How to describe The Mouse Watch? Hmm... Men In Black with mice, fighting against R.A.T.S., complete with the awesome inventions to fight against the evil organization. And, yes, R.A.T.S. is capitalized. It is an acronym that stands for Rogue Animal Thieves Society. Our main character, Bernie, is a mouse who is already small for a mouse and wants nothing more than to join the Mouse Watch, which is an organization of mice who work to stop the bad guys and help the good guys. The problem is, not only do you have to be recruited based on something awesome you've done, but her parents treat her with the kiddiest of kid gloves, which is only exacerbated when she breaks her leg in a zip line accident gone bad.
Forcing Bernie to stay in bed and not do anything until the doctor says it's okay to remove the cast, Bernie gets a message that could suddenly make all her dreams come true - if she can convince her parents to let her go to Union Station the next day to meet the recruiters.
When she gets to Union Station and meets with the recruiters, Bernie is taken to Mouse Watch HQ for training, only to find out that just because she's going through training, it doesn't mean she will become an agent. The organization only has a few spots available and there are many more potential recruits than spots. Not a problem for Bernie, though. She WILL be an agent. No one is going to stop her. Well, no one, she thinks, except her training partner Jarvis. Jarvis, who happens to be a rat. Not necessarily a member of R.A.T.S., though she definitely suspects that Jarvis is a spy for the R.A.T.S.
Still, proving that Jarvis is a spy would certainly ensure her an agent position, so that's okay. All they have to do is train together. Well, that was all they had to do until they are kicked out of a virtual training session suddenly to find that EVERY. SINGLE. AGENT. in the Mouse Watch HQ has disappeared and humans are acting like zombies, obeying the orders of the R.A.T.S.
Will Bernie be able to figure out what's going on while still keeping an eye on Jarvis? Is Jarvis an actual spy or is Bernie letting her prejudices color her views? And just how are the humans being turned into zombies?
I absolutely loved this story. Bernie is a force of nature; her determination is so strong, so steadfast, that I began rooting for her almost immediately while also cringing at her interactions with Jarvis. Every new conversation with Jarvis reveals a bit more about her own past traumas, especially surrounding the loss of her brother.
For his part, Jarvis is also a great character. Though it's not visible immediately because the story is told from Bernie's point of view, Jarvis has a strength to him that is also amazing. After all, he is a rat who is trying out for a position in an organization of mice - an organization of mice who defeat RATS. There is a reason, of course, but it ties in with the plot of the story, so I don't want to say what it is because ... spoilers.
Not only was I having fun listening to the story, but the narrator, MacLeod Andrews, was also clearly having fun reading the story. His performance truly brings the story to life and I definitely want to listen to the next book in the series. Fingers crossed that my library gets the audiobook book in soon for me to borrow.
So, long story short: If you like secret agents, spy organizations, villainous organizations bent on taking over the world, and big, over-the-top plans to carry out such planes, then you will almost certainly enjoy this book. I say almost certainly because there is probably one person out there who will end up emphatically stating they didn't like the book. LOL. Anyway, all that to say, you'll probably like it so go ahead and pick up a copy to either read or listen to. Then you can join me in reading and/or listening to book 2!