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Choose Your Own Adventure #20
[Escape (Choose Your Own Adventure #8)] [By: R. A. Montgomery] [May, 2006]
THE YEAR IS 2045. CIVIL WARS AND FOREIGN ATTACKS HAVE SPLIT THE U.S. INTO THREE HOSTILE POLITICAL AREAS. CAN YOU MAKE IT HOME FROM YOUR SECRET MISSION IN TIME TO HELP? A once-proud country governed by freedom is torn apart. One section, Dorado, dominates the others with harsh police-state tactics. You are from Turtalia, a new democracy, and you are returning there with important information about Doradan's plans to invade. Two others, Matt and Mimla, join you in escaping to Turtalia. The Doradan underground has helped the three of you get as far as Albuquerque, but now you are on your own. They?re closing in on us, Matt says tensely. I can feel it. There is no sign of the Secret Police on the horizon; but you know they could appear at any moment. They are relentless killers. If you decide to follow Matt's suggestion to return to town to avoid capture, turn to page 10. YOU choose what happens next!
Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
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404 people want to read
About the author
R.A. Montgomery
156 books119 followersRaymond A. Montgomery (born 1936 in Connecticut) was an author and progenitor of the classic Choose Your Own Adventure interactive children's book series, which ran from 1979 to 2003. Montgomery graduated from Williams College and went to graduate school at Yale University and New York University (NYU). He devoted his life to teaching and education.
In 2004, he co-founded the Chooseco publishing company alongside his wife, fellow author/publisher Shannon Gilligan, with the goal of reviving the CYOA series with new novels and reissued editions of the classics.
He continued to write and publish until his death in 2014.
In 2004, he co-founded the Chooseco publishing company alongside his wife, fellow author/publisher Shannon Gilligan, with the goal of reviving the CYOA series with new novels and reissued editions of the classics.
He continued to write and publish until his death in 2014.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
July 30, 2022
Other than Deadwood City, which I keep looking for and pining after, this has got to be one of the best CYOA books I've run across. It was apparently first published in 1983, but I do not remember this one as a kid and I recall most of the ones I had. I came across the republished version put out by Chooseco.
Anyway, I'm often interested in dystopian stories. For a kids book, this had some pretty heady stuff. Dang. So the set up is the US has broken up into three different nations: (1) Turtalia (the last surviving democracy; (2) Rebellium, which is in a constant state of falling apart again and a loose conglomerate of city states; and (3) Dorado, a "repressive police state." You are a secret agent for Turtalia. You and a small group are trying to escape Dorado, having obtained some secret plans that Dorado has for invading Turtalia.
Lots of good choices and intrigue. It kept me interested enough that I kept reading and going back to try different paths.
This one has catapulted itself into one of my favorites.
Anyway, I'm often interested in dystopian stories. For a kids book, this had some pretty heady stuff. Dang. So the set up is the US has broken up into three different nations: (1) Turtalia (the last surviving democracy; (2) Rebellium, which is in a constant state of falling apart again and a loose conglomerate of city states; and (3) Dorado, a "repressive police state." You are a secret agent for Turtalia. You and a small group are trying to escape Dorado, having obtained some secret plans that Dorado has for invading Turtalia.
Lots of good choices and intrigue. It kept me interested enough that I kept reading and going back to try different paths.
This one has catapulted itself into one of my favorites.
October 15, 2007
This was my very favorite Choose Your Own Adventure book, hands-down. Which is weird, since I was totally terrified of most other mid-80s very-obviously-after-nuclear-war-American-dystopia stories, but I read and re-read this until it just about fell apart. Anyway, you're some sort of underage secret agent from one of the three smaller nations that the USA was divided up into post-war, and you lead a mission into one of the other new countries, which is a totalitarian regime (you know this because they have the word "totalitarian" right there in their national motto; subtlety was never a staple of the CYOA series). Anyway, espionagey antics ensue, and you die in about every other ending. It was all kinds of rad.
