Teen Valour is an exciting, children's action adventure book for young adults 12+. It was intended to be the first book of a trilogy.

Adam Cranford is a young teen-age boy of exceptional intelligence whose penchant for sophisticated pranks garner the attention of a secret international organization whose underground network trains young recruits to become part of a force fighting for good and the survival of the planet. Upon being expelled from school for one of his pranks, Adam and his family are contacted by the organization, The Foundation and offer Adam the enviable position of becoming one of their young cadets. Included in this offer is a spot in the best school in the area. Adam joins their forces and quickly rises up the ranks becoming the youngest recruit in their history to be appointed to their highest rank for his extraordinary leadership abilities. Those abilities are desperately needed when a group of eco-terrorists stages an elaborate kidnapping that puts not only the lives of the 30 chidren taken, but the population of the entire world is at risk as their plot is much bigger and involves much more than a kidnapping.

The book is well written and the action, especially in the last section of the book, is non stop and detailed. ( )

Hmmm, where to start. This was a book that raised some huge issues for me, and has a heap of flaws that left me rather conflicted about the whole experience. 'Teen Valour', as the name suggests, is a young adult novel about a teenage boy who achieves recognition and success through his bravery, intelligence and innate goodness. This message that young people need to be given the right opportunities to fulfil their potential is discussed in Adair's 'mission statement' foreword and is a worthy goal indeed.

On another level, this is a cracking action/adventure story, rather in the vein of the Young James Bond and Alex Rider books. Adam Cranford is recruited into 'The Foundation of Honour', a highly secret but undeniably powerful group, like a cross between MI5, military cadets and the Scouts, with a vast stash of private wealth to fund its activities. They pay for Adam to attend the best local school, set about training him in everything from physical fitness to disaster management, and assign him the (rather dubious) 'special skill' of lock-picking. So when Adam and a group of his school friends are kidnapped by armed eco-terrorists and held hostage at a remote Scottish base, who better to take command, drawing on everything he's learned and everything inside him to save the day?

So why, then, did I almost give up on this book about ten pages in? And what stopped me giving it a higher rating for all the complexity and excitement? Well... the writing's atrocious. I mean, REALLY atrocious. It reminded me very much of a fan fiction story - which is, by definition, an amateur and unedited piece of writing. There are words added in, words missing, typing and spelling mistakes, punctuation errors galore, and some of the grammar is, frankly, disgraceful. Certain explanations of events are convoluted, repetitive or unnecessarily detailed, and there are some real howlers thrown in there too - for example 'the roar of the distant breaking waves just some 150 metres away in the dark', and my particular favourite, 'There is 20,000 volts here. It is very painful. Speak now and tell me where he went or you will all feel the pain from my little stick.' Well, quite. It actually made me wonder if English isn't Adair's first language, because some of the turns of phrase are so odd.

Not only that, but the dialogue is so stilted it's painful. When the coachload of children is attacked the armed hijacker opens, rather hilariously, with: 'Stay calm, do nothing and you will all be okay. I am the leader and we are terrorists.' Teenage boys chatting to each other never use slang or contract their words ('I'm going out' instead of 'I am going out'), and there is a noticeable and completely unrealistic overuse of names. At one point I felt like there was something not quite right about the novel - and then I realised that while the characters smile and cry, they don't FEEL anything. The reader never sees inside Adam's head to find out how his logic is working to solve a crisis, or how he feels about what's happening to him, which makes the story feel rather shallow.

So, the question remains: is it worth reading, or not? I did feel myself being drawn into the story, partially helped by the short, snappy chapters, and I became quite immersed in the strange and privileged world of the Foundation. The plot is complex and Adair has clearly done his research, even if it is rather obviously deployed at times. There is plenty of plotting and gadgetry to satisfy action junkies, and all the loose ends are tied up nicely by the end.

The problem I have is that a book with this poor a grasp of basic English is being targeted at young adults. Although I'm very much in favour of exciting books encouraging children to read, I just feel that it is wrong to offer such a flawed novel to a young audience. Young people learn the ins and outs of language through reading, and to set this book as an example feels downright irresponsible. At least for an adult reader the errors are more jarring than misleading - personally I wouldn't give this book to a child unless I knew they were strong on literacy and would read the book as I did, skimming over the mistakes in pursuit of the plot. My advice to Mr Adair? Get yourself a good editor and proofreader, and you've got yourself a great book! ( )

I tried really hard to finish this book ,I really did, but sheer boredom beat me in the end. I am sure there is a good story in there somewhere, but it is buried under sheer repetition and stilted conversations. The hero is the sort of person I would love to punch - not a single fault! And I have my doubts about the Foundation. Are they Boy Scouts, or Hitler Youth? Someone is providing the money, and a lot of it too. In the end I just gave up. I will pass it on to a teenage boy of my acquantance who may enjoy it more than I did. ( )

Wow. I had my doubts as to whether a book about a 14 year old boy would hold my interest, but it sure did. It's interesting to see how a boy who gets expelled from school for a prank gets groomed for greatness and ends up a hero. I enjoyed the way the story builds with each event teaching the boy a needed skill. Can't wait to dive into book two. ( )

This was a great book which I thoroughly enjoyed, it will be enjoyed by both adults and teens alike. It reminds me a little of the Alex Rider books and a young James Bond.
The story builds well and has a superb finish, I am so pleased that there will be more in the series as I am sure that Adam can have many different adventures to keep the series going for quite a while. All in all a very good debut. ( )