Black Op

by Tom Palmer

The Squad are kickass teenage spies with the perfect cover. Part of an England youth football team, The Squad is sent to wherever trouble is kicking off. In their first adventure, the young secret agents find themselves in Krakow, Poland, just before the Euro 2012 tournament begins.

208 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2012

Reviews

[16beardonj · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a adventure book. It is the second in the series. I liked the book as it involved football and a bit of adventure. It was exciting to see how the conquered the troubles. The ending had a good plot twist. I would recommend this to people who like football and a bit of adventure. The age range in my opinion would be anyone 9+.

[16daviso · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very good and had a good twist. There was some children spies and had to go and play football to get into a country so they can spy on people due to a suspected terror attack

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bedtime reading with the kids. We really enjoyed this book. It ticked their love for spying, kids and football, which kept them both interested and wanting me to read on further. An unforeseen twist near the end. A little far fetched (being kids) but loved the whole sense of the story. Look forward to reading more in this series!

[Declan ó · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book cause it hase lot of action. It is about a football detective who aolves crime

[Sy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Squad: Black Op is a chapter book aimed at 10-14 year olds. The Squad is part of a series of books written by author Tom Palmer, aimed at encouraging more boys to read for pleasure. Well, what better way to encourage boys to read a book then by making it about football and spies!

That said, with plenty of action, different locations and an interesting, exciting, and suspenseful storyline, The Squad: Black Op has enough to appeal to both boys and girls alike. So what is it about? The story is about a ‘squad’ of spies, five teenagers, who share a painful secret that binds them together, both as friends and as partners on their mission to right the wrongs of the world. One of these wrongs leads the squad on an extremely dangerous and exciting mission that tests their spy ability and friendship to the end.

Aside from the age of the spies, the story is grounded in reality with the locations, events and equipment all being real. The description of the action in the story is extremely realistic and not for the younger child. The story is paced well with a combination of action and down time when the squad are engaging in the things that normal teenagers do or planning for their mission.

In schools the story could be used to explore the idea of spies and there often glamorized, but dangerous and important role. Children can write a dairy entry from a spy’s day or even a story about spies, a world that lends its self well to imaginative thinking and descriptive writing. Teachers could also use the story as a stimulus in P4C to discuss what the role of spies may tell us about the world we live in.

[Akin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. Rather formulaic, with very stilted characterisation. It feels to me that the book suffered from the author's need/wish to spread out his protagonists across 'The Squad'. To be fair, nine-year-old co-reader enjoyed it, and certainly got caught up in the tension of the last quarter. But we both agreed that it wasn't a patch on Palmer's other, excellent, books for young readers.

(Interesting side issue: unlike the complete implausibility of other spy books/films/series for children ('Spy Kids' for instance, or the Alex Rider series) the protagonists encounter and experience real mortal peril here. I'm not sure whether the internal logic of kid spies - kid spies without weaponry, as it happens - justifies this particular flight of fancy. That aside, just think of what the 'ealth & Safety brigade would make of all these shenanigans ;) )

[Emma Radford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Black Op is a great spy thriller with a footie twist! (Great for football fans but as a complete novice I football I still thoroughly enjoyed). I loved the characters and engaged well with them all. Each of the children was believable and the relationships are explored sensitively. The fine line between loyalty and betrayal, with issues of leadership, are dealt with realistically and emotionally. This is a fast- paced book that does not sacrifice human emotion for the sake of cheap thrills but explores complex issues on just the right level. A superb book to get our younger audiences reading - but certainly has enough in it to engage an adult audience too!

[Nikki Heath · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous-cant wait to start the next one with my son!

[Deborah Kelty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Glad I got to read this! It's pretty good.