August 6, 2017
En el argumento de la obra maestra de Montgomery, y quizá la mejor obra de la serie, nos topamos con que los E.E.U.U han quedado divididos en tres estados fronterizos rivales: Dorado, Rebellium y Turtalia. A ti te tocará, como protagonista y cabecilla de la Rebelión de Turtalia que recién se ha fugado de la cárcel del estado de Dorado, la misión de llegar sano y a salvo junto al resto de tu grupo a vuestro estado.
Uno de mis libros favoritos de ésta clásica serie, Con un argumento acerca de rebeliones y estados en combate.La introducción es más larga de lo normal en lo que es el general dentro de la serie, Montgomery te esboza perfectamente el conflicto existente y el marco de fondo peligroso y tenso de un mundo futuro lleno de guerra entre supuestos hermanos, además, los personajes son carismáticos pero realistas, y todo el conjunto hace que te adentres inmediatamente en el aura realista y absolutamente cabal del conflicto. Pasarás por una aventura trepidante pero austera al mismo tiempo, al límite del peligro pero que igualmente te dejará disfrutar, y mucho , tanto de su calidad narrativa como de su desarrollo ágil, entretenido, a la vez que muy plausible.
Siempre pensé que hubiese sido una gran narración para un libro al uso. Una de las obras de la serie más serias y bien ejecutadas. Otros de los pesares que tengo es que no hizo un spin off de éste título, y eso que daba para mucho...ya lo creo.
En resumen, y lo ratifico, Uno de mis libros favoritos de ésta clásica serie, Con un argumento acerca de rebeliones y estados en combate. Siempre pensé que hubiese sido una gran narración en un libro. Uno de los libros de la serie más serios y bien ejecutados. Una lectura imprescindible.
November 26, 2018
Curses! Foiled again.
I thought I was doing well this time. See, I have to give it to Escape. In Escape, you start off with a clear objective. You're an escaped POW(?) with a small group of others trying to, well, Escape. Your destination is Denver. This is WAY better than that stupid space one I read, where it's like, "Which planet do you want to go to, which time period, what pants should you wear?"
Nobody cares about that crap. Plus, when the decisions are totally arbitrary, can I be responsible for the consequences? When it's push a yellow button or a blue button, and when I pick wrong, is that my fault?
Anyway, Escape was one of the better titles so far. At least there was a point A and a point B, even if the stuff in between was pretty hard to figure.
It also had a great ending that really sums up all of these books: "Your last thought is, 'Why can't the world be peaceful?'"
I thought I was doing well this time. See, I have to give it to Escape. In Escape, you start off with a clear objective. You're an escaped POW(?) with a small group of others trying to, well, Escape. Your destination is Denver. This is WAY better than that stupid space one I read, where it's like, "Which planet do you want to go to, which time period, what pants should you wear?"
Nobody cares about that crap. Plus, when the decisions are totally arbitrary, can I be responsible for the consequences? When it's push a yellow button or a blue button, and when I pick wrong, is that my fault?
Anyway, Escape was one of the better titles so far. At least there was a point A and a point B, even if the stuff in between was pretty hard to figure.
It also had a great ending that really sums up all of these books: "Your last thought is, 'Why can't the world be peaceful?'"
April 2, 2022
Meu Deus! Que livro maravilhoso! Eu não estava esperando um livro assim. Eu nunca tinha visto um livro onde literalmente eu escolho o que vai rolar nele. O mais legal é que eu posso criar vários finais para a mesma história. Foi muito divertido todos as decisões que tomei (algumas muito difíceis rsrsrs). Eu literalmente me senti dentro do livro, como se tudo realmente existisse e Eu era o capitão. Amei esse tipo de livro. quero ver se acho mais. É um bom passa tempo. A leitura é rápida e bastante prazerosa.
