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I, Q #4
The Alamo
Fresh off a "too close" encounter with the terrorist group, the Ghost Cell, in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Q and Angela head to San Antonio, Texas. As their parents' band, Match, prepares for a concert at the Alamo, the two discover that the Ghost Cell has its tentacles everywhere, including the Lone Star State. With each passing hour, Q and Angela uncover more clues and discover more leads. And the mysterious Boone and his SOS group leave them with more questions than answers, for there is much more to Boone than meets the eye. With time running out to stop another Ghost Cell attack, Angela and Q and the others begin to wonder. Are they following the Ghost Cell or is the Ghost Cell following them?
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
90 people are currently reading
657 people want to read
About the author
Roland Smith
153 books838 followersRoland Smith is an American author of young adult fiction as well as nonfiction books for children.
Smith was born in Portland, Oregon, and graduated from Portland State University and, following a part-time job at the Oregon Zoo in Portland, began a 20-year career as a zookeeper, both at the Oregon Zoo and the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma, Washington. After working to save wildlife following the Exxon Valdez oil spill, in 1990, he published his first book, Sea Otter Rescue, a non-fiction account of the process of animal rescue. Smith continued to draw upon his zoo experiences for other non-fiction titles, including Journey of the Red Wolf, which won an Oregon Book Award in 1996.
In 1997, Smith published his first novel, Thundercave. The book continues Smith's theme, as teenage protagonist Jacob Lansa follows his biologist father to Africa where the father is researching elephants. The Lansa character also appears in 1999
s Jaguar and 2001's The Last Lobo. Other novels by Smith include The Captain's Dog: My Journey with the Lewis and Clark Tribe, Zach's Lie, Jack's Run, Cryptid Hunters, Sasquatch (novel), about a boy who searches for Bigfoot. Peak, the story of a teenage boy obsessed with climbing mountains, Elephant Run and Tentacles(novel). In 2008, Smith published the first book in the series I, Q, titled Independence Hall. Smith's books have won "Book of the Year" awards in Colorado, Nevada, South Carolina, and Florida, as well as in his native Oregon. Smith lives in Tualatin, Oregon with his wife and stepchildren.
Smith was born in Portland, Oregon, and graduated from Portland State University and, following a part-time job at the Oregon Zoo in Portland, began a 20-year career as a zookeeper, both at the Oregon Zoo and the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma, Washington. After working to save wildlife following the Exxon Valdez oil spill, in 1990, he published his first book, Sea Otter Rescue, a non-fiction account of the process of animal rescue. Smith continued to draw upon his zoo experiences for other non-fiction titles, including Journey of the Red Wolf, which won an Oregon Book Award in 1996.
In 1997, Smith published his first novel, Thundercave. The book continues Smith's theme, as teenage protagonist Jacob Lansa follows his biologist father to Africa where the father is researching elephants. The Lansa character also appears in 1999
s Jaguar and 2001's The Last Lobo. Other novels by Smith include The Captain's Dog: My Journey with the Lewis and Clark Tribe, Zach's Lie, Jack's Run, Cryptid Hunters, Sasquatch (novel), about a boy who searches for Bigfoot. Peak, the story of a teenage boy obsessed with climbing mountains, Elephant Run and Tentacles(novel). In 2008, Smith published the first book in the series I, Q, titled Independence Hall. Smith's books have won "Book of the Year" awards in Colorado, Nevada, South Carolina, and Florida, as well as in his native Oregon. Smith lives in Tualatin, Oregon with his wife and stepchildren.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
January 16, 2024
I think I'm done with this series. I had to force myself to finish this. Adios, IQ series.
August 17, 2014
3.5 stars. Lots of intrigue and SOS (Some Old Spooks) trading blows with the ghost cell. Learned a little more about Tyrone Boone, but raised more questions than answers. Good, but not as good as the last book, Book #3: Kitty Hawk.
Likes:
* P.K. - President's Kid, Willingham Culpepper is smart and sneaky
* X-ray's amazing technological magic
Dislikes:
* Didn't figure out what Q's dad, Speed Paulsen was up to, before they sent him away
With-reservations:
violence, death/murder, terrorists, drugs, kidnapping
Likes:
* P.K. - President's Kid, Willingham Culpepper is smart and sneaky
* X-ray's amazing technological magic
Dislikes:
* Didn't figure out what Q's dad, Speed Paulsen was up to, before they sent him away
With-reservations:
violence, death/murder, terrorists, drugs, kidnapping
December 30, 2013
As with the rest of the IQ. series, this book is fantastic. Perfect for kids (and their parents) interested in how the bigger wider world works (and doesn't). Spradlin has done a fantastic job picking up Roland Smith's style and voice. We look forward to more in this terrific series.
