The Final Renegade
The Agent Bennet Saga
No one is safe as teenage spies track down their rivals in The Final Renegade, a fresh entry in a propulsive thriller series.
In R. S. Twells’s exciting, series-continuing novel The Final Renegade, a teenage spy faces major upheavals.
An epidemic of traitors within the Orphanage, a shady spy organization that raises children into agents from birth, forces its remaining members to go on the run. Bennet leads a team of his friends to track down the Shepherd, who heads a rival organization that embedded spies deep within the Orphanage. With current and former friends disappearing around him and his traitorous twin brother nagging him with cryptic notes, Bennet is tasked with his most difficult assignment yet—dismantling the Shepherd’s plans without the safe, familiar structures he grew up with.
This busy thriller leavens its varied intrigue with humor. It begins in medias res and assumes a rapid-fire pace, with ranging dangers cropping up often. Bennet’s teammates die in violent explosions and gunfight duels; indeed, in this volume, no one is safe.
Bennet is an engaging narrator who often falls short in his efforts to do what’s right, including as a team leader. In fact, it is rare that he has the option to make a good choice. As a result, he wrestles with his own perceived failures as much as with Shepherd and her team, resulting in tension. He also nurses a crush on a pink-haired mechanic, struggling to pursue a relationship with her while lives are at risk.
Bennet’s estranged twin, Collin, causes problems for the Orphanage and the Shepherd. He speaks with an emotionless affect and has obsessive tendencies; on occasion, chapters are narrated from his perspective, representing fun detours. His ex-girlfriend, Darcy, is one of Bennet’s teammates; a trigger-happy former child assassin, she yearns to retire. Her friendship with Bennet is warm, and the juxtaposition between her tender moments and her murderous ones is amusing.
The prose is straightforward, incorporating situating details in a quite sparing manner. It trades between Bennet’s thoughts and people’s diverting conversations well. It also sometimes veers into clichéd territory, as with “It was time to face my biggest demon. Except, I really didn’t want to.” Still, the book’s ending wraps up the series in a satisfying manner, though leaving some room for a sequel.
A resourceful field agent leads a ragtag team of underdogs in a desperate attempt to take down a rival spy organization in The Final Renegade, a stimulating series novel about teenage espionage.
Reviewed by
Leah Block
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
