The Pursuit: A Michael Vaughn Novel (Alias) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Elizabeth Skurnick (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
How do you top the story of Sydney joining a sorority? Why, with a Michael Vaughn tell-all, of course. Sydney's handler-slash-love-interest anchors the fifth installment in this solid, young-adult prequel series for the hit ABC TV show.

Agent Vaughn certainly came to Alias with his share of mysteries (like a beautiful disappearing girlfriend and a CIA dad killed in the line of duty), so you've got to figure any prequel should dish out some pretty good dirt. Author Lizzie Skurnick, a newcomer to these prequels, doesn't disappoint, displaying the same easy- but still fun-to-read chops she honed in Love Stories. Still pained by the loss of his father, Michael Vaughn vows to make a difference by joining the CIA himself in The Pursuit. Of course, intrigue and danger ensues.

Fans of the show who haven't read any of the prequels should start back with Recruited--and then once you think the history of Agent Vaughn can't be fleshed out any further, it's onto a Sydney-Michael duet in book number five, Close Quarters. (Ages 9 to 12) --Paul Hughes

Product Description
Michael Vaughn’s father left him a legacy: A calling to a world filled with necessary lies. Dangerous exploits.

And the chance to make a difference.

Michael is ready to be an agent for the CIA. To do whatever it takes to honor his father’s memory.

But serving his country will exact a toll higher than he can imagine. His life will change forever.

And so it begins.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Bantam Books for Young Readers (July 8, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553494023
• ISBN-13: 978-0553494020
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #677,141 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A decent read, though sometimes annoyingly inconsistent, October 14, 2003

By	Lisa J. Cash (Tokyo, Japan) - See all my reviews

Well, first of all, I must confess that I am absolutely obsessed with and addicted to all things Alias. I read this book in a few hours this evening. It was a nice, light, fluff-read, which was exactly what I expected it to be. There were a couple things that really got on my nerves though. First of all, the author takes herself far too seriously, injecting far too many forced metaphors in attempts to improve her writing. Yuck. The metaphors REALLY started to get to me. In the first chapter, she turns a hockey reference into a marathon running metaphor. Mixed metaphors are never pretty. Yuck.

Also, the book has a lot of inconsistencies, which bothered me more and more as I read. For example, as we learn from the book, he is not called Vaughn until his time at the Farm with his team members. His girlfriend Nora, who is only in the first couple chapters, always called him Michael. But magically at the end of the book, when they brieffly reunite, she is calling him Vaughn. Sorry if I'm being anal, but such inconsistencies really bothered me in this book. This is Alias, people! Get it right! :-)

But overall, it was an easy, enjoyable read, which I assume is exactly what the authors were aiming for.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Switching Focus, But Not Up To Par, August 26, 2003

By	Mark Baker (Santa Clarita, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

For as long as he can remember, Michael Vaughn has wanted to join the CIA. So, when the call finally comes, he puts his entire life on hold, hoping to get in. But getting in is only the start. He has to learn how to deal with an obnoxious fellow trainee. Keeping the secret from his girlfriend and mother is also hard. But his first mission puts him in more danger then he ever anticipated. And what about his father's journal that he just received in the mail?

As usual, fans of the TV show will enjoy getting to see the characters before we met them on the screen. This is the first prequel novel to focus on Vaughn. His early days at the CIA provide some interesting insight into how the organization works.

However, this novel had several problems with it. The overall story structure could have used some work. While it mirrors RECRUITED, the story of Sydney joining SD-6, this novel seemed much more disjointed, with several things thrown in more or less at random. Also, the novel makes several references to events happening "in the nineties," when, to keep series continuity, the book should have been set in the nineties. Finally, the sub-plot of the journal was confusing and horribly resolved. It would have been much better to leave it out completely.

Alias fanatics will want to read this book to get a little insight into Vaughn. Everyone else should skip it. Hopefully, the next novel will get the book series back on track.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Skip it, January 4, 2004

By	"haven599" (USA) - See all my reviews

Don't get sucked in by the cute picture on the front cover. I expected more back story about the character, but was disappointed by the formula writing. Skip the book, go read some fanfiction. Trust me, it will be more entertaining.