Most teens dream of going viral, but not Jake Morrow, a hacker prodigy recruited by the CIA, whose cover at a Colorado private school is blown when his shirtless picture starts trending on Twitter. After his classroom is taken hostage, Jake must fight back against the intruders, who are out for revenge. But Jake isn't the only undercover agent at Carlisle Academy, and he must race to unmask the attackers' allies on the inside. Jake suspects that Katie Carmichael, a brilliant new transfer student, has infiltrated the student body, but whose side is she really on? Is laying siege to a high school in a town that happens to be home to the country's top research labs a coincidence, or is it a threat to national security? Characterization takes a backseat to action in this thriller; little attention is spent on Jake's transformation from criminal foster kid to hero, and bland foes fail to rouse much interest. But the jam-packed plot, while hard to follow at times, should please older fans of the Alex Rider series.

A disgraced teen CIA operative must race to thwart a terrorist plot after his cover is blown in Reid's (Perfect Liars, 2016, etc.) latest action thriller.After a botched mission to apprehend a Ukrainian terrorist, black 17-year-old CIA agent and expert hacker Jake Morrow (alias: Peter Smith) is sent packing back to the States. Now at an elite STEM-focused high school in Colorado, Jake is unofficially investigating a nefarious hacker who was behind things in Ukraine when the unthinkable happens: Jake becomes an internet sensation. À la #AlexFromTarget, Jake's picture goes viral under the hashtag #Prettyboy, and within a matter of hours terrorists descend on his school, taking the students and administrators hostage. Jake is sure they are there to take him out, but the more he uncovers, the clearer it becomes that the stakes are far higher, and no one—even Jake's crush—is entirely who they seem. Reid has yet to miss with her brilliant teen protagonists, who are sometimes too savvy for their own good, and Jake is no exception, with well-honed espionage skills that make him prone to playing hero and making himself a target. Readers looking for contemplative growth, development, and character drive should look elsewhere—high-octane action, frighteningly plausible intrigue, and creative survival are the narrative engines here, and boy, do they work.Die Hard with Bond villains and teen spies—explosive. (Thriller. 14-17)