July 2, 2025
Escape envisions a United States divided by cultural hostilities into three regions: Dorado, Rebellium, and Turtalia. The year is 2035, and you were heading up a Turtalian spy mission in Doradan territory when the Secret Police nabbed you. After escaping custody, you and fellow resistance leaders Mimla, Matt, and Haven are waiting in the desert for a rescue airplane, but the pilot is late. Soon, Doradan officers will catch up to you. Is it wiser to wait for the plane, or sneak back into town and devise another method of escape to the Turtalian capital of Denver?
The Windmaster plane eventually arrives, but the pilot, Bill, suffers a heart attack. Are you willing to try flying the plane with enemies firing on you? Violent stormclouds brew, and you could easily collide with an obscured mountain peak en route to Denver. Risking a radio distress call from the air to Turtalia might draw Doradan pilots right to you, and you have to deal with your fellow escapee Haven, a nervous man prone to blunders. Is he inept, or a Doradan mole? If the enemy confirms your location in the air, death is imminent unless you trick them using stolen spy codes. Fortune favors the bold, but any wrong move can get you blown out of the sky. If you're forced into a crash landing, you can migrate to Denver on foot, but Bill is in no condition to travel. Should you stash him in a sheltered spot and leave without him? Perhaps you never attempted to pilot the Windmaster, and instead took off with Mimla, Matt, and Haven in a 2005 Chevy Blazer truck. Out in the desert you're exposed to aircraft; you can try to blend in with Doradan traffic on Highway 56, or cut across treacherous Satan Pass. The farther you go in the mountains the less likely you'll be apprehended, but be on the lookout for a strong ally to help get you the rest of the way home.
Abandon from the very start the idea of waiting for the Windmaster plane, and you, Mimla, Matt, and Haven end up hiding across from Doradan Secret Police headquarters in Albuquerque at the house of a Turtalian sympathizer named Julio. You can't linger in New Mexico; try the flatland evacuation route and you find yourself relying on fake IDs to get past security checkpoints. When you pass an unattended jeep, should you steal it or continue on foot? Maybe you'd rather take the arduous mountain route to Denver, but before you leave Julio’s house, a man leaves a message claiming there's a traitor in your midst. Do you believe him? If Julio knocks at his house's front door and claims he's forgotten the password, should you accept his excuse or leave him outside where soldiers shoot curfew violators? The only way to survive and someday possibly reunite America is to make it to Denver, but there are lots of painful bumps on the road.
This book is more disciplined than most R.A. Montgomery entries in the first twenty classic Choose Your Own Adventures. The premise is simple: complete your escape from Dorado to Denver. You don't make it all the way in every good ending, but as long as you're safe from immediate execution, you've accomplished your goal as far as this book is concerned. Reforming the broken United States is another matter, one you'll learn more about in Beyond Escape!, Choose Your Own Adventure book sixty-one. As for Escape, there could be more surprises and narrative variety, but it may be Montgomery's second-best book to this point in the series, behind The Race Forever. Pull Escape off the shelf when you want fast action without much baggage.
The Windmaster plane eventually arrives, but the pilot, Bill, suffers a heart attack. Are you willing to try flying the plane with enemies firing on you? Violent stormclouds brew, and you could easily collide with an obscured mountain peak en route to Denver. Risking a radio distress call from the air to Turtalia might draw Doradan pilots right to you, and you have to deal with your fellow escapee Haven, a nervous man prone to blunders. Is he inept, or a Doradan mole? If the enemy confirms your location in the air, death is imminent unless you trick them using stolen spy codes. Fortune favors the bold, but any wrong move can get you blown out of the sky. If you're forced into a crash landing, you can migrate to Denver on foot, but Bill is in no condition to travel. Should you stash him in a sheltered spot and leave without him? Perhaps you never attempted to pilot the Windmaster, and instead took off with Mimla, Matt, and Haven in a 2005 Chevy Blazer truck. Out in the desert you're exposed to aircraft; you can try to blend in with Doradan traffic on Highway 56, or cut across treacherous Satan Pass. The farther you go in the mountains the less likely you'll be apprehended, but be on the lookout for a strong ally to help get you the rest of the way home.
