Apparently “Boy Nobody” has attracted strong interest from Sony Pictures who are looking at a producing a movie adaptation starring Jaden Smith. If they are looking for the latest young adult franchise to make a mint out of this could well be it. Told in the first person this book is a cracking read with an excellent pace. Our “hero” is a 16 year old boy who just happens to be a trained killer, a Martin Blank for the internet age he segues into new schools getting close to his classmates in order to kill their parents. He is given his assignments by a pair of pseudo parents and is essentially an adult in a kids body.

This has a great opening and our protagonist oozes cool and poise. When he gets an assignment where he has to get involved with his mark’s daughter he starts to come undone as he gets caught up in typical teenage emotions which he has before now learned to ignore.

There are some nice twists, some you can see coming and some that take you by surprise with this book. It is of slight concern that the hero character is essentially a cold blooded killer, not the best role model for young teens but I live in Haringey so what do I know? Allen Zadoff has written a compelling character and story and with short sentences and chapters it is ideal for the short attention span of the iPad generation.

This series could run to 5 books and if Sony do option it some young actor is going to get very rich; Jaden Smith is not who I would cast though, a total unknown would make more sense.

Treat yourself to a weekend read.