CHERUB

CHERUB Series

File:CHERUBmaddogs.jpg Mad Dogs book cover
Author	Robert Muchamore
Language	English
Genre	Spy, Action, Adventure, Thriller, Life
Publisher	Hodder and Stoughton
Publication place	United Kingdom

CHERUB is a series of children's books by Robert Muchamore about a group of children who attend the CHERUB campus to be trained as secret agents. The organisation is a children's branch of the British security service MI5, based on the fact that no criminal would suspect a child of spying on them.

Series

CHERUB: The Recruit

James Robert Choke is recuited by CHERUB after his mother dies. He is soon sent on a mission to foil a mass murder led by a group of eco-terrorists.

CHERUB: Class A

(also known as CHERUB: The Dealer and CHERUB: The Mission) James is sent on a mission to spy on a drug dealer. To succeed he becomes friends with drug dealers and deals in drugs himself. When James comes close to using drugs his CHERUB career is put in jeopardy.

CHERUB: Maximum Security

James becomes an inmate of a high security prison, but finds that his mission becomes a little more complicated than he thought it would be when his accomplice Dave is injured in a fight and can't carry on with the mission.

CHERUB: The Killing

Somehow, a small time crook managed to get his hands on a fortune. MI5 needs to know how.

CHERUB: Divine Madness

When CHERUB discovers a link between terrorist group Help Earth and a wealthy religious cult called the Survivors, the authorities are desperate to know why.

CHERUB: Man Vs. Beast

James, Lauren and Kyle go undercover as animal rights protesters in order to bust a series of terrorist groups; the AFA (Animal Freedom Army) and the AFM (Animal Freedom Mailitia). The life of a man now rests in James, Kyle and Lauren's hands.

CHERUB: The Fall

When an MI5 operation goes disastrously wrong, James Adams needs all of his skills to get out of Russia alive. Meanwhile, his sister Lauren is on her first solo mission, trying to uncover a brutal human trafficking operation. (To be published 15th March 2007)

CHERUB: Mad Dogs

The British underworld is controlled by gangs. When two of them start a turf war violence explodes on to the streets.

The police need infomation fast, and James Adams has the contacts to infiltrate the most dangerous gang of all.

(Published October 07)

CHERUB: The Sleepwalker

((Currently not Published)To be published April 2008)

CHERUB: 10

(Currently not Published)(To be published October 2008)

CHERUB: 11

(Currently not Published)(To be published 2009)

CHERUB: 12

(Currently not Published) (To be published 2010)

Characters

Cherubs

• James Robert Anthony Adams, born James Robert Choke in 1991, Tufnell Park, London, England: The main character in the books, which mainly focus on his experiences. He does have anger management problems which do get him into trouble regularly. He excels at mathematics and is good in other subjects, although at the start he is not motivated to do the set work. At the beginning of The Recruit he is expelled from school. His mother dies and he is put in a foster home, where he is recruited to CHERUB by Kyle Blueman.

• Lauren Zoe Adams, born Lauren Zoe Onions in 1994, Tufnell Park, London, England: James' half sister, who is forced to live with her father, Ron Onions, a violent lay-about known to smuggle cigarettes, for the start of the first book. She is recruited to CHERUB later. She accompanies James on his missions in Maximum Security, Divine Madness and Man Vs. Beast

• Kyle Blueman, born 1989, United Kingdom: A key character in The Recruit as he helps to get James settled in at the care home. He's always out to make some money, but the only scheme that actually works is his pirate DVD business. In Class A, he admits to James that he is a homosexual, and got his first boyfriend in Man Vs. Beast. Kyle accompanies James on his missions in Class A and Man Vs Beast.

• Kerry Chang, born Ling Chang in 1992: James meets Kerry shortly after joining CHERUB, shares a basic training programme with her and she becomes a very good friend, even sharing an on/off romance with him. In Class A, Kerry accompanies James, Kyle and Nicole on their mission, posing as their adoptive sister.

• Amy Collins, born Josephine Amy Pegg in 1987, Prestwich, Greater Manchester, England: Amy was James' swimming instructor, and acted as his elder sister on his first mission in The Recruit. She retired from CHERUB after taking her A-Levels and moved to Australia to live with her brother.

• Shakeel "Shak" Dajani, born Ahamd Shakeel in 1992, Egypt: Shakeel was on basic training with James and Kerry.

