Outlaw

Davies (Hacking Timbuktu) smoothly mixes adventure and political commentary, although there’s a whiff of noblesse oblige hanging over this otherwise fine tale set in Burkina Faso. When Jake Knight is suspended from boarding school, he heads to Africa to spend time with his diplomat father and the rest of his family. Shortly after he arrives, Jake and his sister, Kas, are kidnapped and pulled into a conspiracy that involves crooked police officers, sociopathic spies, and Yakuuba Sor, the most wanted criminal in the country. Davies, a missionary living in Burkina Faso, clearly has intimate knowledge of the nation’s troubles, but the fact that those fighting for freedom need help from visiting Europeans may raise some eyebrows. There are fewer issues with Jake and Kas, who are knowledgeable and competent without seeming unbelievable; the story reads best as an eye-opening journey for them about the abuses of power. Readers who take this approach should enjoy both the characters (especially Sor, who has a saying for every occasion) and the abundant action. Ages 12–up. (Nov.)