April 11, 2016
Not quite as good as the first three, but still enjoyable. I just really love the characters in this series (especially Crock the dog).
I did like that in this book there seemed to be a shift of focus to all the characters instead of staying mainly on Q's point of view.
I'm intrigued with Boone's back story. Hoping that we soon get answers. I think Angela will get it out of him.
I'm casting the movie in my mind as I read - and I'd definitely love it to become a movie or tv series. Probably not, but I have fun imagining it!
I did like that in this book there seemed to be a shift of focus to all the characters instead of staying mainly on Q's point of view.
I'm intrigued with Boone's back story. Hoping that we soon get answers. I think Angela will get it out of him.
I'm casting the movie in my mind as I read - and I'd definitely love it to become a movie or tv series. Probably not, but I have fun imagining it!
October 9, 2013
I love this series. I don't know why, but I do. I always come back to these when I am feeling unsure about what I want to read. They are quick reads for me and always action packed with Q and Angela on the hunt to help bring down a ghost cell.
June 25, 2014
Very good, scary, and mysterious.
February 20, 2020
The Alamo is a great book. Roland Smith makes the book very real but makes the book entertaining to read. I would recommend this book for anyone 6th-grade and up. The mystery parts of the book are clever and made me want to figure them out. This book seemed to hint another book in the series. I am really looking forward to it. The book would also make sense if you hadn't read the books before it. There were some parts though that were confusing if you hadn't read the books before it like how Speed Paulson was important to the story. All in all, it was a great book.
Other books in the series:
Book 1: Independence Hall
Book 2: The White House
Book 3: Kitty Hawk
Book 4: The Alamo
Book 5: The Windy City
Book 6: Alcatraz
Other books in the series:
Book 1: Independence Hall
Book 2: The White House
Book 3: Kitty Hawk
Book 4: The Alamo
Book 5: The Windy City
Book 6: Alcatraz
October 9, 2017
Q and his step-sister Angela are the children of famous musicians, Blaze and Roger Tucker. Their life isn't that normal, because they travel with their parents when their of tour, but something else about the two teenagers is even more unusual. Angela's mother died int eh Secret Service, before her dad married Q's mother. But what if Angela's mother isn't really dead? She is actually alive and well, posing as a terrorist and trying to attack the ghost cell from the inside. Now Malak Tucker has become one of the five leaders of the cell, but will she be discovered before she and the children can collapse it? I really enjoyed reading this book, but I felt that it was a poor choice to add a co-author. I thought that the books started getting worse as soon as another author joined in the writing. However, overall I enjoyed the book.
January 24, 2018
This book is the fourth one in a series called IQ by Roland Smith. In this book Q and Angela try to order room service but the people who deliver the food are really part if the ghost cell and they kidnap Q and leave Angela with a terrorist in the room in the White house. When Q gets kidnapped he gets taken to the house of one of the leaders of the ghost cell. Q luckily has the same phone as the person who kidnaps him and she leaves her phone mistakenly on the table right in front of Q when she leaves the room. Q then swapped his phone which had been wiped by a member of Boone's team with his kidnappers phone. Soon Q figures out a way to escape his kidnappers and successfully gets away with the phone. He brings the phone back to Boone's team and they unlock a lot of information about the ghost cell that helps them get one step closer o shutting them down.
March 15, 2018
Fresh off a "too close" encounter with the terrorist group, the Ghost Cell, in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Q and Angela head to San Antonio, Texas. As their parents' band, Match, prepares for a concert at the Alamo, the two discover that the Ghost Cell has its tentacles everywhere, including the Lone Star State. With each passing hour, Q and Angela uncover more clues and discover more leads. And the mysterious Boone and his SOS group leave them with more questions than answers, for there is much more to Boone than meets the eye. With time running out to stop another Ghost Cell attack, Angela and Q and the others begin to wonder. Are they following the Ghost Cell or is the Ghost Cell following them?
February 26, 2020
The story line in this book drags a little bit, compared to the first ones, maybe because of the POV changes? Q still gets to narrate in 1st person, but everyone else (and it really seems like just about EVERYONE) is given a turn for their part to be told in 3rd person. The first couple of books were almost exclusively from Q’s point of view with short “asides” in different font to show what was happening wherever Q wasn’t. That stopped in the 3rd book, when the action seemed to split into too many arenas to continue with this format. I guess I understand why they made the changes, but it does make things a little bit clunky, tho once you get used to it, it’s not too hard to follow.
