Book Review

Title:         Maximum Security

Author:    Robert Muchamore

Genre:      Thriller

Length:    286 pages

Muchamore’s novel “Maximum Security” is the third book in the CHERUB (Charles Henderson's Espionage Research Unit B) series. It has a lot of tension throughout the book as James and Dave (agents of CHERUB) bust out an inmate, Curtis, from a high security prison for a mission to discover the location of criminal mastermind, Jane Oxford.

My favourite part of the book was when James and Curtis were on the run from the prison guards of Arizona Max. They then drove away in the Ute they had stolen, not without getting pulled over by the police, but they got away because Lauren, James’ sister,  threw stun grenades at them. The reason I liked this part most is because it was very exciting and thrilling. “A white light and a deafening blast flashed as a stun grenade exploded in

the wheel hub of the front police car, ripping apart the tyre.” This part had very good description, Muchamore made it a very believable scene.  

Two characters I really enjoyed in this book were James and Curtis. James has a lot of  courage in him because he has gone through a lot to become a CHERUB agent and this is one of his most daring missions so far. He has really stepped up from what he was originally, I think this because he never used to be very active, but since his recruitment and basic training, he had really gone from a lazy no-hoper, to a fit secret agent. Curtis had had a troubled childhood, the book didn’t say what his problem was but I think it was something along the lines of depression. His condition wasn’t good before he went to Arizona Max and the reason why he went to prison is because he murdered three people. The reason why I like this character is because he is unpredictable and I like the way he is presented.

There was a lot of courage shown throughout this book. One example of courage would be when Paula (a trailer owner) helped James and Curtis (the two escapees) to get to LA, but if something went wrong James and Curtis would go to prison and Paula would be charged for harbouring fugitives. Lauren showed courage by helping James and Curtis when they nearly got caught by throwing stun grenades, then gave a policewoman and a policeman that were about to capture them and she gave them 90,000 volts through a stun gun, then running into the 4x4 and driving off without getting caught.

The thing I like about this whole book is that it is the kind of genre that I would like to read and had a lot of excitement and thrilling moments during the story. This book makes me want to read more of the series and furthermore read it again. This is a good book and after I read it I thought it was the best book I have ever read, I would recommend ages of 11+.