| The General | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Robert Muchamore |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | CHERUB |
| Genre(s) | Children's, Thriller, Spy novel |
| Publisher | Hodder and Stoughton |
| Publication date | 7 August 2008 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 352 pp |
| ISBN | 978-0340931844 |
| OCLC Number | 230989531 |
| Preceded by | The Sleepwalker |
| Followed by | Brigands MC |
The General (2008) is the tenth novel in the CHERUB series by Robert Muchamore. The primary action of the novel is set in the Nevada desert during a joint training exercise.
Contents |
The book starts off before Christmas with James Adams taking part in a mass riot organized by the leader of the SAG (Street Action Group), Chris Bradford. He later acts as Bradford's bodyguard during a meeting with a gun supplier and successfully plants a surveillance device, only for the police to arrive unexpectedly and arrest everyone, aborting the mission.
Meanwhile his sister Lauren and some of the younger agents are sent to test the security of an air traffic control centre. They capture all the security guards and cause a lot of damage, but miss an engineer who calls in the RAF. The mission is still regarded as successful, having exposed security weaknesses.
On New Year's Day a select team of CHERUB agents including James and Lauren fly to Las Vegas for a brief vacation on the way to Fort Reagan, the world's largest urban warfare training compound. They are to take part in a two-week exercise along with forty British commandos, posing as insurgents in an area controlled by an American battalion - a thousand soldiers. Weapons are restricted to paint guns and grenades.
Under the leadership of the Ukrainian trainer Kazakov, who is bitterly anti-American, the 'insurgents' soon make their first move, knocking out aerial surveillance by wrecking the American spying drones. During this raid, James and the Sarge sneak into the army base to add a powerful laxative to the base's water system. Before long around nine-tenths of the American troops are disabled by violent diarrhoea. The insurgents persuade some drunken students, posing as 'civilians' in the exercise, to join them in storming the base. At this point the American military leader General Shirley is "killed" (killed in the exercise means that you have to get yourself washed and come back in 24 hours) by a paint grenade dropped by Kevin Sumner. The Americans are overrun and suspend the exercise, after only two days.
Kazakov's tactics, though effective, are so controversial, that he and James are asked to leave before the exercise restarts. As they have some free time, Kazakov persuades James to put his mathematical skills to illegal use, playing blackjack in Las Vegas. Despite James almost being caught, they end up winning over $90,000.
An official competition was run by Robert Muchamore, where a signed copy of the book was promised to any reader who could supply him with the password of one of his forum staff members.[1]
The novel was released on 7 August 2008 in Australia and NZ, and on 4 September 2008 in the UK.
The British cover for The General is two playing cards. One is the Jack of Hearts, with 2 bullet holes in it, and the other shows a red CHERUB logo.[2]
As it was released in Edinburgh on 10 August, it was revealed that the cover was the two playing cards. It was also released in Australia on 7 August.
At the end of the book, Muchamore added the first 2 chapters of his new book - Henderson's Boys: The Escape for readers to preview.
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