The Young Bond series presents the story of what happened to James Bond during his teen years. After the events of the previous book, James is still recovering from his injuries, and is taking a semester off from Eton. His Aunt Charmian had a schedule expedition in the jungles of Mexico and has decided to bring him along. While she does her assignment, James is going to be staying with her friend Jack Stone, a former flying ace from the war.

Just as they are arriving, a hurricane comes ashore. Jack Stone offers to fly Charmian out to her expedition with the hopes that she can make it before things go bad. James will remain in the Stone mansion with Jack's children: Precious, a girl his own age with quite the empress complex, and JJ, a sweet kid who just wants someone to play with. As the storm is coming ashore, the Stone estate gets some company.

A group of thieves have decided to try and take advantage of the storm to take Jack Stone's safe. They are a bit disappointed that Stone is not there and decide to take Stone's children along for the ride. James, pretending to be a local hoodlum, goes along for the ride in the hopes of saving the kids and recovering the stolen goods.

Off the coast of Mexico is the island of Lagrimas Negras, which has become a hideaway for a number of scary criminals. To stay in the haven all they have to do is turn over a huge amount of funds to El Huracan, the "governor" of the island. The only problem is that no one leaves the island once they arrive. The idea is to protect the sanctity of the haven. The only way to get off is through an obstacle course, called La Avenida de la Muerte (the Avenue of Death) that follows a theme related to the ancient Mayan gods. No one has ever completed the gauntlet before.

As you can probably guess, James will find his way onto Lagrimas Negras in the course of his adventures in Mexico. The only way he is going to get to save the girl, recover the treasure, and get out alive is take the challenge of the gauntlet.

This, the fourth volume, is a nice addition to the series. Like the earlier novels, it is a typical Bond story, full of action, deception, and a quick pace. The series is a bit more challenging than the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz, but they are just as good.