• Nicole Eddison, born Nikki Vandome in 1992, Tottenham, London, England: Nicole was on basic training with James and Kerry, but dropped out on her first day, after being told she was too fat. She eventually completed basic training, but was permanently excluded from CHERUB after taking cocaine in Class A.

• Michael Hendry, born Jordan Lindsay in 1991, Ipswich, England.

• Andy Lagan, born Christopher Holmes in 1994, Salford, England: A boy that James beats up for laughing at him.

• David "Dave" Moss, born David Rogers in 1988, Eastry, Kent, England: Dave is James's partner in Maximum Security and in The Killing. He is known as one of the coolest guys on the CHERUB campus, having won all martial art competitions he has entered at CHERUB, as well as having an exceptional success rate on missions. In the past he impregnated another member of CHERUB, which is confirmed during a conversation with James and Lauren. He retired from CHERUB after The Killing.

• Bruce Norris, born Aled Thomas in 1992, Prestatyn, Wales: James met Bruce when he had his martial arts test, and has since been on missions with him.

• Gabrielle O'Brien, born Gabrielle Ruthven in 1991, Jamaica: Gabrielle is Kerry Chang's best friend and was on basic training with Kerry and James.

• Bethany Parker, born Elissa Bethany Paloma in Newcastle Under Lyme, England: Lauren Adams' best friend.

• Jake Parker, born Jacob Paloma in 1996, Newcastle Under Lyme, England: Jake is Bethany's younger brother.

• Greg "Rat" Rathbone, born Rathbone Regan in 1994, Northern Territory, Australia: Rat was brought up under harsh physical conditions in the Australian Outback. Rat is highly intelligent, although tests undertaken on CHERUB campus have failed to replicate the IQ of 196 that he claimed to possess while living in the Survivor's Ark. Likes freedom, reading books, and computer games. Hates religion and haircuts.

• Connor Reilly, born Connor Farnworth in 1993, Croydon, Surrey, England: Connor is Callum Reilley's identical twin, and was on basic training with James and Kerry. He completed the training the first time, whereas Callum dropped out.

• Callum Reilly, born Callum Farnworth in 1993, Croydon, Surrey, England: Callum is Connor Reilley's identical twin, and was on basic training with James and Kerry. He had to drop out when he broke his arm, but completed training on his second attempt.

• Dana Smith, born Danielle McQueen in 1991, Queensland, Australia: Dana was on combat training with James. She accompanied James and Lauren on their mission in Divine Madness, posing as their sister. In "The Fall", she becomes James' girlfriend, after helping him through some tricky business.

• Kevin Sumner, born Kevin Peterson in 1997, Farnborough, England. Has a fear of heights, which James and Bruce help him combat in "The Fall".

• Megan Sumner, born Megan Peterson in 2000: Kevin's younger sister.

Staff at CHERUB

• Ewart Asker, born Ewart St Clair-Fitzsimmons in 1976, Freetown, Rhodesia: Zara's husband and the harshest of controllers.

• Zara Asker, born Jacqueline Oxford in 1970, Telford, Shropshire, England: A senior mission controller in the first five books of the series and through most of the Man Vs. Beast, at the end of which she gets the job of CHERUB Chairman, replacing Mac. She worked with James in Class A. Like most staff she is a former cherub.

• Chloe Blake, born Chloe Hoffman in 1981, Dover, Kent, England: Former assistant mission controller, who has recently been promoted to mission controller.

• Maureen Evans, born Margaret DeLucy in 1984, Las Cuevas, Trinidad: Maureen Evans was recruited by CHERUB in 1993. She retired after four missions in 2002 and rejoined CHERUB as an English teacher, but was reassinged to her preferred position as assistant mission controller.

• John Jones, born in 1957, Bexley, London, England: Worked for the police and then MI5. In Class A he works with the cherubs and decides to leave MI5 and join CHERUB as a mission controller. He worked with James as an MI5 agent in Class A and in Maximum Security. In The Killing and Divine Madness he is the mission controller for James. In "The Fall" he works with Lauren Adams as her mission controller.

• Yosyp Kazakhov, born in 1959 Berdyansk, Ukraine: Recently joined CHERUB as a training instructor. He worked in the Russian Army for 17 years before joining CHERUB.

• Norman Large, born Eric Norman in 1963, Luton, Bedfordshire, England: Former senior training instructor at CHERUB. Demoted to regular instructor after being investigated for unfair treatment of Lauren Adams. Undergoing an inquiry after being drunk in charge of twenty-six children.

