Spy Runner by Eugene Yelchin

Spy Runner by Eugene Yelchin

Historical Fiction, Action/Adventure, Spy Fiction

ages 10-14

grades 5-9

352 pages, hardcover

c. 2019

         Spy Runner is a complicated book. It effectively presents the atmosphere of a small American town in 1953 during the Cold War era when the fear of Communists and foreigners was at its height. It also raises questions about propaganda, media-disseminated misinformation, and the price of truth. The narrator, 12 year-old Jake McCauley, finds himself in situations where he knows something is going on but he isn’t sure what it is. This is complicated by his sense that no one in his life is telling the truth and no one can be trusted.

            Jake never knew his father who left to serve during World War II when Jake was an infant and is currently listed as missing in action. Jake is convinced that his father is being held as a prisoner of war by the Russians in Siberia based on something he heard on the radio. Consequently when Jake’s mother rents out his father’s study to a Russian border because money is tight, Jake is angry and suspicious of the man who he assumes must be a Communist spy. Jake takes it upon himself to find the evidence that will prove that this man, Victor Shubin, is a Communist spy.

            As Jake pursues his investigation he realizes he is being followed by two men in a black car. He also notices a man with a gold tooth standing outside his house at night and then two FBI agents turn up at school to question him. Still unwilling to confide in anyone except his best friend, whose father is a major in the Air Force, Jake continues his dangerous investigation resulting in his being battered, beaten and exhausted. There are also several attempts on his life. When the students at his school find out a Russian is living at his house he is bullied and shunned by all his former friends, including his best friend. At this point Jake begins to question, for the first time, all he has been told about communist sympathizers and realizes that what his teacher had said about not believing all you hear on the radio might actually be true. Surprisingly there are a few times that Victor Shubin actually helps Jake out of a difficult situation.

            This is a book with lots of action and the plot moves along quickly. The chapters are short and usually end with a cliff hanger. Grainy black and white photos that look like they had been taken by a spy camera enhance the mood. Tension builds throughout the book and there are several plot twists near the end. Violent things happen to Jake during his investigations, such as nearly being run over, strangled and shot at, which is why I recommend it for a middle school audience. Jake survives it all  and in the end all the puzzling situations are resolved. Jake’s comment to his mother at the end of the book leaves the reader with an interesting thought. “Lying didn’t keep me safe. It made it worse.”