Trackers: Book One

Fast-paced, tech-focused. Guys Read choice. Lots of appendices and transcripts to mimic various files in a computer. Chapters divided by "passwords" Told in an interview format. Very fantastical, kid computer geniuses.
Q4P5 ( )

In a novel that unfolds as an extended interrogation with mysterious officials, Adam Henderson describes how he recruited three other teens to become trackers, the opposite of hackers, who try to protect the public from Internet criminals. The team stumbles onto a global, criminal plot, but nothing is as simple as it seems at first: the bad guys turn out to be government agents, who recruit the four into their ranks to help locate an evil computer mastermind, a shadowy figure that will no doubt be further developed in future installments of the series. This novel joins the growing list of multiplatform titles, and readers are invited to log onto a related, slick Web site (complete with menacing sound effects) to decipher plot-related puzzles and watch videos that flesh out the story. Many young people will no doubt be intrigued by the expanded media storytelling techniques offered here, but a computer companion isn’t necessary; some of the same Web-based material is also included in the appendix to this exciting adventure. Grades 6-9. --Todd Morning ( )

Both my son (8 years old) and I read this book – and we both enjoyed it – but he was far more impressed than I. (Which, of course, makes sense.)

He thought it was awesome and thought the video clips made the book more interesting and interactive. He also appreciated the humor in the book and liked the group of Trackers.

I do have to say that he didn’t read it as fast as he usually does and didn’t inhale it the way he has books in the past (39 Clues, Percy Jackson, etc.) but he gave it a 9 out of 10 and is looking forward to the next book.

I thought the book was good and thought it did make for a good adventure. As an adult, I did find it wildly far fetched, but it wasn’t written for me.

Anyway – looks like we will be buying the second book in the series – especially since this one left a LOT of questions needing answers. ( )

Reviewed by Joan Stradling for TeensReadToo.com

In the digital age, tracking someone is easy for a computer whiz like Adam, especially when tracking is in his blood. In Adam's own words, "Everyone leaves a trail. Some of them shouldn't be followed."

Adam and his three friends track a mysterious computer hacker, only to be pulled into a dangerous situation they aren't sure they'll escape.

I've never read a book like this before, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Not only do you get one amazing mystery to follow, but there are codes and a website which allows you to watch videos of the team's tracking experiences and you can break the codes online, as well. You get both the reading and the viewing experience, which adds a whole new level to reading in the digital age.

Unfortunately, I'm a "late night" reader and was in bed while I read this, so I wasn't able to access the videos at the time. Thankfully, there's a transcript in the back of the book, so if you don't want to go online you don't have to and will still be able to follow the story. Even though I'd already read the book, I did go online and watch the videos the next day. I had a blast seeing the characters come to life, and wished I had watched the videos instead of reading the transcript first!

I completely enjoyed this book and hope to track along with Adam and his team in book two, SHANTORIAN, when it's released! ( )

Reason for Reading: I became a huge fan of Carman's after reading the Atherton series and was excited to read another book by him.

A book entirely written as an interview, an interrogation. 15 year-old Adam is being questioned by someone to go back to the beginning and tell them what happened. We have no idea who is doing the interviewing, though the assumption is that is that it is high ranking officials, either military or government. Though whether that assumption is true I have not ascertained and part of me highly doubts. Right from the beginning we are teased with foreshadowing, told that something awful has happened and this foreshadowing continues throughout the book. Adam's three cohorts are used as bargaining chips to keep him talking as he does not know what has happened to them, if they are well and if these "officials" also have them, as they claim.

Through this Q&A format Adam tells the story of how he, a computer high-tech savvy expert with multitudes of invented gadgets and access to any computer in the world meets up with three other teens of various abilities who join together to help the world by tracking down online hackers and fixing weak security systems while leaving behind anonymous notes. They call themselves "Trackers" and they also physically go out on test runs with the gadgets Adam has invented while he stays back at the control room running the operation. They get pulled into a dangerous game when Adam is contacted by an attractive female teen who challenges him to a cyber game he can't refuse. Next thing he knows his system has been hacked, all his inventions and files stolen and now he is at the mercy of this young woman and a menacing man named Laslo who force him and his team to participate in criminal activities but Adam thinks he can outsmart them in the end. Obviously, due to the current interrogation, something drastically went wrong.

I loved this story. It was a page turner. Each of the four teens were exceptional individuals, from different backgrounds and each was extremely likable in their own unique way. I am very eager to get on with the story in book 2.

Trackers is very unique itself in that it combines video with text. Throughout the book, as the interview was progressing a file would be introduced and Adam would pull up a video that proved what he was saying was true. At this point the reader who has already been directed to a website inserts the password and has the opportunity to watch an actual video of the characters in action. There may also be other things for the reader to do such as examine items in evidence, schematics, etc. I must say this is extraordinarily cool. Unfortunately, I only have internet access on a PC shared with family members. I did watch the first couple of videos this way, but if I had had to read a bit then wait a turn on the computer before continuing to read on it would have taken me weeks to finish the book! Fortunately, for those not able to enjoy the instant gratification of the videos each is included as a written transcript as an appendix at the back of the book and this is the way I eventually ended up reading the book. It did not deter my enjoyment at all. A very exciting, unique, intriguing story! ( )