Hostage

Bodyguard, Book 1

By: Chris Bradford

Narrated by: Simon Victor

Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

In a dangerous world, everyone needs protection.

Hostage is the first installment from the Bodyguard series by Chris Bradford, best-selling author of Young Samurai. Bodyguard is a bulletproof action-adventure series that fans of Cherub and Alex Rider will love. This is Lee Child for younger readers--Jason Bourne for the next generation.

With the rise of teen stars, the intense media focus on celeb families, and a new wave of billionaires, adults are no longer the only targets for hostage taking, blackmail and assassination--kids are too.

That's why they need a young bodyguard like Connor Reeves to protect them. Recruited into the ranks of a covert young bodyguard squad, 14-year-old Connor Reeves embarks on a rigorous close protection course. Training in surveillance, anti-ambush exercises, hostage survival and unarmed combat, he's put through his paces and wonders if he will actually survive the course.

But when the US president summons Connor to protect his impulsive teenage daughter, Connor's training is put to the ultimate test. For Connor discovers that the first daughter, Alicia, doesn't want to be guarded. She just wants to have fun. And with no clue Connor is her bodyguard, Alicia tries to elude her Secret Service agents and lead Connor astray. But unknown to her, a terrorist sleeper cell has been activated.

Its mission: to take the president's daughter hostage.

©2013 Chris Bradford (P)2015 Audible, Ltd

Good narration, great for a YA fiction book

Great choice of narrator, really sets the tone for the entire series. Good for fans of Chris Bradford, reminds me of the Alex Rider series from Anthony Horowitz or the Cherub series from Robert Muchamore. Worth a listen to.

Good story for younger readers

I thought the characters, story and performance were all solid. That being said, the principal players were early teenagers, making the book more appealing to a younger audience. The performer was quite good – colonial English thing is preferred language. That all works well except when pronouncing things that were quite American – such as the Potomac River. Nonetheless, the reader had a good range of voice – despite age or gender.

Awesome book, a little more real life violence

than I expected, but the whole family very much enjoyed it. We will certainly read the next in the series on our next family car ride.

Fantastic!

Any additional comments?

This book was fantastic. I haven't read anything like it before and absolutely flew through the pages. The idea of a young bodyguard immediately appealed to me and I jumped at the chance to read it.

I loved the plot and the idea behind it. You could imagine having a bodyguard for your child, if you were rich of course, so why not have a highly trained bodyguard who is the same age as your child and blends in!! That is the whole idea surrounding this book.

Connor is only 14 but he is a world champion kick boxer. his father was in the army and made Connor take self defense classes, and it payed off because when Connor wins the championship, he is recruited to be a bodyguard. He is hesitant at first because how can a 14 year old be a bodyguard, but when he learns that his father wasn't in fact in the army but was a prestigious bodyguard, he warms to the idea. After vigorous training Connor gets his first assignment. He is to go undercover as the bodyguard of the presidents daughter. Little does he know that this is going to throw him into the thick of things and he needs to rely on his training to keep both of them alive.

The author put so much into this book and it shows! His attention to detail was amazing. I felt like I was going through the training along with Connor. We learned so much about the ins and outs of bodyguard training that you feel sorry for the kids put through it! Its a tough and very dangerous job, but as they say, someones got to do it.

Connor was such an awesome hero. He is easily relatable and an all round nice guy. He wants to make his dad proud but he also wants to look after his ailing mum and gran. When the offer is made he takes it initially because they will look after his mum properly, but once he starts the training, he realises that he likes this.

Alicia is the impulsive daughter of the president and hates having the secret service trailing her. She has managed to give them the slip before and her dad knows that an undercover bodyguard would be perfect for her. My heart went out to Alicia! I can only imagine what it would be like to be so famous and have your every move watched over. She felt like a caged bird. Connor knows that he has his work cut out for him in keeping her safe.

I thoroughly enjoyed Connor and Alicias relationship. They start out as friends with Connor quietly guarding her but slowly things seem to be progressing, though against Connors better judgement! It was sweet to see them together.

This was quite the page turner as well. I loved reading every single word and found myself on the edge of my seat at times. Connor has a dangerous job and when that gets ramped up to Kidnapping, well lets just say that I couldn't see how Connor could get out of it. It was such an action packed read!

Anyway, Bodyguard : Hostage was an action packed and gripping read. You are immediately gripped by the writing and pulled along for the ride. Its a thrilling and captivating read and I would highly recommend for everyone. I loved everything about it and can not wait for the next installment!!

The audio of this was awesome. I loved the narrators accent and found him to be perfect for Connor. He brought the boy alive and I could feel his tenseness during the book. If you want a thrilling audio, then this is for you!!

NICE

Loved it, hope to read more of Chris Bradford books. Looking for the next ones.

school work

i loved it a lot. i did only need to read it gor school tho

This is actually Recruit not Hostage

The story is well read, however wish it would have been the correct book. hard to follow along with it being the wrong book for my child who needs this due to learning disabilities.