Book review: I Am the Weapon

From the very first page, you know something is different about the narrator.  A teen boy by all appearances, but something in the way he speaks and the things he does tells you that he is more than just an average teen boy. 

Allen Zadoff's book I am the Weapon is an Abe Lincoln Reader for 2016, as well as being the first in the Unknown Assassin series.  It is 353 pages long, but moves at such a quick pace it hardly seems that long. 

The story is detailed and complicated. It has elements of mystery, suspense, romance, and international intrigue.  There is a lot of violence in it, but it felt more like The Hunger Games than The Walking Dead.  The violence is specific, planned, and serves a purpose. In fact, it reminded me very much of Mission Impossible.  

One aspect I really appreciated was that it is a teen boy in a high school and brings along with it all of the high school experience, good, bad, and ugly.  There are difficulties with friends, finding out who you are, testing boundaries, discovering what matters. There is a strong element of questioning authority--parents, the school, the government-- that I thought fit perfectly not only to the book but also today's real world experience.

There was also an element of international intrigue that I though was handled well.  I was initially afraid that it might be problematic in terms of stereotypes and well-worn tropes, but at the risk of being spoilery, I was pleasantly surprised with the treatment. 

I really enjoyed I Am the Weapon,  and I think it is a good fit for readers who appreciate intelligent, action-packed plot lines that not only entertain but also make you think.