Clara’s Verdict
There are very few young adult audiobooks I’d recommend to adults with the same enthusiasm I’d give to a fourteen-year-old, but Robert Muchamore’s CHERUB series is one of them. The Recruit is the first book in the series, introducing James Adams and the clandestine world of CHERUB – a British intelligence organisation that deploys child agents precisely because adults don’t suspect them. Narrated by Simon Scardifield across six hours and fifty-two minutes, it’s gripping from the opening pages and doesn’t condescend to its readers, young or otherwise.
Muchamore writes about James’s difficult early circumstances – poverty, a complicated family situation, very few prospects – with the same unflinching quality that distinguishes the best YA fiction. This isn’t cosiness dressed up as grit; it’s the real thing, handled with care.
About the Audiobook
Published by Hodder Children’s Books, The Recruit is the first volume in what became a seventeen-book series (followed by the Henderson’s Boys companion series). James Adams is twelve when we meet him, living in difficult circumstances in London. After a series of events that leave him effectively an orphan, he’s recruited to CHERUB: a top-secret organisation where children aged ten to seventeen are trained as intelligence agents, inserted into real-world situations because their age makes them invisible to the adults they’re investigating.
The first mission – infiltrating a family with suspected terrorist connections – is genuinely tense. Muchamore doesn’t sanitise the stakes; CHERUB agents operate in situations where the danger is real. But the book is equally concerned with James’s personal development – the training, the friendships, the beginnings of a moral education about what serving a greater good actually costs. It’s a series that takes its young readers seriously, which is why it has retained adult fans for over two decades.
The Narration
Simon Scardifield is an excellent choice for this material. He captures James’s voice – streetwise, funny, occasionally reckless, fundamentally decent – with an authenticity that grounds the more fantastical elements of the plot. He’s particularly good with the ensemble cast; CHERUB has a wide range of characters and Scardifield keeps them distinct without resorting to exaggerated accents. At under seven hours, the pacing is brisk, and Scardifield matches it without sacrificing the quieter character moments that give the action sequences their emotional weight.
What Readers Say
Rated 4.7 out of 5 from 3 Audible reviews, the sentiment echoes the book’s long-standing reputation. UK reviewer Gabriella Facc gave five stars and called the whole series “absolutely brilliant,” noting the characters are “very likable and relatable.” Sue, who is decidedly not the target demographic, gave five stars and wrote: “I finished it very quickly in about 3 sessions and was so impressed.” A parent who bought the book for their thirteen-year-old son noted he’d gone on to devour the next five in the series. H J Mac compared it favourably to JK Rowling’s non-Potter work – “more akin to The Casual Vacancy if written for young people” – and praised it for its refusal to be merely comforting.
Who Should Listen?
This is ideal for young listeners aged eleven and upwards, but it has earned a genuine adult following that says something about the quality of the writing. If you have a reluctant young reader who’s already exhausted Harry Potter and wants something more grounded, James Adams is your answer. Adults who enjoyed Anthony Horowitz’s Alex Rider series as children will find CHERUB darker, more morally complex, and more satisfying as a result.
The full series is waiting. Start with The Recruit on Audible UK – and accept that you’ll need the next one immediately.