Abandon from the very start the idea of waiting for the Windmaster plane, and you, Mimla, Matt, and Haven end up hiding across from Doradan Secret Police headquarters in Albuquerque at the house of a Turtalian sympathizer named Julio. You can't linger in New Mexico; try the flatland evacuation route and you find yourself relying on fake IDs to get past security checkpoints. When you pass an unattended jeep, should you steal it or continue on foot? Maybe you'd rather take the arduous mountain route to Denver, but before you leave Julio’s house, a man leaves a message claiming there's a traitor in your midst. Do you believe him? If Julio knocks at his house's front door and claims he's forgotten the password, should you accept his excuse or leave him outside where soldiers shoot curfew violators? The only way to survive and someday possibly reunite America is to make it to Denver, but there are lots of painful bumps on the road.
This book is more disciplined than most R.A. Montgomery entries in the first twenty classic Choose Your Own Adventures. The premise is simple: complete your escape from Dorado to Denver. You don't make it all the way in every good ending, but as long as you're safe from immediate execution, you've accomplished your goal as far as this book is concerned. Reforming the broken United States is another matter, one you'll learn more about in Beyond Escape!, Choose Your Own Adventure book sixty-one. As for Escape, there could be more surprises and narrative variety, but it may be Montgomery's second-best book to this point in the series, behind The Race Forever. Pull Escape off the shelf when you want fast action without much baggage.
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.
May 31, 2024
A very interesting concept, I can see why these books would be popular with kids. It was fun, though a lot of the endings were more abrupt than I would’ve liked. But overall, this was a fun new thing to try, definitely different from what I usually read.
October 6, 2010
A vaguely interesting, if cliched, concept about a futuristic world ruled by violent anarchist factions. The reader propels the ultimate story through a series of plot arcs provided throughout.
Although more elaborate than many books of this nature, there are numerous "endings" which are arrived at suddenly with no real resolution (in comparison to the build-up leading to the final scene). Too, upon re-reading the story and opting for a variant story arc, it is revealed that the baseline story is inconsistent. That is, a plot device revealed during one reading (thus validating or negating the benefits of said option) has changed substantially through the alternate choice. Or, the "background story" remains completely arbitrary.
(*SPOILER: In one critical junction, the reader must decide whether or not to wait for an impending rescue flight. Choosing to wait, of course, brings the reader aboard said plane, whereas opting to stay on ground and hide out in a "safe house" reveals that the plane had been shot down some time prior to the decision to retreat.)
Such flaws in the basic story make the reader feel some sense of having been "cheated" out of a cohesive story, although this is only made apparent upon making a different choice. Still, this does lead into wholly different stories within one book.
Although more elaborate than many books of this nature, there are numerous "endings" which are arrived at suddenly with no real resolution (in comparison to the build-up leading to the final scene). Too, upon re-reading the story and opting for a variant story arc, it is revealed that the baseline story is inconsistent. That is, a plot device revealed during one reading (thus validating or negating the benefits of said option) has changed substantially through the alternate choice. Or, the "background story" remains completely arbitrary.
(*SPOILER: In one critical junction, the reader must decide whether or not to wait for an impending rescue flight. Choosing to wait, of course, brings the reader aboard said plane, whereas opting to stay on ground and hide out in a "safe house" reveals that the plane had been shot down some time prior to the decision to retreat.)
Such flaws in the basic story make the reader feel some sense of having been "cheated" out of a cohesive story, although this is only made apparent upon making a different choice. Still, this does lead into wholly different stories within one book.
May 13, 2010
Fantastic for two reasons:
1. "Totalitarian Freedom Forever."
2. Teaches children that the United States of America is not necessarily a permanent arrangement.
1. "Totalitarian Freedom Forever."
2. Teaches children that the United States of America is not necessarily a permanent arrangement.
January 30, 2019
Escape is, in my opinion, one of the better RA Montgomery-written CYOA adventure books that were released. He avoids going on any flights of fancy and instead focuses on an intense cold-warish storyline about a small group of resistance members who are attempting to escape from imprisonment from a corrupt system.
