Despite prolonged torment at the hands of head training instructor Norman Large, including being forced to spend Christmas night outside in their underwear and a grueling 3-day solo hike through the Malaysian rainforest, they both pass. James is paired up with Kerry Chang, who was forced to quit her previous attempt at basic training due to a knee injury. James and seven other recruits begin basic training, a rigorous 100-day course designed to prepare CHERUB agents for missions. With the help of older cherub Amy Collins, James overcomes his fears and learns to swim. However, before he can undergo basic training and become a CHERUB agent, James must learn how to swim.

James passes the tests and agrees to join CHERUB, changing his name to James Adams. Terrence 'Mac' McAfferty introduces James to CHERUB and puts him through a series of entrance tests. James is drugged and taken to CHERUB's campus. James' roommate Kyle Blueman is revealed to be an agent of CHERUB, a top-secret spy agency that uses children as its operstives, based on the principle that criminals do not suspect children of spying on them. It was released in the United Kingdom by Hodder Children's Books on 30 April 2004, and by Simon Pulse in the United States on 30 August 2005.Īfter the death of his mother Gwen from an accidental overdose of alcohol and pain medication, intelligent but rebellious eleven-year-old James Choke is sent to a children's home called Nebraska House to his dismay, his half-sister Lauren Onions is sent to live with her neglectful father Ron. It introduces most of the main characters, such as James Adams (formerly Choke), Lauren Adams (formerly Onions), Kyle Blueman, and Kerry Chang. The Recruit is the first novel in the CHERUB series, written by Robert Muchamore.

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