The action definitely amps up as far as what the kids are exposed to - drugged and kidnapped at gunpoint, being told you’re expendable and going to be disposed of, being shot at while traveling at high speed down the highway - somehow Q and Angela seem to be able to keep their heads (mostly) and play an important role in taking out the bad guys in this installment of our story.
The action definitely amps up as far as what the kids are exposed to - drugged and kidnapped at gunpoint, being told you’re expendable and going to be disposed of, being shot at while traveling at high speed down the highway - somehow Q and Angela seem to be able to keep their heads (mostly) and play an important role in taking out the bad guys in this installment of our story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 25, 2020
For the first half of this book, it felt like I was reading a bunch of filler that didn't add to the series. But the twist that came in the latter half snagged my interest. The overall plot for the series seems to be getting more complex.
I was a bit disappointed that the story hardly featured the Alamo. Having grown up near San Antonio, I was excited to see an adventure centered on that historical location. At least what little the author(s) described was described well.
The I, Q series is odd. It tries to blur the line between genres, and I like that out-of-the-box thinking. But I'll have to finish the rest of the series before giving my opinion as to whether the story pulls it off.
I was a bit disappointed that the story hardly featured the Alamo. Having grown up near San Antonio, I was excited to see an adventure centered on that historical location. At least what little the author(s) described was described well.
The I, Q series is odd. It tries to blur the line between genres, and I like that out-of-the-box thinking. But I'll have to finish the rest of the series before giving my opinion as to whether the story pulls it off.
August 29, 2018
The plot thickens.
October 5, 2018
This book was very intreging and a great way to carry on the series, the author used great teqnuices to make the book better, like cliff hangers as the end of chapters, characters emotions to affect the mood, and other things, this book is great for people who love the spy genera of books, and I totally Reccomend it to people in my grade! I hope you enjoy it!
October 4, 2020
I must admit, I didn’t seem to enjoy this one quite as much as the first three. It’s a bit same-song-second-verse (or fourth verse, I guess🤪). I just wasn’t as glued to the story line as I was with the previous books. It was still an easy and enjoyable enough read, though, so I’ll see if the series picks up a bit in the next installation.
August 27, 2024
This was fine and exciting enough plot wise, but the ending is abrupt. The action was exciting and over the top, and the mysteries were either not resolved enough or too easily resolved. Odd. I still enjoyed it, but I didn’t love it as much as the first three books. It read a little more like a TV show at times.
February 17, 2018
The best book in the series as of yet, the character development, antagonists, plot, mood, and tension are all on point. We get lots of hints about Number 1's identity, and The Alamo introduces the best side character of the series yet in Sheriff Hackett.
June 28, 2018
I am not yet ready to part ways with Q, Angela, Boone, and Croc, so I was thrilled to discover that there are two more books in this series. Next stop, The Windy City!
October 22, 2018
Asher (12yo) read. "Malak is awesome. Great infiltration skillz and stuff. Also, Felix and Uly have a lot of weapons."
August 15, 2019
Omg!! Ahhhh!! Still screaming!!! Ahhh!! So good!! Read!!!! But...... watch out for the...... Ahhhh
January 29, 2020
This was the point of the series that I got bored due to burnout of obsessive, excessive, and often unnecessary reading habits. Dont read to fast. Was great though
July 9, 2021
Teens working with CIA, FBI against terrorists!!!
April 20, 2024
I need Boone to reveal his secrets!!! Also things are heating up. And how are the parents not suspicious yet?????
September 21, 2023
(3.5 / 5)
New step-siblings Q (short for Quest) and Angela continue to trail a ghost terrorist cell along with SOS, a team made up mostly of retired operatives from the CIA and other organizations. Angela's mother is climbing her way toward the top of the ghost cell, but the danger is getting higher all the time. Meanwhile, something strange is going on with Boone, and is Q's dad friend or foe?
Here we have part 4 of the series-long story, the kind of series that you really need to start from the beginning. This is the first book that is co-written by another author, but it's not super noticeable to me. Though I will say that this is the first book that starts with a list of all of the characters and a recap of past events, which my aging memory appreciated. Overall, though, it doesn't feel particularly new. None of the questions from the last book are answered and are really only muddied more. The characters gain a very small amount of ground, and some of the plot points feel like a rehash.
There's still a lot of action, and I like the way that the series moves around the country to different major locations. I think there are some discrepancies regarding the relative placements of the Alamo Plaza and the San Fernando Cathedral, an area I've studied recently for my job (https://www.getbeyondthewalls.com/), so that brought me out of the story a little. However, I'm still really interested in seeing where the rest of this series goes.
New step-siblings Q (short for Quest) and Angela continue to trail a ghost terrorist cell along with SOS, a team made up mostly of retired operatives from the CIA and other organizations. Angela's mother is climbing her way toward the top of the ghost cell, but the danger is getting higher all the time. Meanwhile, something strange is going on with Boone, and is Q's dad friend or foe?
