Forbidden City (City Spies) Paperback – January 10, 2023

"City Spies" is not just for Middle Schoolers! If you are an adult in need of a book with which you can steal away to a quiet corner of your home, go to a nice park or beach, put your feet up and escape, this is it! You will have a great time with James Ponti's well-written thriller and will be very reluctant to put it down. This was my first encounter with what I discovered is a series; will catch up with Books 1 and 2 and have pre-ordered Book 4, to be published early next year. Great fun to read! 😀

The City Spies are back, in what their spymaster describes as their "biggest, most challenging, most complex" adventure yet, or as one of the team members puts it, "Best. Summer. Vacation. Ever." If you've read books 1 & 2, you know what to expect: thrilling action sequences, the sometimes challenging family dynamics of a diverse group of orphans who've been formed into a team (and now are officially a family, with the adoption announced in book 2 now a completed fact), backstory of one of the characters, mysteries that call on their combined talents, a generous dose of humor, visits to top world tourist attractions (with real-life, sometimes surprising, facts), and the vagaries of ordinary life while trying to outwit an international criminal syndicate. My 11- and 14-year-old sons eagerly reorganized their evenings to get maximum family reading time as soon as the book came out, and Mom & Dad had great fun reading it as well.If you haven't read books 1 & 2, do yourself a favor and read them first. Characters appear with little or no explanation, with the author seemingly assuming you know who they are. References to events in prior books are enough to recall them to mind if you've read them, but could be a bit incomplete for someone starting here. Some secondary characters from prior books recur, particularly Charlotte, the former team member whom Brooklyn replaced. How the kids handle the "burned bridges" (Charlotte's term) is a significant secondary theme, and the story offers valuable lessons about forgiveness and reconciliation amid all the action and intrigue.Each book has had a primary focus on one of the spies. Book 1 focused on Brooklyn, book 2 on Sydney. This book focuses on Paris, who as a youth chess champion is tasked with getting close to a North Korean youth chess prodigy. Paris's specialty has always been blending in, but it makes him start to wonder who, under all the layers of fake identities, he really is. But he's also been the moral center of the team, and when he faces decisions of moral significance, we see what he's truly made of, and the other characters--and we--are impressed.Ponti has experience as a TV script writer, and it shows in the constant switches back and forth between different settings. But it keeps you on the edge of your seat, wondering (and guessing) what twist is coming next; some we could foresee, while others blindsided us. We're rooting for both more books in the series and translation to the big screen. All around, a satisfying and entertaining next episode in what we hope will be a continuing series.

In both the FRAMED and CITY SPIES series, James Ponti delivers riveting, humorous and emotionally touching stories that my children (now ages 13 and 10) and I just love. The characters are rich, the plot lines are compelling and the writing is magnificent. We hope that these stories get turned into a TV series or movies as it would be fun to enjoy them all over again in a new and different way.

I think teenage kids will love this. I’ve purchased all the books in the series for my 13 year old. She can’t put the books down!

My daughter and I read this book together. (I bought two copies so we could both read it at the same time) We are absolutely loving this series. (Write faster James!!!) The pacing in this book is excellent. James has a large cast to work with, yet he pulls off great dialogue and rich characters. There are simultaneous plots running at the same time which keeps the reader guessing. The book is smartly written, and well researched!

I liked that it had many different parts and point of views. Highly recommend to anyone who likes this series but it also is not that confusing if you haven’t read the other books.

An adventure to use covert tactics to keep you hooked and good character interactions.

Every single book by James Ponti, is a book I cannot put down. These are great no matter what your age. The man is a genius writer. Thanks James.

Loved all three so far.

Amazing book I am going to buy the next one too

Fantastico