Shadow Wave

So I've finally finished the original CHERUB series. Shadow Wave surprisingly picks up from where Brigands MC left off, with James and Kerry trying to put a final arrest on ‘The Fuhrer'. There's a wedding on-campus as the characters return, which was a neat way to bring back past familiar faces from the series. This includes fan-favourite Kyle Blueman, whose past intertwines with James's last and seemingly routine mission. Whilst there was a feeling of James being worried about his future and post-CHERUB life during the first fifth of the book, when Kyle arrives to provide mission-centric backstory the spotlight is definitely taken by him until we're past the halfway mark. Whilst this was entertaining reading, surprisingly tying in with the short story ‘Cherub at Christmas' and developing the moral issue of the book on commercial tourism development versus original land rights, I definitely felt James and Lauren weren't given enough focus in what is their final installment. The action picks up in the last section, and whilst things are resolved much neater compared to past entries as James makes moral choices, the epilogue was what really brought back that ‘finale' feeling.