★★★☆☆ A formulaic Spy School novel

Spy School Goes North

Stuart Gibbs

In my review of the previous Spy School book, Spy School Project X, I wrote

Spy School novels have a formula. We have Ben Ripley, a gifted kid who achieves excellent results by not being stupid, Ben's friends who are well-intentioned and sometimes competent, and the ever-expanding dysfunctional Hale family made up of the World's worst spies, who believe themselves to be the World's best spies, including toothsome teen sisters Erica and Trixie Hale. Gibbs picks a setting (frequently this is the site of a vacation or a sight-seeing visit he made), then makes up a silly James Bond-esque plot to play out there, with jokes! The main questions one asks on picking up a new Spy School book are "Where will it happen?" and "How will character relationships change?"

I described all that in order to say that Project X broke the formula. And it was great! I expressed the hope that "The Spy School novels will never be the same again."

It was not to be. Spy School Goes North returns to the tried and true Spy School formula. Now, although I, personally, was disappointed, a return to form is not necessarily a bad thing. It is, after all, a successful formula. Spy School has an army of devoted followers (I am one -- I have read every one of the books) and new releases regularly rack up 4.8-star average ratings on Amazon. If you have read Project X and the previous novels, you know how you feel about this.

Goes North takes place in Alaska (which is indeed a spectacular setting for a spy story). We also get some new characters and relationships. As the publisher's blurb tells us, we meet Cyrus Hale's old Russian nemesis, and also "a young KGB agent with skills to rival Erica’s". The latter new character is a great addition to the cast, and I look forward to seeing more of her in future novels. There's also a running gag about Ben and Cyrus's Russian language skills, which is pretty funny.

I thank NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for an advance reader copy of Spy School Goes North. This review expresses my honest opinion. Release date 3-Oct-2023.

Spy School Goes North on Amazon

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