Here's another decent addition to the growing category of spy series. Max has been scuttled from one foster family to another since his mom died and his dad went MIA. Once again he is booted and blamed for a fire he didn't start. He’s sent to an orphanage, where it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out, is actually a spy training school. Classes in decoding and acrobatic dodging are a dead give-away. On top of that, he learns that his father is alive and well, but in hiding as a spy. Max’s personal mission is to break out of the orphanage and track down his dad. Which he does.

As every good spy book aims to do, the author keeps you guessing about who's good, who's bad and who you can trust. The first half of the book is more tame and mysterious while Max learns spy tactics and tracks down clues about his dad. The second half is more typical spy action were they are on the run from the bad guys. I loved the kid characters, but the adults, not so much, especially the Asian orphanage director who was dreadfully underdeveloped. Here's an example of great dialogue between the kids.

Nikki: “If you get caught, you do not give me up, even under pain of torture. I’ve got a black belt. You know what that means?”
Max: “Your brown belt is at the cleaners?”
Nikki: It means I can cause a whole encyclopedia of pain.”

This book is not as over-the-top hilarious as many kid spy books tend to be, but still entertaining for the diehard fans. ( )

I'm 153 pages into the book, and contemplating giving up. It's not bad, it's just not anything. If a book hasn't grabbed me by half way through, life is too short to let it keep trying for a hold!
Max Segredo gets kicked out of yet another foster home, and ends up at the Merry Sunshine Orphanage where he encounters some unusual characters and a pretty strange school. He quickly figures out that it is a school for spies, and that, since his parents are dead, he doesn't have any choice about helping out. ( )