The Killing

The Killing is the fourth novel of the CHERUB series by Robert Muchamore. The book chronicles the adventures of the CHERUB agents investigating a small-time crook who suddenly makes it big. Muchamore named the book after the film The Killing. The novel was generally well received, but, unlike its predecessor, received no awards. Plot James Adams is partnered with his sister Lauren, Bethany and Jake Parker and grey-shirt Dana Smith on a simulated warfare training exercise. The cherubs participating in the exercise are each given eggs labelled with their names, with the team with the fewest eggs remaining at the end of the exercise receiving a lengthy run as punishment. Despite James' lack of preparation for the exercise, his team manages to finish with more eggs than a rival team led by Kerry Chang. Regardless, Norman Large decides to fail James' team due to his grudge against Lauren. James, Lauren and Dana protest and Large is ultimately demoted as head training instructor, while Kerry's team is punished instead. When James goes to visit her later, Kerry becomes tired of James' attitude and dumps him. As James leaves Kerry's room, he beats up red-shirt Andy Lagan for laughing at him. For this, James is suspended from missions, and is also ostracized by his friends. Zara Askew takes pity on James and arranges for him to work with Dave Moss on a low-risk mission in the London suburb of Palm Hill. The target is Leon Tarasov, a Russian-born small-time criminal who has mysteriously come into a large sum of money. The two acquaint themselves with Tarasov, who gives Dave a job at his car dealership. James begins dating a girl named Hannah Clarke. During his first night in Palm Hill, James gets into an altercation and is subsequently arrested by police officer Michael Patel, who assaults James as he places him into the police car. Hannah tells James how her cousin, Will, fell from their apartment building a year earlier, and gives him Will's old computer. While looking at Will's computer, James finds that Will was in possession of a CD with information about a robbery at a casino that happened shortly before his death. Conferring with their police liaison, ex-cherub Millie Kentner, the team discovers that the CD's contents also implicate Patel and Kentner's ex-colleague Eric Crisp and Patel's wife Patricia, both former employees of the casino.