Review: Spy Society - Robin Benway

Spy Society by Robin Benway, published by Simon and Schuster on 18th June 2013

Goodreads synopsis:
Being a 16-year-old safecracker and active-duty daughter of international spies has its moments, good and bad. Pros: Seeing the world one crime-solving adventure at a time. Having parents with super cool jobs. Cons: Never staying in one place long enough to have friends or a boyfriend. But for Maggie Silver, the biggest perk of all has been avoiding high school and the accompanying cliques, bad lunches, and frustratingly simple locker combinations.

Then Maggie and her parents are sent to New York for her first solo assignment, and all of that changes. She'll need to attend a private school, avoid the temptation to hack the school's security system, and befriend one aggravatingly cute Jesse Oliver to gain the essential information she needs to crack the case . . . all while trying not to blow her cover.

Review:
If you love the Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter (as I do!) then you'll adore 'Spy Society' which is a fun read about a teenage spy cracking her first big solo case.

Maggie is a great character.  She and her parents, who are spies, work for a secret organisation called the Collective.  She is an expert safe-cracker - capable of breaking even the toughest combination locks.  Being part of the spy world is in her blood and it is a life she loves.  As a family, the Silvers end up moving to New York where Maggie is assigned her own mission.  This turns everything on it's head because now she has to face the teenage realm of school, try to be a normal teenager and crack the case at the same time.  This will be the biggest challenge Maggie has had to face so far. 

Brave, smart and funny, I really loved her as a main character and she makes a great lead.  She has to get close to Jesse Oliver as part of her assignment but things don't quite go to plan when they have a lot more in common than she expected.  It's not a typical YA romance but some of their scenes together were among my favourite in the book. 

The story is fast-paced and the plot fairly speeds along with some big twists and turns along the way.  I enjoyed every second of reading it and really didn't want to get to the end!  Robin Benway has hit upon the perfect formula for a fabulous series with brilliant characters and plenty of intrigue and excitement to keep you gripped from start to finish.  It was a big winner with me.   

I'm so glad that this is going to be part of a series because I can't wait to catch-up with Maggie Silver again and follow her on her next big case.  'Going Rogue', the next book, is due to be published in 2014.