Boy Nobody by Allen Zadoff

Author: Allen Zadoff
Title: Boy Nobody
Series: Boy Nobody #1  
Publication: June 11, 2013 
Publisher: Little Brown &Co
Genre: Young Adult Thriller, Action
Source: Publisher

They needed the perfect assassin.

Boy Nobody is the perennial new kid in school, the one few notice and nobody thinks much about. He shows up in a new high school in a new town under a new name, makes a few friends, and doesn't stay long. Just long enough for someone in his new friend's family to die-of "natural causes." Mission accomplished, Boy Nobody disappears, moving on to the next target.

But when he's assigned to the mayor of New York City, things change. The daughter is unlike anyone he has encountered before; the mayor reminds him of his father. And when memories and questions surface, his handlers at The Program are watching. Because somewhere deep inside, Boy Nobody is somebody: the kid he once was; the teen who wants normal things, like a real home and parents; a young man who wants out. And who just might want those things badly enough to sabotage The Program's mission.

In this action-packed series debut, author Allen Zadoff pens a page-turning thriller that is as thought-provoking as it is gripping, introducing an utterly original and unforgettable antihero.

Boy Nobody is an assassin. Recruited at the age of twelve, he's been trained to be calculating, cautious and when the time comes, deadly. He doesn't feel anything, seemingly unattached to the life he lives. He sees each target as assignment completed on his untarnished record. He never fails and his targets, at ease in his presence, never see death standing near before it's too late. When he receives his next target, he is not prepared for what begins to happen to him, once so sure....thoughts from his past filter his mind with doubt and uncertainty. The Program gives him the freedom to do what he wants but is his life really his? Can he complete the task set forth or will his life be forfeit? This time is different and what happens next will blow your mind, nothing is what it seems as this edge of your seat thriller takes you on a roller coaster ride. 


Boy Nobody or Ben, his current alias in this book, has just transferred to a new school to get close to the mayor's daughter, Sam. She is the key to getting closer to the mayor and Ben has exactly five days to complete his assignment. In that five days, Ben seems to change, he's usually so unaffected by people but it's something about Sam and her father that causes him to hesitate and this makes him more human to me. It was nice to see him grow from just taking orders without question to doing some investigating of his own. The interactions between Ben and Sam are intense because they can't really figure each other out. She's a mystery that he's trying to solve as she tries to puzzle him out. They connect fairly quickly, Ben sees it as his opportunity to get to the mayor and move on to his next job. He thought this would be simple but this assignment will test his character and alter everything he believes he knows about the Program, Sam and himself. Overall, Zadoff has created a fast paced, adrenaline pumping thriller with a twisted ending. Even though, each chapter is short, I think it keeps the movement of the story flowing in time with the action. Sometimes, Ben would have flashbacks to his life before the Program in between his present life, which gives a good idea of the boy hidden in the depths of the killer, now. Boy Nobody makes for a great male lead, and I can't wait to see how he progresses in the next book.