• Dr. Terence "Mac" McAfferty, born Terence Henderson in 1941, Ayrshire, Scotland: Was the CHERUB chairman for seven to eight years, retiring at the end of Man Vs. Beast. His punishments are half severe or half good, depending on optimism or pessimism.

• George Pike, born Angus Carr in 1976, Glasgow, Scotland: is now head training instructor of CHERUB and has been on the Royal Australian Air Force and served as a cargo pilot before joining CHERUB.

• Meryl Spencer, born in 1968, Kenya: Student handler at CHERUB. Once a gold-medallist Olympic athlete.

Villains

• Brian Evans; books: CHERUB: The Recruit, CHERUB: Divine Madness. He seems like quite a nice person, but as James finds out in his first mission, all that glitters is not gold.

• Keith Moore; book: CHERUB Class A. In his second mission, James infiltrates a drug-dealing gang, led by Keith Moore.

• Curtis Oxford; book: CHERUB: Maximum Security. "Curtis Oxford is a prisoner that James was bust out in Maximum Security. He was incarcerated after murdering three peeople, as a resuly of mental illness.

• Jane Oxford; book: CHERUB: Maximum Security. Curtis Oxford's mother and illegal arms dealer.

• Leon Tarasov; book: CHERUB: The Killing. A second-hand car dealer who is also involved in illegal activities.

• Michael Patel; book: CHERUB: The Killing. A policeman who is found to be involved in serious crimes.

• Joel Regan; book: CHERUB: Divine Madness. When MI5 discover that a high ranking Help Earth member has links to Joel Regan's survivors James and Lauren are sent to infiltrate it.

• Eleanor Regan; book: CHERUB: Divine Madness. Eleanor Regan, commonly known as "The Spider", is considered to be the person with real power inside the Survivor's Ark (her father, Joel Regan, is now 82 and depends on an oxygen tube). She is the eldest of Joel's 33 children, the youngest being Rathbone (usually known as Rat), who befriends James and Lauren.

• Major Dee; book: CHERUB: Mad Dogs An African-American drug dealer and leader of the group called The Slashers.

• Barry Cox; book: CHERUB: Divine Madness. A caucasian salesman, financial advisor, and former soldier. Wanted for numerous terrorist attacks with the environmental group Help Earth.

• Rhiannon Jules; book: CHERUB: Man Vs. Beast. A caucasian animal rights activist. In connection with extremist actions in support of the animal rights movement in the UK, Germany, and the US.

• Denis Obidin; book: CHERUB: The Fall.

• Susie Regan; book: CHERUB: Divine Madness. A caucasian, tall, slim former model. She is wanted in connection with numerous financial irregularaties involving the religious cult known as The Survivors.

• Sasha Thompson; book: CHERUB: Mad Dogs. A caucasian, overweight drug dealer and gang leader. He is believed to be leader of the criminal gang commonly known as the Mad Dogs.

T-shirts

The CHERUB t-shirt is symbolic of the person's status at the CHERUB Campus; the colors and their meanings are:

• The orange t-shirt is for guests on campus. Cherubs are only allowed to talk to someone in an orange t-shirt if the Chairman gives them permission.

• The red t-shirts are worn by Cherubs who are not qualified to enter basic training. This is usually because they are under 10 years of age. Cherub accepts children from age 6 upwards, though sometimes a younger child is admitted if they have an older brother or sister.

• The blue t-shirt is the trainee shirt, with trainee number on.

• The grey t-shirt is what you earn if you make it through training and qualify as an agent.

• The navy t-shirt is awarded for outstanding performance on a single mission.

• The black t-shirt is awarded for outstanding performance over a number of missions. They are given entirely at the discretion of the Chairman. 50% of cherubs can expect to receive one before they retire.

• The white t-shirt is for retired cherubs when they come back to visit friends or attend a reunion. Many CHERUB staff also wear the white shirt.

The acronym "CHERUB"

No one is quite sure what CHERUB actually stands for. The founder of CHERUB, Charles Henderson, was murdered by his wife before he could reveal why he named the organization such. However, since he had already had several items monogrammed, the name was kept. We do however, know that the first two letters of CHERUB (CH) stand for Charles Henderson. Robert Muchamore, the author of these fictional books, has promised he will reveal the whole acronym in the last ever CHERUB book. An unknown source reveals it stands for Charles Henderson Eats Really Undercooked Burgers

External links

• Official Site
• Official Forums
• Unoffical Cherub (fansite)
• Chiki (The Official Unofficial CHERUB Wiki)