SPRAY is an action-packed book and a lot of fun to read. It’s like the action movie/video game of young adult novels. It is a book that a lot of boys would like because it combines the suspense, adventure, mystery/spy, and video game genres into one plot-driven story. The story begins the night before the game actually starts. The game is “assassin” – a classic cat-and-mouse search/spy game seen played recently on Gossip Girl – but the twist is that this one is played with pressurized water guns. The gamemaster assigns each player a “target” – the goal being to hunt down the target and “assassinate” them by spraying them before the player gets sprayed by their own assassin. The game starts with a couple hundred players and the gamemaster makes all of the rules. In the book, the game is played in cities all over the world.
The story is told from five different points-of-view allowing the reader to follow various factions as they plot and battle to spray their targets before their assassin gets them first. There are several subplots with family and friendship and romance and water conservation, but the main story is about who will outsmart the rest to win the game and be the ultimate victor. Who can hide out the longest to protect themselves, while also being the most cunning in being able to spray their targets. Its not a very deep book as far as character development goes, it’s pretty surface level, but it is a fun book. Reading this book was like watching a movie and I wanted to know who would win. I really enjoyed it and I think it is a strong boy book addition.
3 1/2 STARS for SPRAY by Harry Edge
