This book is action packed and full of adventure. Middle grade students who are interested in aliens will love this book. It deals with many important issues, but is not preachy.

Alex has just finished school for the summer. He meets up with his friend Shakespeare (Tiva), who is a shapeshifting alien undercover cop who is borrowing Alex's body from two years ago. He needs Alex and his family to help catch a gang of evil aliens, the Kiaians, who want to trade drugs for weapons that are only available on Earth. Alex and his family are heading off to vacation in France, so Shakespeare goes along with them. Even though Shakespeare tries to keep Alex out of trouble, he still gets involved in some sticky and dangerous situations. With drug dealers and blood thirsty aliens trying to get what they want, Alex and his family could be in serious danger.

Some of the issues dealt with in this book include the drug trade, violence, illegal weapons. Shakespeare is a pacifist and does not want to hurt anyone unless it is absolutely necessary. A far cry from some of the shoot em up games and television shows or movies.

I would recommend that you read the first book, The Alien in the Garden, before you read this one. It took me a while to figure out the relationship between Alex and Shakespeare and some of the background information would have been helpful. I would recommend this book to children from ages 11 and up. They need to be able to understand the issues.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )