Blink and you die by Lauren Child

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Ruby Redfort series bk. 6. Harper Collins, 2016. ISBN 9780007334285
(Age: 9+) Highly recommended. Blink and you die is the final amazing book in Lauren Child's Ruby Redfort's crime-fighting spy series. With ruthless enemies, near impossible situations to overcome, ruthless archenemies, surprising revelations, double crossing dramas and of course, tricky codes and ciphers this is a fabulous finale for Ruby.
Thirteen-year-old Ruby carefully records the minutiae of her life, daily discoveries, encounters with evil fiends, school dramas, everything she encounters in notebooks hidden in her bedroom. She lives by her own set of rules recorded in a special rule book, wears t-shirts with slogans and is a truly independent teenager. On her return from a safe month away at a Gifted Camp for mathematical geniuses, Ruby quickly becomes embroiled in a tense set of circumstances assisted by Mrs. Digby the housekeeper, Hitch and her best friend Clancy.
The tapestry of threads is tightly woven; there is a mission to find rare mushrooms, poisonous snakes, underwater dangers, UFOs, truly evil villains and an escape from being buried alive. Luckily, Ruby's parents are on holiday in France, and this allows this feisty teenager free reign to visit bookshops, travel by bus to nearby towns and wake up at 4 a.m. to continue training as a Spectrum agent. Her hyper-speed booster book assists her in staying ahead of dangerous situations. Ruby balances her life, she meets her friends at cafes, attends school, keeps up with her maths homework and watches horror movies on Channel 44.
Lauren Child's characters are well-rounded, and even the villains have depth to their personalities. This is a fast-paced narrative that switches from past to present and provides back-stories that underpin the current fight of good and evil. This is a wonderful conclusion to an extremely popular series.
Rhyllis Bignell

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