Desert Dark

by Sonja Stone

Overview

Hogwarts meets The Bourne Identity in this action-packed thriller about teenage spies—for fans of Marie Lu's Legends series and James Dashner's Maze Runner trilogy

Sixteen-year-old Nadia Riley is delighted to earn a spot at an elite, government-funded boarding school. Nothing sounds better than leaving behind her fraught relationship with her ex-boyfriend and moving to faraway Arizona to attend Desert Mountain Academy. 

But when she arrives, Nadia finds out she has more than classwork to catch up on. Desert Mountain Academy is a covert CIA program, which recruits and trains high-achieving students for Black-Ops work. While struggling to keep up with her new classes, Nadia must also gain the trust of her teammates, and survive a rigorous exercise and combat training course. Thrilled at the opportunity, Nadia isn't expecting to fall in love—or to end up in real, deadly danger.

When news leaks that there is a double agent on campus, suddenly everyone is a suspect—including Nadia. To clear her name, she must use her newfound skills to uncover the traitor—before he can eliminate her as a threat.

Told from alternating points of view, including that of the anonymous double agent, Desert Dark is perfect for young adult readers who love action, adventure, and intrigue.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823437665
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	01/30/2017
Series:	A Desert Dark Novel , #1
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	344
Sales rank:	558,094
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.00(d)
Lexile:	HL540L (what's this?)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Sonja Stone collected intelligence on psychology and creative writing from Washington College, trained at Le Cordon Bleu for a cover job as a head pastry chef and completed a solo course at the same survival school where Tom Hanks prepared for Cast Away. Desert Dark is her first novel. She lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, with her family.

Editorial Reviews

01/11/2016
In this promising series opener from debut author Stone, life at an elite boarding school that is secretly a training ground for Black Ops CIA agents seems like a dream come true for 16-year-old Nadia Riley—until her studies take a backseat to a real mission. Miserable after a spectacular breakup, cryptogram-loving Nadia jumps at the chance to attend the government-funded Desert Mountain Academy; she’s soon off to Arizona, where the school is reeling from the death of Drew Anderson, the girl whose spot Nadia is taking. Desert Mountain is home to a typical mix of students including Nadia’s roommate, Libby, a well-mannered Southern girl with a touch of OCD; Alan, a genius lacking in social graces; and Jack, the team leader who catches Nadia’s eye. As Nadia tries to catch up academically, rumors circulate that Drew’s death wasn’t accidental, and there’s talk of a double agent operating within the school, with new recruit Nadia as the prime suspect. A mix of all-too-real war games, teenage love conundrums, and a tenacious heroine makes this an engaging first outing. Ages 12–up. Agent: Logan Garrison, Gernert Company. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"A mix of all-too-real war games, teenage love conundrums, and a tenacious heroine makes this an engaging first outing."—Publishers Weekly
 
"A teen enters a world of espionage and intrigue. . . . With secrets around every corner and an exciting premise, this thriller will keep readers guessing right to the very last page."—Kirkus Reviews
 
"Readers who enjoyed Marie Lu's Legend series or James Dashner's Maze Runner trilogy will appreciate this fast-paced action novel."—Booklist
 
Named to the Kentucky Bluegrass Award Master List
A Southwest Best Book of the Year
A Bank Street College Best Children's Book

From the Publisher

04/01/2016
Gr 7 Up—Nadia Riley is ready to leave the East Coast with its recent memories of a cheating boyfriend and a two-timing ex-best friend, so the invitation to attend Desert Mountain Academy in Arizona comes at an opportune time. Upon her arrival in Phoenix, Nadia discovers the true nature of the school, which is designed to prepare the nation's best covert operatives. She is also immediately immersed in the intrigue of finding a mole who is bent on killing her. With shades of Neal Shusterman's writing style in Unwind, Stone's debut boasts some strengths and weaknesses. Nadia's ethnic heritage (she's Irish on her father's side and Lebanese on her mother's) has little to no development within the narrative. Instead, the focus is her father's background as a professor of criminology. The plot has more switchbacks and twists than a Himalayan mountain trail. Stone's decision to use third-person narration from different perspectives adequately explains how Nadia has come to be accepted at the prestigious and highly secretive school that will prepare her to become a CIA operative, but keeps readers at a dispassionate distance. The chapters are short, and the author tosses tons of red herrings into a plot that will keep teens guessing as long as they are willing to tolerate a somewhat stilted narrative and some predictable prose. The story ends with a cliff-hanger, making a sequel a foregone conclusion. Give this title to fans of Joy N. Hensley's Rites of Passage, Dan Wells's Partials, Jennifer Lynn Barnes's The Naturals, or Susanne Winnacker's Impostor. VERDICT A good additional purchase for those seeking strong female protagonists, mystery, or foreign operative adventure.—Jodeana Kruse, R.A. Long High School, Longview, WA

School Library Journal

2016-01-09
A teen enters a world of espionage and intrigue. Teen cryptography whiz Nadia Riley has just been humiliated by both her BFF and boyfriend and can no longer face school. So when the Irish-Lebanese-American teen is offered a position at the prestigious Desert Mountain Academy, she jumps at it, even though it means leaving her home and family behind. Arriving at the campus in the Arizona desert, she finds what she thought was a simple private school is actually a program designed to train agents for the CIA's Black Ops. It's not easy to adapt, but with her skill at cryptography and her willingness to train hard, it's not long before Nadia makes friends and a place for herself. She's even beginning to trust the attractive team leader, Jack. But someone in the school—most likely someone on her team—is a double agent intent on framing Nadia…and there's no scapegoat like a dead one. Debut novelist Stone alternates her third-person narration through the perspectives of several of the academy's teens, a fairly diverse bunch, focusing on Nadia while giving readers glimpses into the others' psyches. This gives readers a good sense of the fluid group dynamics of this intense program and occasional peeks into the brain of "Agent Number 77365," which effectively amps the tension. With secrets around every corner and an exciting premise, this thriller will keep readers guessing right to the very last page. (Thriller. 12-16)

Kirkus Reviews

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