The internationally bestselling author of The Eagle Has Landedpartners with Richards (the Invisible Detective series) to write this standout YA spy novel. Following the unexpected death of their mother, teenage twins Jade and Rich Chance are shipped off to London to live with John Chance, the father they never knew of. Right from the beginning it's clear he has secrets, and when the twins witness his kidnapping by men with guns, they are propelled into a world where no one can be trusted and everyone shoots to kill. The mystery thickens as they discover their father works for the British government and was investigating a powerful businessman, Viktor Vishinsky from Krejikistan, who plans to introduce a virus that would cripple the world's oil supply. As with many mystery thrillers, plausibility isn't on the agenda. The authors need neither gimmicks nor high-tech machinery, instead tailoring their vocabulary and style to keep the action at breakneck speed. Each chapter ends with a cliff-hanger, maintaining the high level of suspense. With readers looking for an Alex Rider-type adventure, this will be a sure-fire hit. Ages 12-up. (Oct.)

Gr 8 Up- Rich and Jade Chance, 15, find their world turned upside down when their mother dies in an accident. They believe that they are orphans until they meet a man at the funeral who claims to be their father. Suddenly, and unhappily for them, they move to London with him. Then he disappears, and they soon discover that he leads the exciting life of a British secret agent. He has been assigned to infiltrate a Russian oil company that suspects that he has the only remaining sample of a valuable fuel that they developed. The twins are thrust into a world of oil barons, secret meetings in fancy hotels, violence, and tension-filled rescues. Fans of Alex Rider and Tom Clancy books will revel in the oil-refinery explosions and secret writing on ice cubes. The spy lingo and the equipment detail will hold teens' interest, and the nonstop excitement will give reluctant readers something to cheer about.-Lynn Evarts, Sauk Prairie High School, Prairie du Sac, WI

Fifteen-year-old British twins Jade and Rich don't know what they're going to do when their mother is killed in a traffic accident. Then a father they didn't know was alive comes to the funeral and takes them to live with him in London. John Chance is far too mysterious about his life for Jade, and neither twin plans on going to the boarding schools he's started calling. When they see him kidnapped by gun-toting thugs and find the police won't help, Jade and Rich decide a hard-to-live-with Dad is better than none. The truth they find is more amazing than expected-Chance works for British Intel and has been undercover trying to stop a Russian oil baron from controlling the world's oil supply. The kids rescue their father, and the three of them save the world's oil. Prolific adult-thriller author Higgins teams with Richards, of Invisible Detective and Doctor Who, fame to create a page-turning spy thriller without resorting to the hyperbole and science-fiction gadgets of Alex Rider and Spy Kids. Well worth your teen thriller dollars. (Fiction. YA)