There's Jack, a fifteen-year-old technological genius; Charlie, also fifteen and the queen of gadgets; Obi, fourteen and the master of surveillance; Slink, twelve years old and an expert at free running; and Wren, only ten but the perfect decoy or pickpocket.
They're more than friends — they're family.
Together, they spend their time outsmarting criminal gangs and hacking into their bank accounts so that they can 'redistribute' their money via RAKing (Random Acts of Kindness). But when one of their projects doesn't turn out quite as planned, they find themselves embroiled in a high-stakes battle for control of the world's information networks.
Written by an IT expert and self-confessed gadget geek, Urban Outlaws is rich in technological detail and cyberspeak — but not in a brain-bamboozling way! Instead, the mysterious world of hacking, viruses, and supercomputers is made surprisingly accessible, thanks to the extraordinary skills of our unorthodox vigilantes. It's also jam-packed with enough crazy stunts and heart-pounding action to make James Bond proud!
Fans of high-tech adventure will be pleased to know that the story will continue in Urban Outlaws: Blackout, to be published later this year.
Title: Urban Outlaws
Author: Peter Jay Black
Publisher: Bloomsbury, $12.99 RRP
Publication Date: March 2014
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781408851418
For ages: 9+
Type: Middle Fiction