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The Mission League #1.5
Chokepoint
Ever since I returned from Moscow, life is a full court press. Mission League field agents are everywhere. All the time. Watching. Waiting for me to fulfill a sixty-year-old prophecy. When some baddies try to guy-nap me, the field agents threaten to move me and Grandma Alice to some random hick town, to give us new fake identities until the prophecy is fulfilled. Not going to happen. I've got one chance to stay in Pilot Point. I have to prove to the agents that I can stay safe. Have to make this work. For basketball. For Kip. For Beth. So, bring it, baddies. It’s game on.
150 pages, Paperback
First published December 8, 2012
2 people are currently reading
472 people want to read
About the author
Jill Williamson
66 books1,620 followersJill Williamson is a multi-passionate creative who loves the arts. She’s written over thirty books for readers of all ages and is best known for her Blood of Kings fantasy series, two of which won Christy Awards and made VOYA magazine’s Best Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror list. She produces films with her husband and teaches about writing at conferences. Visit her at www.jillwilliamson.com.
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Jill's author website.
Jill's Amazon Author page.
Jill's Instagram.
Click here for a FULL LIST OF Jill's BOOKS.
Newest Series:
Thirst Duology
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 24, 2019
REREAD:
I actually loved this even more on my second read through! So quick and easy. I devoured (re-devoured?) it in one sitting.
FIRST TIME:
I can't say I enjoyed this quite as much as The New Recruit, but I still liked it a lot. It was the sort of book that I could -and did- read the entire thing in one sitting.
It was really interesting to see what Spencer did throughout the rest of the year before book #2 happens, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. The mystery grows bigger, the stakes are betting on Spencer's life. And he still has no idea why.
There was a little bit of character development even in this little story. And it was quite interesting to see some more little incites into the characters. Plus Beth is pretty cool, so that was fun to be able to find out more about her.
I think my main reservation about these books is just the girl-boy interactions. They're annoying. Spencer bugs me in that aspect because half of the book I'm enthralled in the story and the other half I'm bashing my head against the nearest hard object and groaning. "Just. Stop. With. The. Girls. Would you??"
Even though it's an 'in between' novella, it still has a pretty good plot. All the mystery. Who is his mum? Who is he?? And, as I mentioned, I read this whole thing in one sitting, which was pretty cool.
Action kept happening through the whole book. Some nice kidnapping/man-napping. Some nice tournaments. And of course the best part... nice betrayals too.
Yet again, I'm left hanging for more. I still definitely recommend these books.
I actually loved this even more on my second read through! So quick and easy. I devoured (re-devoured?) it in one sitting.
FIRST TIME:
I can't say I enjoyed this quite as much as The New Recruit, but I still liked it a lot. It was the sort of book that I could -and did- read the entire thing in one sitting.
It was really interesting to see what Spencer did throughout the rest of the year before book #2 happens, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. The mystery grows bigger, the stakes are betting on Spencer's life. And he still has no idea why.
There was a little bit of character development even in this little story. And it was quite interesting to see some more little incites into the characters. Plus Beth is pretty cool, so that was fun to be able to find out more about her.
I think my main reservation about these books is just the girl-boy interactions. They're annoying. Spencer bugs me in that aspect because half of the book I'm enthralled in the story and the other half I'm bashing my head against the nearest hard object and groaning. "Just. Stop. With. The. Girls. Would you??"
Even though it's an 'in between' novella, it still has a pretty good plot. All the mystery. Who is his mum? Who is he?? And, as I mentioned, I read this whole thing in one sitting, which was pretty cool.
Action kept happening through the whole book. Some nice kidnapping/man-napping. Some nice tournaments. And of course the best part... nice betrayals too.
Yet again, I'm left hanging for more. I still definitely recommend these books.
January 24, 2013
Jill Williamson has done it again! And just in time too. Since finishing The New Recruit, I've been eagerly awaiting the release of the next book in the Mission League series, and Chokepoint was the perfect thing to tide me over until book two comes out.
In Chokepoint, Spencer Garmond is back from Russia and trying to resume life as normal. But how normal can life be when he's got undercover bodyguards following him around, bad guys trying to nab him, and someone betraying him? When the Mission League starts talking relocation to keep him safe, Spencer is worried life won't ever be normal again, unless he can figure out a way to stay "safe"...and find the traitor of course.
