Olive lacks confidence and wonders if she should be part of
the top-secret NOCK team (No One Can Know). Her teammates each have unique
talents like technology, knowledge, and combat but Olive wonders what ability
she has to offer. Olive’s parents have dumped her into RASCH, a school for
reforming arts, and she feels her parents don’t care about her. She badly
misses her grandmother but still remembers motivational things Mimi used to say.
Olive realizes the skills she learned from Mimi’s acrobatic lessons come in
handy and make her unafraid of heights. However, she’s never learned to swim
and the idea of getting into water terrifies her.
RASCH is uniquely set at a former prison located on an
island across the bay from San Francisco. That description sounds a lot like
Alcatraz Prison but the building in this story is nothing like it. It’s more
like a castle with a moat and offers many twisting hallways and secret
passages. The NOCK team meets in a hidden room that’s equipped with state-of-the-art
equipment and other resources. Olive’s best friend Phil is a technology whiz
and she comes up with numerous clever inventions that might easily fit into futuristic
stories or innovative spy novels.
The rash of brazen jewel heists presents an obvious conflict
for the characters. The thief is nicknamed the Bling King as he takes gems
worth millions and leaves a calling card behind. The school really needs
financial support or it will be forced to shut down. The headmistress is
hosting a fundraising event at the school and the largest benefactor will be
the featured guest. Dame Gloria will be wearing the priceless Royal Rumpus
necklace so everyone, including readers, will assume the Bling King will try to
steal it. Protecting the dame’s jewels will be NOCK’s most important assignment
and failure will surely mean the closing of RASCH.
What didn’t work as well:
There’s a strong dependency on Phil’s inventions as she seems to
whip up new ones at every turn. Her creations stretch the limits of
believability when she develops oral communication devices, and various self-defense
gadgets, and retrofits the school’s van into a mobile control center. The other
NOCK members contribute to the team but Phil’s efforts are disproportionate and
improbable.
The final verdict:
The basic premise of the story isn’t overly innovative but it
still feels fresh. The plot has a nice pace and the blend of characters presents
the ups of downs of developing friendships. Overall, the adventure and mystery
are very entertaining and I recommend you give the book a shot!
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