There are a few paths to follow, some which involve flying a glider, others involving going by ground via vehicle or on foot, and there's even a tense path in which you retreat back into the main city and attempt to hide out in a house while planning your next move.
This is one of those books which, while highly entertaining, leaves you wishing the book was just a little bit longer, or that the author had written a little more on those pages that were mostly illustration with only a small amount of text on them.
If you collect CYOA books you should get this one. Exciting.
There are a few paths to follow, some which involve flying a glider, others involving going by ground via vehicle or on foot, and there's even a tense path in which you retreat back into the main city and attempt to hide out in a house while planning your next move.
This is one of those books which, while highly entertaining, leaves you wishing the book was just a little bit longer, or that the author had written a little more on those pages that were mostly illustration with only a small amount of text on them.
If you collect CYOA books you should get this one. Exciting.
November 1, 2017
You are part of a rebel group that is hiding from Doradan troops. The Year is 2045 and the United States is divided into 3 districts. This is a choose your own adventure book so There are many possible results that you can end up in. I love choose your adventure books because the author puts the reader as the main character. This is great because you make a whole entire new story every time you make a different choice. This is why you could read this book for a long time, you could just read the book when you finish it once and then read it again and just make sure you make a different choice. I honestly would recommend any choose your own adventure book to anyone that likes to read unique books. Any book in this series by R.A Montgomery is a good start or you could start with reading the 20th in the series like me.
April 10, 2019
Choose Your Own Adventure books vary widely in plot and quality of story. This title involves a combination of spy and science fiction story, and for the most part is fairly engaging in the variable story endings. As usual, there are more endings that end badly due to bad choices. I came out with only one satisfactory ending.
Readers have to work when reading these. They aren’t exactly leisure reads. It made for a boredom breaker on a long car trip.
Readers have to work when reading these. They aren’t exactly leisure reads. It made for a boredom breaker on a long car trip.
March 22, 2022
So captivating! It was my first time reading a book in which I had to decide what will happen next. You can feel the building tension and then you decided to go for something or somewhere…. you don’t know what you will happen to your characters… maybe you survived , maybe you didn’t. The storyline is so unique and challenging.
February 3, 2019
Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books are always fun. This one, you can read 27 different stories. I did manage to die the first time in a hail of bullets, but the second time I made it to friendly skies. It's pretty cool. I think I'm going to try to find other endings before I stop reading the book.
April 4, 2020
Far too much flight jargon in this one. Still, it was cool hearing about how the United States split up into three separate countries. Can’t wait for A.D. 2035! (Also, the word “aft” was in this book at least twice!)
April 27, 2022
I just read this while my honors math class was taking a quiz 😅 I haven’t read one of these in forever and it felt a little bit exhilarating to feel in control but being unaware of what consequences would follow. I want my students to read it now and find out what ending they got!
June 22, 2017
Reading these books as an adult is definitely different than reading them as a kid. After about 5 different endings I decided to quit. It was fun while it lasted but it feels very different now.
January 2, 2018
Great adventure book!
June 6, 2018
An abundance of choices and lots of action.
November 11, 2019
It’s okay! Too many of the branches are a bit similar, made it harder to track the story.
July 3, 2020
As a young boy back in the early 80's I enjoyed reading this series of choose your own adventure books!
I would love to purchase a set of these books if they are still available!
I would love to purchase a set of these books if they are still available!
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October 8, 2020I didn't die!
January 30, 2021
one of the best ones of choose your own adventure.
i lasted really long and I got far in this book I got super intended in this.
i lasted really long and I got far in this book I got super intended in this.
July 1, 2022
Seemed realistic.
November 18, 2022
Lots of action, one of the better CYOA I've read for my tween book club.
July 13, 2025
Library reading challenge book. A quick read.
July 26, 2025
One of the better CYOA books in this series. If you are interested in this series/author, try this one. Most of the books in this series are, however, mediocre at best.
August 18, 2025
Remember these from when I was a kid. Still fun to read
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews