The second book in the series sees Jess and her friends back at Theruse Abbey for their freshman year of spy training. But it's a rocky start for Jess after she fails her start of year physical. Constantly under the watchful eye of new Principal Parry, Jess has to master seven languages, tackle obstacle courses that would make an SAS recruit cry, and cope with the ever moody Krivan as a lab partner.
When Krivan's secret agent father is abducted by a rival spy agency it is up to Jess and Krivan to use all their spy skills and ingenuity to do what fully fledged PEP Squad agents do - go into enemy territory and bring their target back alive.
While I'm not the target audience for this book I loved it so much. The PEP Squad books are one of those rare ones that defy age barriers and draw you in no matter how old you are. Set in a boarding school that trains youngsters to become spies, the plot is fresh, fun, and strangely believable (or maybe this shows my wishful thinking!).
Jess is a great main character, smart resourceful, a brilliant role model and a hard worker. Her relationship with her room mate Emily and 2 Australian boys flow so well and are brilliantly made pillars by the author for the story that follows.
You can tell the author has really done her research well, I learnt quite a few things about spy craft, forensics, orienteering and society from this book!
The pace was fast, the themes of hard work, friendship and ingenuity were light but done well. I immediately went looking for the next book in the series and was sad to see it was yet to be released. I wait in keen anticipation and in the mean time highly recommend the series to young and old.