About This Book:
In this fourth installment in the New York Times bestselling series from Edgar Award winner James Ponti, the young group of spies go codebreaking in Cairo in another international adventure perfect for fans of Spy School and Mrs. Smith’s Spy School for Girls.
Codename Kathmandu, better known as Kat, loves logic and order, has a favorite eight-digit number, and can spot a pattern from a mile away. So when a series of cyberattacks hits key locations in London while the spies are testing security for the British Museum, it’s clear that Kat’s skill for finding reason in what seems like randomness makes her the perfect candidate to lead the job.
And while the team follows the deciphered messages to Egypt and the ancient City of the Dead to discover who is behind the attacks and why, Kat soon realizes that there’s another layer to the mystery.
With more players, more clues, and involving higher levels of British Intelligence than ever before, this mission is one of the most complex that the group has faced to date. And it’s also going to bring about a change to the City Spies…
*Review Contributed By Jan Farnworth, Staff Reviewer*
City of The Dead
The City Spies are chasing hackers who attack the British Museum and other English entities. Chasing the hackers leads them to Egypt in search of renegade antiquities.
What I liked:
Lots of great information about codes and returning cultural treasures to the countries from which they were stolen, and who owns the artifacts, who found them, the world, or the land they are from? I liked how, in each book, a particular character gets to show how they shine and why they have been selected for the team; this time, it is kat and her code-hacking abilities and how, amidst the chaos, she can see order. There are a lot of layers, and this book makes for one of the most complexes the team has faced.
Final Verdict:
On top of the central theme of these books is the added layer of the family, especially for “Mother,” who has adopted the city spies but dearly misses his children, who his wife Clemmie has hidden from him. Before the end of this novel, though, a significant change will happen for the city spies’ family, and a new dynamic will be on the horizon. How will this change the series for future books, and will “Mother” be able to reunite with his whole family? Again, this author does a fantastic job of placing a story that keeps you guessing as you read each page, writes characters that are great to root for, and keeps you guessing till the end how the whole mystery will play out.