Plenty of action (kidnappers!), excitement (basketball!) and the usual teenage stuff (like worrying who to take to Homecoming!) make this a book well worth reading. And in addition, 100% of the proceeds fund the adoption of a little girl from Eastern Europe! How cool is that?
Chokepoint left me even more excited about the Mission League Series and all I can say is, "More please!"
In Chokepoint, Spencer Garmond is back from Russia and trying to resume life as normal. But how normal can life be when he's got undercover bodyguards following him around, bad guys trying to nab him, and someone betraying him? When the Mission League starts talking relocation to keep him safe, Spencer is worried life won't ever be normal again, unless he can figure out a way to stay "safe"...and find the traitor of course.
Plenty of action (kidnappers!), excitement (basketball!) and the usual teenage stuff (like worrying who to take to Homecoming!) make this a book well worth reading. And in addition, 100% of the proceeds fund the adoption of a little girl from Eastern Europe! How cool is that?
Chokepoint left me even more excited about the Mission League Series and all I can say is, "More please!"
February 2, 2016
Well.
I'd like to send Spence a nice little email about that one verse... how does it go? "Pride goeth before a fall"... something like that...
Thank you Jill Williamson for again enticing me to read the next book. HOW AM I GOING TO SURVIVE WHEN I FINISH THE NEXT TWO AND THE NEXT BOOK ISN'T THERE????
Anyway, it was sooooo good to get back to Spencer!!! About three sentences in, I'm pretty sure I let out a contented sigh.
The Good
-Spencer. I LOVE HIM. Can I just kidnap him? Please???
-Freeforlifeservant. A MYSTERIOUS INFORMANT WHO GIVES SEEMINGLY USELESS INFO THAT ENDS UP BEING USEFUL? YES PLEASE. Hunch/possible spoiler?:
-Spencer's fails at romance. I laugh. :P
-"Anymore." I think this is going to be our ongoing Spencer joke, all right? "I don't do that. Anymore." IT'S A MOSCOW REFERENCE, PEOPLES. And also his new nickname as Moscow.
-References. He calls his iPhone "my precious". And one line: "I'm supposed to kill Voldemort?" I haven't even read/watched Harry Potter and I get that! Kinda.
Yep, I did that on purpose. No regrets.
The Bad
.
..
...
I literally cannot think of anything. Addictiveness?
The Ugly
Now for this I do have some. One chapter/report is titled "I Make Out With A Tube of Tinfoil" which basically describes the main "ugly" thing. There's some kissing, and he also tries to kiss a girl but he actually reacts pretty good when he finds out she wants to save her first kiss for marriage. The smell of pot is mentioned at a party, and a couple people are tranqed with a dangerous drug. One of them gets close to death.
And... just a warning. Stay away from this serious if you don't want to get pulled in. It is quite extraordinarily wonderful. :)
November 21, 2014
Is that girl Beth on the cover, behind Spencer? FYI, she. Is. Awesome. She's tough, but still...human. When she tells Spencer "No", she's not a snob. She states her reasons, feels bad for Spencer, and leaves.
To write a review, I should probably talk about things other than the main character's friend. So here we go.
The plot was fast paced and exciting. It would probably have made more sense to me if I was used to "Spencer's crowd". Being homeschooled, I didn't understand all of their terms. The New Recruit was set in the summer, so that wasn't an issue. It wasn't that big of a deal though. It felt so good to be back with the Mission League series. :)
I'm glad we get to see more of Spencer's prophesies. While he's going slowly on his road to becoming a Christian, at least he's moving.
Will I buy the next book in the series? Absolutely.
To write a review, I should probably talk about things other than the main character's friend. So here we go.
The plot was fast paced and exciting. It would probably have made more sense to me if I was used to "Spencer's crowd". Being homeschooled, I didn't understand all of their terms. The New Recruit was set in the summer, so that wasn't an issue. It wasn't that big of a deal though. It felt so good to be back with the Mission League series. :)
I'm glad we get to see more of Spencer's prophesies. While he's going slowly on his road to becoming a Christian, at least he's moving.
