Boy Nobody by Allen Zadoff

by:  Allen Zadoff
published by:  Little Brown & Co.
publish date:  June 11, 2013

Boy Nobody is the perennial new kid in school, the one few notice and nobody thinks much about. He shows up in a new high school, in a new town, under a new name, makes few friends and doesn't stay long. Just long enough for someone in his new friend's family to die -- of "natural causes." Mission accomplished, Boy Nobody disappears, and moves on to the next target. 

At just 16 "Ben" is part of a government program.  When he gets a target, he gets inserted into the next person's life.  He has been trained to infiltrate their safety zones and kill them quickly without any trace of suspicion on him.  This time, the mission is unnerving and Ben feels threatened by the circumstances.  Initially, the target is the Mayor of New York, but Ben is having a hard time reconciling the man is guilty of any crime, and he is falling in love with his daughter.

Boy Nobody was another great YA book (I've picked a few in a row!).  It was well written and very well paced.   Pacing is important when laying out a thriller like this book.  Allen Zadoff did a great job of revealing just enough of Ben/Zack's story to get the reader totally drawn in to the story.  The ending was surprising and while I've had quite enough of YA series, this is one that I'm  definitely interested in keeping up with.  Will he turn his back on The Program or will he continue to be a good little soldier?