The Recruit

The Recruit is a 2004 young adult novel by British novelist Robert Muchamore. It is the first book of twelve in the CHERUB series. The novel follows unfortunate teenager James Choke, later named James Adams. James, reeling from the death of his mother, is sent to live in a children’s home, only to be recruited by a spy organization. The Recruit has been translated into twelve languages, and there is also a graphic novel adaptation of the book by Ian Edginton.

The story begins with James sitting in his science class. He doesn’t like school very much, and he feels bored with the material. There is a girl that everyone likes named Samantha, who is a bit of a goody-two-shoes. James, however, knows a different side of Samantha, who teases him about his overweight mother. On this day, James cannot handle her taunting, and he snaps, pushing Samantha against a wall and injuring her. The teacher, Mrs. Voolt, yells at James, and he pushes her, too, in panic. Not knowing what to do, James runs from the classroom. He knows he will be in trouble with the school and with his mom, so instead of returning home, he goes to a park and hides within the playground.

When he finally returns home, there are tons of missed phone calls on his answering machine. He is surprised his mom hasn’t heard the news, yet. “Uncle Ron,” who is his mother’s ex-husband—but not James’ father—is at the house. He is there to see James’ half sister, Lauren, who hasn’t returned home from school yet. His mother, Gwen, is lying on the sofa, drunk. Gwen runs a business where she pays thieves to steal things for her. As a result, James has all the latest video game consoles. Ron is abusive towards James and James does not like him. James tries to tell his mom what happened at school but she doesn’t listen, so he takes some money from her purse and goes to buy dinner and pick up Lauren.



Once James picks up Lauren, he tells her what happened, and she calls him stupid for picking a fight with Samantha. They go out to eat, but Lauren doesn’t eat much, instead saying she will make Nutella sandwiches later. On their way home, they are mugged and assaulted by Samantha’s brother, Greg. Bloodied and bruised, James makes his way home, only to find a letter from the school saying that he has been expelled. He gets in the shower and starts to pray, asking God to make him a better person. James’ friend Sam calls and tells him he can’t hang around with him anymore until everything “settles down.” In the middle of the night, James wakes up and urinates blood. When he goes to tell his mother this, he finds her dead on the couch, apparently from mixing alcohol and pills.

James and Lauren both have trouble processing their mother’s death, and the hospital gives them light sleeping pills to help them rest. When James wakes up, he meets his caseworker, Rachel, who tells him that Lauren will stay with Ron and James will go to a children’s home called Nebraska House. Ron arrives and takes Lauren away. He says they probably will not be able to see each other very often. A social worker takes James to his mom’s old house where he remembers a safe she used to have. He finds the combination and pulls out a large amount of money from the inside. At Nebraska House, he starts to bond with his roommate, Kyle. After a while, Kyle reveals that he is part of an organization called CHERUB, a British program that trains exceptional children to be spies. James is taken aback by the news, and befriends some other kids in the home, who get him into trouble for stealing alcohol from a store. He is arrested and taken to the police station for the night. He awakes wakes up in a room and discovers he is at CHERUB. He meets the president, Terrence McAfferty, who administers some tests on James. James passes the tests and then goes back to Nebraska House. He mulls over the decision of whether or not to join the group. His roommate, Kyle, finally admits he was sent by CHERUB to recruit James.

After a few days of thinking about it, James decides to join. He picks a new name for himself, James Robert Anthony Adams, and meets his “handler,” named Mary, back at headquarters. His training becomes more and more intense, nearly to the point of abuse, but he manages to pass. James and Kyle make a bold move and sneak James out of CHERUB to see Lauren. He learns that Ron is in jail for assaulting her, and that Lauren has also decided to join CHERUB. James’ trainer, Amy, finally tells James that his training is complete, and that he will be sent on his first mission. James and Amy go to a commune in Wales, where they learn the disheartening news that two brothers are planning to kill important politicians and oil executives with anthrax. Luckily, James and Amy manage to prevent the attack, and James receives a reward for his outstanding service to CHERUB.