Carson is a prankster. He justifies it this way.

“Someone had to make life interesting around here, to break up the routine of a North Dakota existence. And I guess that someone was me. So, yeah, a day filled with goats and glued doors and staplers and pens would be totally worth it compared to just another day.”

The day he is about to pull off one of his best pranks ever, a mysterious man gives him a package to deliver to Mr. Jensen. He is given direct instructions not to open the package. He opens the package. A voice recording informs him that he has 48 hours to enter a code before the device self-destructs. Betsy, as he names the device, gives a reminder every 15 minutes. This is a problem because anyone within earshot of the device also hears the reminder. He must A) cough, shout, or create some other diversion like peeing in his pants to get out of earshot, and B) figure out which Mr. Jensen is the intended recipient.

This is, without a doubt, my favorite spy book. I love Carson. Rylander has done a fantastic job giving loads of detail to create a fully formed, 3-demensional character. Example:

“Right now in my bag next to my desk was a device that apparently carried information vital to the safety of our whole country. And I was supposed to worry about some test on a book so boring I hadn’t even made it past page four? I mean, hundreds of kids had probably failed this very same test over the past twenty-five years and what had happened to them because of it? Nothing, that’s what. Now those kids were doing the same things that kids who had passed the test were doing.”

I love the absolute candor of this kid. I love his stream of consciousness. It’s hilarious as heck, in a subtle kind of way. Most of the kid spy books I’ve read shove the humor down your throat to the extent you gag. Not Rylander. He’s a pro. Even Carson’s friend, Dillion, is a great character with his off-the-wall conspiracy theories. This book has been way overlooked. ( )

Codename Zero is the first book in the Codename Conspiracy series. I
read all three books in two days and absolutely loved them! Chris Rylander did really well on this one and weaved it together perfectly. There are very intense plot twists in all three books and not many books impressed me but this one was out of this world! I only found one thing wrong with it. He didn't make enough.

On a blazing hot summer day Carson Fender is putting the final touches on one of his pranks when a strange man shows up and gives him a package for Mr. Jensen. Only problem is that there are two Mr. Jensens. Carson finds out that both work for a secret agency far underneath the school. They hire Carson and assign him to befriending Olek, a new student. Mule Medlock the bad guy kidnaps Olek and Carson and his friends Dillon and his twin sister Danielle have to save him. They find out Mule Medlock is hiding in the annual circus in town. They save Olek but Medlock gets away. The agency kind of fires Carson and he goes back to his normal life. But not for long. The next book is Countdown Zero and if you read that review you will know what happens. ( )