Even when I was just a wee lad, I was a big fan of James Bond. I think it is probably due to the high level of action and the sense of danger that is evident in the films. When I hit high school, I ended up reading most of the books, though, I quickly learned the pacing was quite a bit slower and the plots were a bit thinner.

A few years ago, Charlie Higson started coming out with a new series called Young Bond. The first book, SilverFin starts off with James first arriving at Eton as a new student. Unlike the other boys at the well-known prep school, James was not rich. That did not prevent him from forming a core group of friends. It was also the start of his high adventures on an international scale.

This is the third volume in the series, which follows after Blood Fever. James has returned home to Eton after his summer adventures on the Italian isles. The holidays are quickly approaching when his good friend Pritpal receives a letter from Mr. Fairborn, the teacher/advisor of the Crossword Club. It offers his apologies for having to leave and seems to filled with errors, which Pritpal, James, Perry, and their other friends quickly realize are clues to a cryptic puzzle. It quickly becomes clear that Fairborn did not leave by choice, and his life is likely in peril.

After a mysterious visit from one of Fairborn's colleague for a planned visit with the Crossword Club. The visit does not go as planned as the visitor is not only rude, but he seems to have no interest in crosswords or other forms of puzzles. It provide James and his friends with the first clue, outside of the letter, that they can use to find Fairborn.

James is confronted with an interesting cadre of villains. Sir John Charnage quickly comes to the fore along with the eerie looking brothers, Ludwig and Wolfgang Smith. They are joined with the Russion Babushka the Grandmother in the fight to get a handle on the pre-cursor of computers.

Today's younger readers will get an opportunity to learn about the early attempts by the British secret service to create a machine that will assist them with their espionage. Familiar names and terms (to those with knowledge about computer history) such as Charles Babbage, Alan Turing, and binary code are weaved nicely into the storyline.

Fans of the series will be thrilled to see the return of siblings Red and Kelly Kelly as they play a crucial role in James' plan. Kelly feelings toward James are definitely shifting from friendship to something more, perhaps as a precursor to Bond's luck with the ladies

The series has done a wonderful job in capturing everything that made the film series popular with its nice mix of humor, edge-of-your-seat danger, and an elusive solution the audience must join James in second. This is really one of the best books in the series.