I Spy

by Daniel Blythe

Taz Jessop and her mum move into Avalon Tower – a block of ultra-modern city flats controlled by a central computer. But Taz hates her new life and misses her friends. She finds the tower block sinister and spooky.

Then Taz meets Luke, the mysterious, exciting boy from the top floor, and things start to look up.

For a while.

Taz is in deadly danger – but has she realised this too late?

Genres: Thriller, Psychology, Family, Crime

Paperback

About the author

Daniel Blythe was born in Maidstone and educated at Maidstone Grammar School and St John’s College, Oxford. He is the author of three Doctor Who novels including Autonomy, as well as the novels The Cut, Losing Faith and This Is The Day. He has also written the non-fiction books The Encyclopaedia Of Classic 80s Pop, I Hate Christmas: A Manifesto for the Modern-Day Scrooge, Dadlands: The Alternative Handbook For New Fathers, the irreverent politics primer X Marks The Box and the collectors' guide Collecting Gadgets and Games from the 1950s-90s. In 2012, Chicken House published his book for younger readers, Shadow Runners. His Emerald Greene books for younger readers are also out now. Daniel now lives in Yorkshire, on the edge of the Peak District, with his wife and two children.

Reviews

[Rachael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poor writing. Glasses are on , oh she's putting glasses on again. Good concept, felt rushed and not a good use of moving time to build up a feel of all of it not happening in 3 days.

I'm probably not the intended target audience for this book. Pre-teen my like it but YA and above probably need more.

[Bev · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Spy is one of a new series published for less able teen readers. The story introduces us to Taz who moves into a new high tech, deluxe apartment block with her designer mum. After being invited to visit the secret penthouse floor by drop dead gorgeous Luke she starts to find the move more palatable but Luke has a very dark side. Taz joins in with Luke's wicked pranks played on residents at first but things go too far and she realises she needs to break away from his technological web. Another teen, James, helps her and involves the police but at the end of the story we're not sure if they will arrive in time. A good, tense page turner that grips you from very early on and is interesting and chilling in its depiction of hacking and the power that can be gained from it. I'll be looking very suspiciously at security cameras in future!