Ryan Quinn and the Rebel's Escape

September 12, 2016
In this action-packed thriller, eighth-grader Ryan Quinn discovers his family’s greatest secret after his father vanishes on a business trip and his mother is kidnapped by foreign agents. It turns out that his parents are part of a secret organization called the Emergency Rescue Committee, and all those years of traveling around the world were a cover for their missions. In order to save his parents, Ryan must journey to the secluded Asian country of Andakar, locate a blogger who has been exposing sensitive information, and find out what happened to his father. Luckily, he has help: Tasha, an experienced ERC operative; best friend Danny, a hacker; and Kasey, a girl Ryan owes a dance to, if he survives the mission. Screenwriter McGee makes a strong debut with this engaging blend of adventure, humor, and espionage. His characters leap from one dramatic scenario to the next, defying death and common sense without pushing too far into implausibility. It’s a fun, adrenaline-fueled story that lays the groundwork for a franchise with potential. Ages 8–12. Agent: Joy Tutela, David Black Literary.

July 15, 2016
Move over, Alex Rider: Ryan Quinn has come to town.Ryan Quinn has spent most of his life traveling the world and is only just beginning a regular life at "home" in New York City. The white eighth-grader is settling into a routine, making new friends, avoiding fights with the school bully, and even looking forward to taking a girl to the fall dance. But just when it looks as if everything is going his way, everything goes horribly wrong. His dad, director of a U.N. program, goes missing, and his mom is kidnapped right in front of him. Feeling helpless, he falls back on tricks his parents have taught him, never realizing they were training him for missions just like this. With help from his Filipino-American technogeek friend, Danny, and his crush, Kasey, a white girl, Ryan jumps on a plane to Andakar, a military dictatorship in the Far East, hoping to find his father before the five days given him by the kidnappers run out. McGee applies his TV experience to this debut novel, crafting an expertly paced ride. He stocks it with all the expected character tropes: the hero, the villain, the football star, the smart-mouth techie, and a bevy of girls ranging from benign to malign. With a fast pace, familiar characters, plenty of action, and little testing of the envelope, this trilogy opener is calculated to please genre fans. (Thriller. 10-14)

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July 1, 2016

Gr 5-8-McGee's debut novel offers readers a plot-driven and action-packed whirlwind tour around the world. Ryan Quinn and his family finally settle down in New York, when someone shady starts following him. Then his mother gets kidnapped and his dad goes missing (he was supposed to be in Thailand on business). Ryan soon finds out that his parents both work for the Emergency Rescue Committee, an organization that saves rebels around the world from certain death. And they have been training Ryan for this dangerous work his whole life. Ryan wants nothing to do with it, but he feels compelled to take action to find his dad and save his mom. Readers will root for Ryan and feel sympathy for him because of his situation. Secondary characters are mostly formulaic. The writing seems more like a screenplay, with many play-by-play action scenes. Despite the beautiful settings in which Ryan finds himself, there isn't much in the way of description, making this best suited for kids looking for a fast read with an emphasis on plot over character development. VERDICT Ideal for fans of Alex Rider and libraries with a large action fanbase.-Rachel Reinwald, Lake Villa District Library, IL

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2016
Grades 5-8 Ryan Quinn's life in New York is interrupted when his father is reported missing and his mother is kidnapped. Left with one messagehis father must deliver Myat Kaw or else his mother diesRyan is left to trust Tasha, an associate of his parents, and his friends Danny and Kasey to rescue them. Turns out Ryan's parents have been working for an emergency rescue organization, and they have secretly been training Ryan his whole life. McGee's debut has many hallmarks of the middle-grade espionage thriller genrea fake international location, a young boy who suddenly can do extraordinary things, the friend who can hack into anything, and so onand it is a solid volume for readers looking for a fast-paced, nonstop adventure of derring-do. Ryan is a likable character, Danny is hilarious, Kasey is more than the dumb blonde everyone assumes she is, and his bully turns out to be a pretty decent guy with a soft spot. While many loose ends are neatly tied up, this bound-to-be-popular volume leaves plenty of room for a sequel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2017
Recently arrived in NYC, Ryan Quinn is relieved to have stability after a childhood of moving from country to country. That all changes when his parents go missing: Ryan learns of their affiliation with a secret organization and is pulled into their dark world. This fast-paced international thriller is the first installment in a planned trilogy; readers will be lining up for the second.

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)