through a variety of endings...
October 14, 2025
Un poco predecible cuando descubrís al doble espía.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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