Domino 29 by Axel Avian

368 pgs.
Target audience: Young Adult
Rating: Wizard

Colt Shore attends a training academy for the organization F.A.L.C.O.N., Free Alliance for the Lasting Cooperation of Nations, which is not affiliated with any specific government. As exotic as that might seem for a fifteen year old boy, Colt feels ordinary when compared to his perfect-in-every-way older brother, Dixon, who died at the age of twenty-two before Colt was born. But in one singular moment his life is catapulted from the mundane to downright adventurous and life threatening when the first of twenty-nine dominoes falls. Lucy and Victor aren’t his real parents and his older brother, Dixon, is in fact his dad who was killed on assignment. As an active agent, Colt’s mother turned him over to the care of Dixon’s parents and away from all the danger typical of active agent work. Reeling from the shock of it all, Colt discovers that one of the most admired field agents at his academy is his mother, Amber Coltrane. He’s given no time to process this new information as he is rushed into active duty by Mr. Waverly, head of F.A.L.C.O.N. His mission is to protect a brother and sister pop singing group on a USO tour after receiving a kidnapping threat. Active agent Colt Shore is equipped with all sorts of Bond worthy gadgets including a poison injecting ring, and a watch complete with GPS, call scrambling, panic button, flashlight, laser cutter, sonar plus the ability to run a car by voice command. This alone is any boy’s dream. Add to that a mind blowing car chase ending with an escape through a holographic wall to HQ, subbing for the drummer in a rock concert, being chased from Afghanistan to Germany where a daring rescue takes place. A nice nod to "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." in naming the big boss Mr. Waverly. Count this as a definite winner in the boy-turned-spy genre and let’s hope there will be more Agent Colt adventures. This is an ideal choice for fans of the “Alex Rider” series by Anthony Horowitz.