Maximum Security - Robert Muchamore

Title: Maximum Security
Author: Robert Muchamore
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 277
Published: 2005

When CHERUB agent James Adams is offered an alternative to the dull recruitment missions his friends have been assigned, he accepts without hesitation. With the help of his younger sister, Lauren, and an older agent named Dave Moss, his task will be to infiltrate a maximum security prison and befriend the incarcerated son of an elusive arms dealer, before breaking him out in the hope of following him back to his mother. The prison in question is only a young offender's institution, but James soon realises that he may have bitten off more than he can chew. He will need all his training to survive the dog-eat-dog hierarchies of Arizona Max, and to outwit the armed guards and police officers who consider him a real prisoner.

After getting off to an impressive start with The Recruit and Class A, Robert Muchamore's bestselling CHERUB series hits something of a stumbling block in Maximum Security. The first few chapters are particularly unimpressive. Muchamore's usual, punchy style is dragged down by extra padding, and our reintroduction to James – a rather unoriginal brawl at a bowling alley – is punctuated by clichés and exaggerations. Lauren's basic training, despite thrusting readers into a bleak Alaskan snowfield, seems to have none of the gruelling boot-camp charisma that James' ordeal did. By the time a suitably challenging task does present itself, the reader's interest will be somewhat dampened. Perhaps Muchamore's editor has adopted a more lenient stance following the success of his first two books.

Fortunately, the novel improves as it warms up. The standout, tried and true features of the series are more than enough to save this instalment, particularly the grit and authenticity imparted by Muchamore's research. This novel is probably worth reading just for its accessible insight into life in a young offender's prison. The usual grim glimpses into the characters' flaws and failings help to make it even more convincing, particularly where Curtis Oxford is concerned, and once the break-out gets rolling, there are enough twists and turns to make for an absorbing thriller.

Muchamore does not pull free from his flaws completely. Perhaps the most glaring problem is the ease with which the breakout occurs. If all 'maximum security' prisons in the USA are this easy to escape from, there is little wonder that crime is such a problem there. Then there is James' relationship with Vaughn Little, which might have tugged on the heartstrings if the exact same trick hadn't already been used in the previous book with Keith Moore. These faults are disappointing, but they are nothing that the momentum of the series will not sustain.

It may not be one of the stronger CHERUB novels, but Maximum Security spins a tight, engaging yarn in under three hundred pages, and the fans should have no trouble devouring it. Thankfully, Muchamore appears to be defying the common trend; so far, his books are getting shorter instead of longer.