Here we have part 4 of the series-long story, the kind of series that you really need to start from the beginning. This is the first book that is co-written by another author, but it's not super noticeable to me. Though I will say that this is the first book that starts with a list of all of the characters and a recap of past events, which my aging memory appreciated. Overall, though, it doesn't feel particularly new. None of the questions from the last book are answered and are really only muddied more. The characters gain a very small amount of ground, and some of the plot points feel like a rehash.
There's still a lot of action, and I like the way that the series moves around the country to different major locations. I think there are some discrepancies regarding the relative placements of the Alamo Plaza and the San Fernando Cathedral, an area I've studied recently for my job (https://www.getbeyondthewalls.com/), so that brought me out of the story a little. However, I'm still really interested in seeing where the rest of this series goes.
September 17, 2015
This book was very interesting and intriguing, but I was a bit disappointed at the ending. I wish it would have left me with some sort of suspense, not closing everything, even though I hate cliffhangers. But I think a cliffhanger at the end of the book would go well with this series, as it is mystery/suspense/a lot of spy stuff.
Overall, it was a good book with a well-written story line. You can see how Malak, while she gets closer to destroying the ghost cell, becomes more worried about Angela. It even shows in the next book, too. Like in BBC's Sherlock, the more someone lets emotions/human contact and such get to them, the more their skills fail them. I think this is happening to Malak right now.
Either way, it's still an amazing book.
Overall, it was a good book with a well-written story line. You can see how Malak, while she gets closer to destroying the ghost cell, becomes more worried about Angela. It even shows in the next book, too. Like in BBC's Sherlock, the more someone lets emotions/human contact and such get to them, the more their skills fail them. I think this is happening to Malak right now.
Either way, it's still an amazing book.
October 14, 2013
I LOVED this book! The day it was supposed to arrive in the mail, I was just BEGGING for it to be there already! And as soon as I got my hands on it I didn't want to let it go. And then when I started reading it, I was just thinking the whole time, "Finally! Finally! I'm actually reading this book! Yes! Yes! YES!"
Then when I finished reading the book, I immediately looked to see if there was a 5th book. When I saw that there was, I was very excited. Because, this series is one of the BEST series I've ever read in my life! The action, the suspense, it just goes together really well and it makes this book a great book.
Then when I finished reading the book, I immediately looked to see if there was a 5th book. When I saw that there was, I was very excited. Because, this series is one of the BEST series I've ever read in my life! The action, the suspense, it just goes together really well and it makes this book a great book.
May 15, 2014
The I,Q books continue to grab your attention as Q (Quest) and Angela travel in their parent's motor coach to each new music venue and in their travels follow the path of a terrorist sleeper cell. While they travel with what appears to be regular roadies and bodyguards Q and Angela become deeper envolved with the group trying to take out the sleeper cell although they would rather they stay safe wherever they are placed. The Alamo continues the series leading the reader to Chicago and wondering what will happen next.
January 11, 2014
As far as spy books go, this one was really good. I was action packed and had quite a bit of hummor. I'm not a big fan of spy novels in general but this series is something I would tell others that don't really care for spy stories to pick up, as it is well worth their time.
For me there were a few dull spots that could have been improved. The ending was by far the best in my opinion and I think that there will be at lest one, if not two, more book in the series.
A very good job by Mr. Smith and Mr. Spradlin.
For me there were a few dull spots that could have been improved. The ending was by far the best in my opinion and I think that there will be at lest one, if not two, more book in the series.
A very good job by Mr. Smith and Mr. Spradlin.
January 16, 2014
After freeing the President's daughter in book #3, Quest (Q) and his stepsister, Angela, head to Texas for their parents' next concert. The Ghost Cell also intends to strike in San Antonio. The Ghost Cell seems to have an interest in Q and Angela, as they are kidnapped for a second time. With Boone's and the SOS team's help, they manage to escape and destroy another member of the Five, as well as save the monument to the Alamo. Next stop is Chicago. But will they ever discover Boone's secret? Great book. Definitely recommend the entire series.
March 29, 2017
4.5 stars
This was a good book. It had been a while since I read the first 3 books, so it took me a while to remember what was going on. This picks up right where book 3 left off (if I'm correct). The reason I gave this book 4.5 stars was because That shouldn't discourage you from reading this book/series
This was a good book. It had been a while since I read the first 3 books, so it took me a while to remember what was going on. This picks up right where book 3 left off (if I'm correct). The reason I gave this book 4.5 stars was because That shouldn't discourage you from reading this book/series
Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews