It is 1953, at the height of the Red Scare. Jake McCauley is 12 years old. He loves riding his dad’s old bike and reading Spy Runner comics. His father has been MIA since World War II; Jake only knows him through the photo he keeps in a dresser drawer. When his mother rents out his dad’s home office to a man named Shubin, Jake suspects he is a Russian spy. His suspicions grow further as classmates shun him, a Buick is suddenly tailing him wherever he goes, and a scary-looking man with gold-capped teeth appears in Jake’s yard and around town. Jake finds himself caught up in a surrealistic spy thriller of his own making, where nothing and no one appears to be what they seem. Cinematic quality, with descriptive prose in the mood of film noir. Red herrings galore, moments of shock/surprise, a thriller and bit of mystery. Readers kept guessing until the last third of the book when things begin to fall in line. ( )