Maximum Security

From Chiki

Maximum Security is the third book in the CHERUB series.

The blurb is written below:

Over the years, CHERUB has put plenty of criminals behind bars. Now, for the first time ever, they've got to break one out . . .

Under American law, kids convicted of serious crimes can be sentenced as adults. Two hundred and eighty of these child criminals live in the sunbaked desert of Arizona Max.

In one of the most daring CHERUB missions ever, James Adams has to go undercover inside Arizona Max, befriend an inmate and then bust him out.

Maximum Security has won two awards: the Cheshire Children's Book Awards in 2006 and the Portsmouth Children Book Awards in 2007.

Plot

During a game at the bowling alley, several teenagers racially abuse Gabrielle and thus are beaten up by Gabrielle, James, Kyle, Callum and Connor. As punishment, Mac sends all five agents on recruitment missions. James, however, is bailed out by John Jones to assist with a mission in Arizona: with some help from campus legend Dave Moss, he is to break juvenile murderer Curtis Oxford out of jail so authorities can track him to his mother, Jane Oxford, an international arms dealer who has evaded capture for decades. Lauren, who has just finished basic training and is recovering from a foot injury from retrieving the trainees' grey shirts from an icy river, is also brought in to help.

Unfortunately, within a day of stepping foot in Arizona Max, the prison in which Curtis Oxford is being held in, Dave gets into a fight with an inmate and is put into solitary confinement. Unfortunately, this means that Dave doesn't get treatment for a blood clot in his chest wall, and so he is taken to hospital. James bravely decides to continue the mission, and, after knocking out several guards, escapes with Curtis, stopping along the way to pick up Lauren and stealing a Range Rover.

The three decide to steal another car and force an ice-cream shop employee to drive them to Los Angeles, where they are briefly accommodated by Curtis' father before being flown to Idaho to stay with Jane Oxford's associates Vaughn and Lisa Little. During the stay, James has a fling with the Littles' daughter Becky.

After a phone call from Jane Oxford, James, Lauren and Curtis are taken to a hotel in Boise with two more of Jane Oxford's associates, Eugene Driscoll and Bill Bentley, and given false identities. The next morning, Bill takes Curtis to an airport while Eugene attempts to smother Lauren with a pillow, only to be stabbed in the neck with a Biro.

FBI agents Marvin Teller and Warren Reise spy Curtis and Bill driving away and give chase with Lauren and John Jones, and track Bill and Curtis to an Oregon motor lodge where Jane Oxford is staying. Bill is shot in the back, while the Oxfords are arrested.

James makes Lauren promise not to tell Kerry of his fling with Becky, but Kerry inexplicitly questions James about cheating on her. James is mortified, but before he can deny anything Kerry tells him she's only joking about an earlier incident where James kissed Kyle to get revenge for one of Kyle's wind-ups.

Epilogue

• Jane Oxford was sentenced to life in prison for murder, racketeering and weapons smuggling.
• Curtis Oxford had his sentence reduced to seven years after it was discovered that the murders commited by him were as a result of advice from a corrupt psychiatrist.
• Elwood and Kirch, Curtis' two "bodyguards" in Arizona Max, turned eighteen and were moved to the adult section of Arizona Max.
• Stanley and Raymond Duff, two brothers serving life without parole in Arizona Max for murder, recovered from the injuries inflicted by Dave Moss.
• A new block was opened in Arizona Max, named in memory of guard Scott Warren, who supposedly died during the escape. (Aurum Ursus can't figure out if it happened or not. Can you please clarify this for him?)

(The guy wasn't actually called Scott Warren. "Scott" was an alias. The guy didn't die, but everyone thought he had.)

• Warren Reise quit his job at the FBI to spend more time with his family. FBI agents Theodore Monroe and Marvin Teller remain on the force.
• Paula Partridge, the employee forced by James and Curtis to drive to Los Angeles, recieved compensation from the Arizona Department of Prisons and $7000 from a news agency which interviewed her about her ordeal. With the money, Paula was able to move out of her trailer home and take her daughter Holly to Disneyland.
• Vaughn and Lisa Little recieved eight- and four-year jail sentences respectively for harbouring a fugitive and possession of firearms with intent to sell. Becky went to live with her eldest sibling in California.
• Eugene Driscoll and Bill Bentley both recovered, only to be sentenced to death by lethal injection for six murders.
• Dave Moss recovered from the blood clot.
• Lauren Adams recieved the navy shirt for her outstanding performance.
• James Adams, while criticised for his reckless driving at the beginning of the mission, was awarded the Intelligence Star from the CIA, along with Dave and Lauren, for his conduct.

Quotes

"Minus ten house points from Hufflepuff."

- Norman Large

"Eight points and a gutter ball. Maybe you should wander down to the bumper lanes and ask the supervisor if you can play with the little red-shirt kids."

- Kyle Blueman

"What's the matter? Come on, baby. Won't you give us a snog?"

- James Adams

"The missile has a solid-fuel rocket engine with a ten-kilometre range and more brainpower than a roomful of nerds."

- Dave Moss