Review: Urban Outlaws: Lockdown by Peter Jay Black

The Urban Outlaws have been betrayed - and defeated. Or so Hector thought when he stole the world's most advanced computer virus. But Hector will need to try much harder than just crossing the Atlantic if he wants to outsmart Jack and his team ...

With the help of a shadowy figure known as The Shepherd, the Urban Outlaws risk everything and head to the States. They plan to take Hector down and stop him from using the virus as the ultimate hacking tool - the world's secrets, and their own, are in his fingertips and if they don't act fast, our lives will be changed forever.

The stakes are higher than ever in the third book of this high-octane adventure series for fans of Robert Muchamore, Anthony Horowitz and Alex Scarrow.

Warning: may contain spoilers for previous Urban Outlaw books.

Peter Jay Black's Urban Outlaws series is fast becoming a future contender for my Book Zone Box Set feature (Reminder: to qualify a series needs to have at least four books). Lockdown is the third book in this exciting, hi-octane series that has now become one of my favourite series of the last year or so, and it more than lives up to the promise established by its predecessors.

The Outlaws are still reeling from Hector's betrayal in Blackout, and revenge will be no easy feat as he has now taken himself off to the other side of the Atlantic. However, with the super virus now in his hands they feel they have no option but to try, even if it means getting into bed with another potential devil (aka The Shepherd) to do so. However, once they land stateside it is business as usual, which for the Urban Outlaws means stunts, tech, hacking and action aplenty. The team also have the assistance a few new friends: Serene, sister of their mentor Noble, Lux, a streetwise NYC expert, and her friend Drake, the local transport expert (i.e. he can get his hands on any transport they need). These extra pairs of hands, and the local knowledge they bring, may just be the extra factor they need to track down and defeat Hector.

Like any good heist story, be it written or on the big or small screen, it's no use trying to guess if or how the team will be successful in their various not-quite-legal activities. Just as you think you've worked out how they might pull off their latest caper, another obstacle throws itself in their way and their plans have to change on the fly. However, resourcefulness seems to be their collective middle name, so strap in and get ready for twist after twist and turn after turn.

The first Urban Outlaws book was published back in March 2014, and this third volume was released in September. We had to wait nearly a year between books one and two, but the mere seven months between episodes two and three is exactly what this series needed to maintain the excitement and momentum already established, and it's great to see that book four, Counterstrike, will be published in April 2016. I can't wait!

My thanks go to those fabulous people at Bloomsbury for sending me a copy to read.

Review: Urban Outlaws by Peter Jay Black

In a bunker hidden deep beneath London live five extraordinary kids: meet world-famous hacker Jack, gadget geek Charlie, free runner Slink, comms chief Obi and decoy diva Wren. They're not just friends; they're URBAN OUTLAWS. They outsmart London's crime gangs and hand out their dirty money through Random Acts of Kindness (R.A.K.s).

There is little I can add to the above publisher's blurb without spoiling the story (and I've cut the blurb short anyway as, having read the book, I feel that there is a spoiler within it). In simplest terms, this is a Robin Hood story for the high tech generation. Through a variety of different but similar circumstances, five kids have chosen to live outside the law, and use their various talents to rob the corrupt, ultra-rich criminal classes and share this new wealth among the needy and under privileged.

The book opens with the Outlaws about to start their latest heist, the plan being to steal huge amounts of money from Benito Del Sarto, one of the country's biggest dealers of illegal arms. As they escape from the scene of their crime they stumble onto something that surveillance and computer expert Obi believes is massive - the existence of an advanced quantum computer, and piece of equipment that many in the tech community believe is only an urban myth. Suddenly the team find themselves way out of their depth, as they fight to gain possession of an item that, if it exists and falls into the wrong hands, could have severe implications on a global scale.

Forget the Robin Hood allegory, this is Leverage for 9+ kids and I loved it! Leverage is one of my favourite TV shows - I love the chemistry that exists between the characters, with each one bringing a different skill to the party, and this is exactly what Urban Outlaws does. Yes, suspension of disbelief will be an essential requirement when reading this book, and the cynical among you should just p*** off right now and go hunt for your inner child before picking this book up. Seriously, if books like this had been around when I was a kid I may never have left my home except to go reluctantly to school.

This is one of those books that you will have to prise from kids' hands to stop them reading (although shame on you for even contemplating such a heinous act). I certainly refused to do anything until I had finished it, and read it from cover to cover in a single sitting. However, it is a fairly quick read as almost every chapter is full of great action sequences, peril for our team of heroes and great uses of high tech gadgets, so readers will find themselves flying through the story at a frenetic and almost heart-bursting pace.

This is a book for every kind of kid - the sporty ones will love Slink, the free-runner; the tech geeks will love Jack, Charlie and Obi; the couch potatoes will love Obi and the action junkies will love all of them; there are great male characters and great female characters, with even Wren, the youngest and newest member of the team, having her moment (although I really hope she will get more of a chance to shine in future books). Hell, I'm over 40 and I really, really wanted to be one of the team so I can only imagine how excited younger readers will get at the thought of having adventures like these.

My thanks go to the fab people at Bloomsbury for sending me a copy to read. You can find out a little more about Urban Outlaws and author Peter Jay Black at http://www.urbanoutlawsbunker.com/