The Fall by Robert Muchamore Review

"When an MI5 mission goes disastrously wrong, James Adams needs all of his skills to get out of Russia alive.

Meanwhile, his sister Lauren is on her first solo mission trying to uncover a brutal human trafficking operation.

And when James does get home, he finds that his nightmare is just beginning."

Hmm... The Fall isn't where it gets particularly interesting. Human trafficking? Eh... It is more disturbing than exciting. Especially when it gets to those most disturbing parts, of course. That is when it gets weird...

The conflict isn't too interesting. James' problem is more of an assassination mystery than espionage while Lauren is more like espionage. She is covertly trying to dig information out of a suspected girl who was involved with a human trafficking operation. And then there are a few subplots like Kerry's relationship and Dana's flirtation with James. 

I swear, James Adams is becoming closer to James Bond with each book I read. He is already getting a lot of attention from girls. Seriously. He is arrogant. Smart. Conceited. Brilliant. And utterly fails when trying to keep a relationship without cheating with the closest girl he sees. This guy is as bad as James Bond. How many girls has he slept with? Eh... Not yet. He is still a virgin, but he might as well not be one. The guy is a rake. An immoral pleasure seeker. Sorry, I had been watching way too many reruns of Jeopardy! 

Lauren, on the other hand, is the better sibling of the two. She, for one, actually has some self-control. Besides, she has much more common sense than James and doesn't sleep around with a bunch of guys. Then again, she is only twelve years old, so... That might be a fluke, but it is highly unlikely that Lauren would go roguish. She is nothing like James. In fact, she is a much better version, not to mention more mature, of a CHERUB agent. There are a lot of layers in her while James is just... Bond, James Bond.

And cue the music.

Overall, The Fall slows down the series. It isn't as fast, but it goes deep down into CHERUB and MI5's organization. Plus, it also reveals more of Muchamore's fictional world. And I'm deeply disappointed that there were some references to real life fake spies. Oh, does that sound complicated? Maybe I should had said this: subtle references.

Last word: The Fall could had been better, but it proved to be very interesting and relaxing compared to the rest of the series. 

Rating: Four out of Five