Hacking Timbuktu

In this nonstop action piece from Davies, the author's first book to be published in the U.S., the reappearance of a long-lost manuscript leading to a legendary cache of stolen gold sparks a worldwide treasure hunt. Moktar Hasim starts the ball rolling when he absconds with the map and its key, but 16-year-old computer expert Danny Temple follows the trail by obtaining a digital copy. Once word gets out that he knows how to find the gold, Danny and his best friend Omar are soon on the run for their lives. To survive, Danny and Omar draw on their considerable computer skills and their equally impressive parkour (urban free-running) experience as they journey from London to Africa with danger close behind. Davies adeptly describes and draws parallels between parkour and hacking ("Both move freely to surpass the barriers erected by man to enclose and restrict"), which should pique readers' interest. Although the characterizations can be shallow and the conclusion is rather breakneck, the prose is as fluid as the parkour moves performed within, and this fast-paced adventure doesn't skimp on ambition or adrenaline. Ages 12–up. (Nov.)