A Google user
How would you react if you had an uncle who worked for the government and suddenly went missing? Twelve-year-old Alexander Scott lives with his mom Anna, who is a freelance children’s book illustrator, his ten-year-old brother Ben, and six-year-old sister Lillie in a 150-year-old Victorian house on the edge of a sleepy little village at the outskirts of a mid-sized city somewhere near Washington D.C. Alex’s dad was a state police detective who had disappeared about six years earlier during an undercover operation. After Mr. Scott’s death, Alex’s uncle, Charlie Massey, and his daughter Savannah came to live with the Scotts. Charlie is a research and development scientist for the United States Department of Defense.
Early in October, Alex notices some strange things happening around his family’s home. There’s a Wi-Fi network connection on his cell phone in the middle of his forest-covered property where there’s never been one before. Ben’s remote-controlled car seems to go haywire when he’s playing with it in Uncle Charlie’s study. There might be a secret tunnel in their home. Then Alex notices a mysterious man peeking in their back door. When he chases the man, he loses him but finds an old pickup truck on the abandoned railroad line behind their house, crawls in the back behind some equipment, and is taken for a wild ride into town before he escapes. Just after Alex and Ben share all this with Charlie and they decide that maybe he’s being spied on, Charlie suddenly disappears. While looking for him, Alex and Ben are kidnapped too. What will happen to them? And will they ever find Charlie?
Alexander, Spy Catcher is reminiscent of the kinds of exciting adventure-mystery books to which boys, and girls too, thrilled back in the 1950s and 60s when I was growing up, although it is updated with modern technology such as smart phones. There is nothing objectionable in the enjoyable story. Author Diane Stormer, who lives in Maryland, has worked as both an artist and a flight attendant but retired shortly after being diagnosed with a rare, untreatable, neurological disease and began to follow her dream of writing. The main characters of the book are loosely based on the personalities of her own children. With its suspenseful plot and short chapters, the story is perfect for young independent readers or for reluctant readers. Diane has already begun a new book in which Alex and Ben stumble upon another adventure.
