I Am the Traitor by Allen Zadoff

He's been trained to be an assassin.  He's young, but he knows all the tricks and trusts no one.  His only fault is that he has a friend who was helping him that Program has captured and he's determined to get him back.  Getting Howard back means going against what he's been taught and he will most likely end up with the Program after him.  But he's going to save Howard...

Little Brown Books for Young Readers and Net Galley gave me the opportunity read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published June 9th, so you can grab a copy then.

This is the third book in this series for young readers.  It's especially suited for boys who like action.  I've read them all and knew this one was going to be an exciting end to an adventure Zach didn't even want to have.  If you get captured, have a chip put inside you to quell your emotions and track you, and get trained in how to kill without ever agreeing, it means you won't be content following orders.  Especially since you never knew if you might be the next one killed!

Zach gets Howard and the girl in the room with him out of the Program's facility but not without killing some of the Program's men.  Now they are on the run.  And the Program begins lying again.  Mike is supposed to be his friend, but is he?  Who is this girl?  And why is the Program trying to bring him "home"?

I wondered how Mr. Zadoff would finish this series and he does a great job of tying all the threads together and giving the survivors hope at the end.  It's an astounding finish that left me sitting there with my mouth open.  I thought I knew what was going to happen and most of it did, but the final irony was a great touch.