Remote Control (Lab (Scholastic Hardcover)) [Hardcover]

Jack Heath (Author)

Book Description

Series: Lab (Scholastic Hardcover) | Publication Date: January 1, 2010

Agent Six of Hearts has never had so much to lose, in this second thriller from Jack Heath.

Agent Six of Hearts, 16-year-old superhuman, is on a mission. His brother Kyntak has been kidnapped. A strange and sinister new figure is rising in power. Six is suspected of being a double agent. The Deck has been put into lockdown by the Queen of Spades. A mysterious girl has appeared who acts as Six's guardian angel. Who can he trust?
As the clock ticks steadily against Kyntak's life, Six of Hearts is on the run: from his past, from his fellow agents at the Deck, even from his own DNA....

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6 Up—This sequel to The Lab (Scholastic, 2008) is set sometime in the future when there are no more countries, only corporations. Agent Six of Hearts Six, 16, and his twin brother, Kyntak, work for The Deck and must fight the evil ChaoSonic corporation. The hierarchy of "The Deck" has Queens, Kings, and Jokers; the weapons are futuristic conglomerates; the characters are sometimes clones or cyborglike; and the action pings at a quick and somewhat violent pace, which makes the whole book mimic elements of a video game. Kyntak has been kidnapped, and it is up to Six to rescue him. He gets to use really cool weapons and show off his superhuman abilities as he scales walls and makes mind-boggling leaps and wins battles even though he is vastly outnumbered. Along the way, he learns new information about his evil father and other siblings, and he is forced to question his own morality and motives. Readers never forget that he is not human, but the knowledge that he will never be able to lead a normal human life does not diminish his appeal. While this plot is a little less compelling, fans of Anthony Horwitz's "Alex Rider" series and Charlie Higson's "Young Bond" series (Hyperion/Miramax) will want to pick up this superagent adventure with a sci-fi gaming twist.—Jake Pettit, Thompson Valley High School, Loveland, CO
(c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

From Booklist

Heath provides more nonstop action as genetically engineered superteen Six of Hearts takes on both a mysterious nanoscientist crime lord and his own secret organization, the Deck, to rescue his captured clone-brother Kyntak. Set in the last city on an environmentally devastated earth and liberally punctuated with fantastic feats of strength and speed—not to mention hails of bullets and general destruction on a spectacular scale—the technothriller begun in The Lab (2008) takes several intriguing twists (notably the appearance of new clone-sister Nai, smarter and possibly even more lethal than her brothers) on its way to a satisfying, if temporary, resolution. Grades 5-8. --John Peters

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Press; 1 edition (January 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0545075912
• ISBN-13: 978-0545075916
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #747,821 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jack Heath is the author of five action-adventure books for young adults. His first novel, The Lab, was published when he was just 19, and his second, Remote Control, was shortlisted for sci-fi novel of the year in the 2007 Aurealis Awards. After the publication of his third book, Money Run, he was named the ACT Young Australian of the Year. He's now 24, and lives in Canberra, Australia.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Big improvement on the first, even though the first one rocked...and that's saying something, January 9, 2010

By 

A.K. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Remote Control (Lab (Scholastic Hardcover)) (Hardcover)

I love this book. The first one rocked, but it was basically one action scene to the next. The story developed a bit later. Here, the action pulls the story forward. It's basically a story where an innocent hero is being chased, where you would think it's cliche'. It's not. The story is well paced and complex. How it's executed is the amazing part. The details are amazingly vivid. Good for teens 13 and over.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, December 12, 2010

By 

TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Remote Control (Lab (Scholastic Hardcover)) (Hardcover)

"The first thing he saw was a soldier with a megaphone leaning through the second-floor window of one of the buildings; the second was the sixteen snipers aiming at him from the windows all around."

Events like the one above are fairly commonplace for Agent Six in REMOTE CONTROL, the sequel to Jack Heath's THE LAB. It is filled with heart-stopping images just like it.

The world is still controlled by ChaoSonic, and Six is still struggling to survive as he battles evil without the use of deadly force. This time his identical twin is kidnapped by a new villain named Vanish. Vanish mistakenly believes he has kidnapped Six and is asking for a ransom - or the teen will be killed.

As Six begins the Mission to rescue his brother, he encounters a new individual, a mysterious girl. She keeps herself hidden but offers survival advice, which Six finds quite confusing but useful if he is able to unlock the cryptic clues. Adding difficulty to his mission is the fact that the Deck has been compromised, leaving Six completely on his own. With no one to trust, he must keep track of everyone and can't rely on anyone.

Readers looking for non-stop action, violence, and intrigue should pick up a copy of REMOTE CONTROL as soon as possible. Jack Heath has a real knack for creating 007-type gadgets backed by spy-thriller adventures, and Agent Six's superhuman skills are sure to please.

Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Talk about some action, January 18, 2010

By 

The Book Muncher (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Remote Control (Lab (Scholastic Hardcover)) (Hardcover)

It's official. Since Agent Six of Hearts' last mission, everyone knows exactly who or what he is--superhuman. Somehow Six is able to tolerate this unwanted attention, maybe because he gets to work with his brother Kyntak. But when Kyntak is kidnapped while on a mission and everyone at the Deck, especially the Queen of Spades, starts to think Six is a double agent, Six realizes that he must go solo if he's to have any chance of survival and rescuing Kyntak. With an unknown and the most cunning adversary Six has yet faced, few available allies, and danger lurking around every corner, will Six be able to beat the odds and bring his brother back?

To no one's surprise, Remote Control is just as fast paced as its prequel The Lab. Readers are immediately immersed in a sea of nonstop action that keeps things interesting. It is very difficult to write a satisfying sequel to a novel so heavily reliant on action plot because readers look for new and exciting action sequences as well as some character development, and unfortunately, the variety of different types of action for novels such as this one is limited and smooth characterization in the midst of all this is very rare. So although the plot of this story is certainly exciting and suspenseful, it's not entirely original. As in The Lab, Heath attempts to develop Six's character, but it still feels very awkward. Here there's Six pondering humanity and what it means to be human--or superhuman--but at the same time, there are a bunch of people trying to kill him over there. Perhaps it's because of how Six was initially portrayed, but it doesn't seem like there is any natural way to make Six really be more, well, human. Remote Control isn't a terrible sequel, but I will be looking for much more in any future installments, if any, in this series to come.

Fans of The Lab by Jack Heath will want to check out its sequel. Remote Control will also be enjoyed by fans of Skinned by Robin Wasserman and the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz.