The Shadow Project

Overall Rating:

★ Rating:70 Fullstar:3 Star Piece:0.5 Fraction:3.5

70%

The Shadow Project
Herbie Brennan
Balzer + Bray, 2009
Sci Fi/Fantasy
ISBN: 0061756423
368 pages

Synopsis

Danny Lipman is a thief . . . until one night he robs the wrong house. He inadvertently breaks into the headquarters of the Shadow Project, a secret government organization where teenage spies are trained to leave their bodies, using astral projection to travel around the world on deadly missions.

Danny is captured, but the Project leaders quickly realize he has a special gift. And when a key operative—the director’s daughter, Opal—goes missing, he is offered a choice: join the Shadow Project or go to jail.

Danny joins and is quickly sent to investigate the Project’s current target: a worldwide terrorist organization known as the Sword of Wrath. But as he gets deeper in, he discovers both the Project and the Sword of Wrath are far more than they seem. Danny and his fellow operatives are caught up in an ancient supernatural conflict and will have to learn how to survive in a world without boundaries of space or time, where the wrong choice could be their last.

Critique

This is a really fun book. Certainly not life changing by any means, but it has all the necessary elements that make up a great spy thriller – action, secret espionage, special technology, likeable heroes, fast-pacing, secret religious societies, a great good versus a terrible evil, pending world destruction, and hints at romance (or just romance in general). The cast of characters is perfect as well, and although they’re a bit stereotypical, it works well for a book like this.

To be honest, this is the first sci-fi/fantasy spy book that I’ve read in a while that I really loved. Not that I’m generally into them, but it could rank among the Dan Brown’s and James Patterson’s, but with a more YA feel. I recommend this to everyone looking for a fun, fast read.

Rating Rubric

Enjoyable Read: 100%
Original Fantasy: 80%
Original Plot: 80%
Language: 70%
Asthetics: 70%
Depth In Characters: 70%
Depth In Story: 70%
Social Commentary: 60%
Layers/Complexity: 60%
Classroom Text: 40%
Overall Rating: 70%

For the Classroom

There are some historical references, and Brennan bases some of his book off of research regarding astral projection projects from the mid 20th century, but since most of this text operates in a parallel world with separate cultures, societal issues, natural laws and histories than our own, there’s not much to use as a classroom companion.