Code of Honor

Reviewed by: Brooke Faulkner - McArthur Public Library, Biddeford, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: December 3, 2015

Review

In this gripping and fast-paced thriller, seventeen-year-old Iranian American Kamran is eagerly anticipating attending West Point, just as his Army Ranger brother, Darius, did before him. However, the lives of Kamran and his family are thrown into upheaval when the U.S. Embassy in Turkey is attacked and Darius, who'd been stationed in Afghanistan, appears on television claiming responsibility for it. Amidst a nightmare of near-constant surveillance by homeland security, Kamran and his parents watch as recordings of a rambling Darius play again and again on the news networks, until Kamran realizes that his brother seems to be working in references to imaginary games they played together as children. He believes that Darius is trying to send him some kind of code but cannot convince his mom and dad before he's wrenched out of his bed in the middle of the night, sedated and taken to a secret military facility. There, he finds an unexpected ally and eventually must break out to prevent further acts of violence about which Darius is trying to warn him. Kamran's harrowing situation is convincingly and realistically depicted in short, action-filled chapters that move the story along. Gratz explores issues of racism and stereotypes and of trust and doubt and strikes an appealing balance between these weightier themes and the novel's rapid-fire plot. If Kamran's ability to face down and evade skilled soldiers seems a bit far-fetched at times, most readers will be firmly enough entrenched in the story to suspend disbelief. In all, a smart, engaging and exciting adventure that muses on some fascinating questions.

Overall Book Score: very good