Will I buy the next book in the series? Absolutely.
September 12, 2014
Normally I'm not one to purchase novellas unless they're part of a collection. They're short and I see them as "filler". That is NOT the case with Chokepoint. It is short, so I finished it all too soon but the quality was there. It was every bit as good as the full length books in this series.
December 23, 2025
Man, Spencer can't catch a break, poor guy. Standouts are Beth's subversion of the strong girl trope, the diverse Christian personalities(no one is a cardboard "Christian" cutout, thank God), and Spencer's voice is just in-your-face vivid. Fun.
December 20, 2016
Typical Spencer: "I’d proven that I could do this spy thing. ... And the baddies? They could just bring it, because I’d be ready."
A couple of months after the Moscow trip, the Mission League people are still keeping an eye on Spencer. Seriously? Nothing's happened, no threats, no kidnappings, nothing. What's the big deal? But starting one-on-one training with Beth- now that's cool. Until it turns out that someone is looking to nap him. And he might have to move.
"Chokepoint" is an action-packed novella. It also has some truths about God, though not as much as I'd like. Spencer is a great character, who is fun to read about and very relatable. His voice, dripped with boyishness and quick wit and just plain freshness, was one of the best parts of the story.
"Chokepoint" is the 1.5 book in The Mission League series. The first one is "The New Recruit;" the others - "Project Gemini," "Ambushed" (novella), "Broken Trust," "Lockstep" (novella), and "The Profile Match."
A couple of months after the Moscow trip, the Mission League people are still keeping an eye on Spencer. Seriously? Nothing's happened, no threats, no kidnappings, nothing. What's the big deal? But starting one-on-one training with Beth- now that's cool. Until it turns out that someone is looking to nap him. And he might have to move.
"Chokepoint" is an action-packed novella. It also has some truths about God, though not as much as I'd like. Spencer is a great character, who is fun to read about and very relatable. His voice, dripped with boyishness and quick wit and just plain freshness, was one of the best parts of the story.
"Chokepoint" is the 1.5 book in The Mission League series. The first one is "The New Recruit;" the others - "Project Gemini," "Ambushed" (novella), "Broken Trust," "Lockstep" (novella), and "The Profile Match."
April 29, 2015
This book lived up to the usuall Jill Williamson standard of writing. It hits you off with a great adventure and builds to a fabulous, thrilling conclusion all the while creating realisitc characters with their own concerns and subplots. And checkout that cover. The only thing I'm wondering about was how close to the climax the ending came. It wasn't bad, it was acctually a great ending that still contained mystery and some great advice to Spencer, but I think it could run the risk of being a little abrupt for some readers. But it is a perfect story for those who read book 1 and are anxiously awaiting book 2. Another plus is that all the money from this book, bought either as an ebook or paper back, goes to help friends of the author to adopt! So read this because it is a great story AND a good donation. :)
July 26, 2016
Choke point is book 1.5 in the Mission League series. It is a fun mini mission (Short story) that allows you to get to know the main character Spencer a little better. It shows some of the struggles and trials that teens face in this day and age as well as some intense action that keeps the pages turning. I read this in one sitting and loved it. I can't wait to read book two. Then I'll move onto 2.5 another mini mission. According to Williamson's webpage she is working on book three so I'm excited to read that in the future.
If you haven't read the Mission League books I highly recommend them as well as all of Williamson's books. Her Blood of Kings books are amazing as well the rest of her books. Enjoy!
If you haven't read the Mission League books I highly recommend them as well as all of Williamson's books. Her Blood of Kings books are amazing as well the rest of her books. Enjoy!
March 26, 2013
This is a great novella, occurring between books 1 and 2 of The Mission League. It is making me really feel bad for Spencer, all that is happening to him. I think that I would go crazy always looking over my shoulder.
To know what other books I back, go to my blog at http://backingbooks.blogspot.com/
To know what other books I back, go to my blog at http://backingbooks.blogspot.com/
May 13, 2014
Great novella! Kept my interest in the series while waiting for the next book! It also contributes to the storyline, so this isn't just a filler!
January 30, 2017
Usually I don't like Novellas they are mostly love stories, but this was really good.
March 4, 2015
Very funny.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews