SPY GODDESS

Full Name:	Rachel Buchanan
Series Name:	Spy Goddess
Nationality:	American
Organization:	Blackthorne Academy
Occupation	Agent

Creator:	Michael P. Spradlin
Time Span:	2005 - 2014

ABOUT THE SERIES

       Rachel Buchanan is an agent with Blackstone Academy.
       I write that knowing that she would either bust out laughing, which she usually only does when she is scared or nervous, or she would grin and agree. It really all depends on her mood.
       Blackstone Academy is not really a spy organization. They just train them. And FBI agents, police officers, prosecutors, defense attorneys. It is an elite Pennsylvania school not for the wealthy but for the talented, especially if those with the skills also have problems they need worked out. Strenuous exercise and heavy class loads are combined with interesting, unorthodox subject matter to get the 400+ students motivated and interested.
       15-year-old Buchanan was most definitely not one filled with interest and motivation when she arrived. She had been caught as a joy-riding passenger in Beverly Hills and her 1% parents had no time for her distraction so when the judge offered her either juvie or Blackstone, she took it. The first day there, she tried to escape.
       It seems many of the first-dayers do the same. She did not get far but she did accomplish enough to impression Jonathon Kim, headmaster and one very smart individual. It showed him the potential she had and he made a deal with her to entice her to give the Academy a chance - stay one full month and then he would, if she wanted, drive her to the airport himself. After a month, the trip was not necessary.
       This story might have had a predictable ending with her learning responsibility and graduating and then on to college if not for her curiosity (snoopiness) which lands her and her roommate and two male students in the middle of an ongoing war between Mr. Kim and a former Special Forces partner of him, a very nasty and very wealthy man named Simon Blankenship.
       It seems that Simon, several decades ago, became convinced he was destined to be the reincarnation of an ancient Roman god named Mithras. Kim was trying to stop him. And when Buchanan and company landed into the fray, Simon was stunned to discover that Buchanan was the modern day vessel for Etherea, the Persian Goddess of Light who had exiled Mithras long ago. Rachel Buchanan would have none of the nonsense if odd things didn't happen around her.

YOUNG ADULT BOOKS

Number of Books:	3
First Appearance:	2005
Last Appearance:	2014

       According to my reading of his comments on his website, the author says after having been nominated for an Edgar award in the young adult category for the first book and the second one doing alright, he wrote the third only to be told by the publisher they didn't want it. As he put it, "ouch!"
       So the third book did not make it to print but he found a different path to continue the storyline, manga (see Comicbooks section). When those did not go as he planned, the series languished until the ebook business began to offer another outlet and eventually the third book found release.
       Who knows if there will be any more which is annoying because the third ends on a cliffhanger (I know! No spoiler alert).


1			Live and Let Shop Written by Michael P. Spradlin Copyright: 2005 Rachel Buchanan did not steal the car but she was a joyrider in it when it got stopped. She was the only one who didn't get away. Her rich parents couldn't get her out of it this time and it was either Juvie Hall or cross-country to Blackthorne Academy. She chose the latter, not knowing she would get mixed up in a strange operation that has her spying and considered by the bad guy to be a goddess.

2			To Hawaii, With Love Written by Michael P. Spradlin Copyright: 2005 Rachel Buchanan felt that man who thought of himself as the reincarnation of Mithras, a Roman God up to no good and banished centuries ago, well, he was nuts. When she learned he thought she was the Persian goddess who had sent him away back then, well, he was definitely looney. Except he was after her and that meant she and her friends

3			The Spy Who Totally Had A Crush On Me Written by Michael P. Spradlin Copyright: 2014 For Rachel Buchanan, aka Spy Goddess (but NOT by her), getting back to a routine would be nice but unlikely as her adversary, Simon Blankenship, has stolen the prize artifact needed to continue his goal of world domination through the services of Mithras, an ancient Roman god. It is up to Rachel and her team to go after it.

COMIC BOOKS AND GRAPHIC NOVELS

Number of Stories:	2
First Appearance:	2008
Last Appearance:	2009

This is just my reading of the comments by the author but since the ebook publishing of the third Young Adult novel, which picks up right after the second YA book, these two manga adventures should no longer be considered part of the canon. I could be wrong.


1			The Chase For The Chalice Published by Harper Collins Copyright: 2008 It is off to Japan for Rachel Buchanan, Spy Goddess, and her teammates as they continue their fight against Simon Blankenship.

2			The Quest For The Lance Published by Harper Collins Copyright: 2009 With the latest artifact being located in the Amazon, Rachel Buchanan gleefully packs her bikini to head to Rio. Unfortunately though Carnival is about to start, so is a whole lot of trouble with her enemy, Blankenship.

MY COMMENTS

       Regardless of my feeling as to whether this series belonged in the compendium, I would have mentioned it because of the title. Spy Goddess. A series of adventures. Has to fit.
       So the adventures all deal with she and her people going up against him and his people and this might not be a spy series as would be expected but the training is similar and the action is most definitely similar and the bad guy is out for world domination and on and on.
       Hey, it's here and it's a fun series. Nothing serious. Nothing major. But nothing wrong with it either. A fun young adult series about a group of teens out to save the world. And visit the mall once in a while.

       I have admitted elsewhere that I seem to be a sucker for young adult books, those I would have loved to read 50+ years ago. And there ain't no law against enjoying them now. (I hope!)

GRADE

My Grade: B

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