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Constantine seems your typical American teen, wearing jeans, checking out cars and living with his mom and step-father in a nice little apartment. What throws it off is that he does all of this in Vienna, where his mother is studying Hebrew. He moves along in life, bored as all get out until a friend of the family slyly informs him that one in every ten adults in Vienna is a spy, which means that at least one of the people Con knows must be one. This in mind, he sets out on a plan with his best friend, Hannah, to discover who is the spy in their midst. Things go a little haywire, however, when he visits his previous home in Grossgmain and is given a solid gold mezuzah by an old friend. He doesn't think it unusual except for his mother's negative reaction and then increasingly secretive behavior. Unwittingly, Con and Hannah are pulled into a bad situation involving assassins, old Nazis and an effort to bring them to justice.

This is a book that is involving and exciting with, to me, very life-like characters, making choices and mistakes and living in their world. It is tied deeply with history and faith, and provides an excellent starting place for many different thoughts and conversations. No, it isn't Voltaire or Twain, but it is a fun read, engaging and interesting. Woo.
After I finished it last night [I admit that I read it all in one sitting after having a supremely lousy day], I wondered how I would describe and review it, seeing as I went to school with the author's son [not the one mentioned in the dedication], and have, in fact met her as well. I have gotten to hear stories about the family and the places they have been and the amazing people they are, but even without this abstract tie to it [I say abstract because I don't know how much characters are based on people, if at all, so it is more of a predisposition than anything else...], I can almost guarantee that I would have liked it. I thought about how, when I was younger, I was fascinated by the fiction literature available to me about WWII, and often went out of my way to read it. I thought about phrases often used to describe novels involving mystery, intrigue and a bit of adventure, but could not allow myself to use them--'fun, fast-paced adventure' just didn't seem to suit it.
This could be because, we spend a good amount of time getting to know the setting and the characters, with little threads connecting to the excitement funneled in here and there. And I cannot bring myself to apply the word 'fun' to many things relating to the atrocities of WWII, whether or not they are set in the present. While the story is exciting and much of it is fun, Bell also weaves her faith and beliefs into the text, quoting the Bible more than once and calling for the reader to think, a lot. Not only about what was and was not done during those dark years, but also how we as people, as God's people, are supposed to react and behave with the world and peoples around us. Inasmuch, it is, I suppose, a fun book, but with some very sobering moments.
Then again, maybe I would not have noticed them quite so much as a kid. Maybe I've read enough or seen enough or been around enough to pick up on themes with which I sympathize. I don't know.
But I do recommend this book to young readers, Christian and otherwise, because I don't find her to be pushy about the faith. ( )

very good. This book got me started in the series. It also helped me to see the social issues that still circulate now a days. ( )