Divine Madness (novel)

Last updated

Divine Madness
Divine Madness cover.jpg
First edition cover
Author Robert Muchamore
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Series CHERUB
Genre Children's, Thriller, Spy novel
Publisher Hodder and Stoughton
Publication date
6 April 2006
Media typePrint (paperback)
Pages368 pp (first edition, paperback)
ISBN 0-340-89434-2 (first edition, paperback)
OCLC 62796249
823.92 22
LC Class PZ7.M869647 Di 2006
Preceded by The Killing  
Followed by Man vs Beast  

Divine Madness is the fifth novel in the CHERUB series by Robert Muchamore. In this novel, CHERUB agents James, Lauren, and Dana go to Australia to investigate a religious cult called the Survivors.

Contents

Plot

Kerry Chang, Bruce Norris and Kyle Blueman are on a mission in Hong Kong to befriend Clyde Xu, a teenage environmentalist who has been recruited by Help Earth to assassinate an oil executive. After Clyde meets with Help Earth operative Barry Cox, Bruce follows Barry back to his hotel room and incapacitates him before stealing his documents, while Kerry thwarts the assassination attempt by swapping out the explosives Cox had given Clyde. An MI5 investigation into Cox's activities uncovers that Help Earth are being funded by wealthy Australian cult The Survivors, who are in turn profiting from terrorist attacks committed by Help Earth. James and Lauren Adams and Dana Smith are sent on a mission to infiltrate The Survivors, with the aim of infiltrating the higher echelons of the cult and discovering the extent of their connection with Help Earth. Before James leaves, he and Kerry agree to give their relationship another try when he returns.

The cherubs go undercover in Australia and are soon recruited by the cult. James and Lauren are sent to the Survivor's elite boarding school in the Ark, the Survivors' isolated Outback headquarters. Meanwhile, Dana and another young Survivor, Eve Stannis, are recruited to aid Barry and his fellow Help Earth operative Nina Richards in a terrorist attack on a LNG terminal. Dana manages to alert mission controller John Jones of the target. However, Barry kills the ASIS agents following them and reveals that the facility to be attacked is not in Australia as originally assumed, but instead in Indonesia.

In the Ark, James befriends Rathbone "Rat" Regan, the cynical son of Survivors founder Joel Regan who sees through the cult's brainwashing techniques. Rat introduces James to Joel's wife Susie, who Lauren discovers is embezzling from the Survivors to bankroll Help Earth; Rat also reveals that Susie is having an affair with Brian "Bungle" Evans, a Help Earth operative whom James had previously encountered. With Help Earth's attack imminent, the Australian military prepares to storm the Ark, and James and Lauren attempt to retrieve Susie's data before the assault. They are followed by Rat and are forced to reveal CHERUB's existence to him. They enter Joel's quarters to find that Susie has killed him, destroyed her data and fled the Ark, and the Ark is put into lockdown before the trio can escape. The raid begins, but the military are forced to fall back after one of their helicopters is shot down by the Survivors. James, Lauren and Rat are caught trying to escape and locked in a room with several young children. When the order comes for the Survivors to fall back into the Ark's fortified church, Rat suggests escaping through a sewage tank. Lauren refuses to leave without taking the children with them, and the group manages to escape the Ark before it is destroyed when explosives laid by the Survivors are accidentally detonated. Meanwhile, with no backup coming and no way of warning mission control, Dana incapacitates Barry and Nina herself while their boat sails across the Arafura Sea, but is too late to stop Eve leaving in their dinghy in an attempt to complete the attack herself; Eve ultimately drowns at sea. Susie and Brian are apprehended before they can leave Australia.

The cherubs visit former CHERUB Amy Collins to recuperate. Rat is accepted into CHERUB, Dana is awarded her navy shirt, while, to James' disbelief, Lauren is awarded her black shirt for saving the children from the Ark. [1]

Development

Censored section

Divine Madness is one of two CHERUB stories where part of a scene had been cut out. The scene in question was the segment where Kyle and Bruce were chasing a suspected member of Help Earth. In the original version of the scene, Bruce beats up a passenger who calls him names while boarding the train. In the published book, this is not shown due to excessive violence. The cover is Bruce ignoring the comment. [2]

Extra story

On the CHERUB website, there is a bonus chapter entitled "Disconnected". It is set during Chapter 44 of Divine Madness, and introduces James' father. [3]

Awards

Divine Madness won the Lancashire Children's Book of the Year in 2007. [4]

Related Research Articles

Survivor(s) may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Muchamore</span> English young adult fiction author (born 1972)

Robert Kilgore Muchamore is an English author of young adult fiction. He's best known for his CHERUB, Henderson's Boys and Rock War series.

<i>CHERUB</i> Series of teenage spy novels by Robert Muchamore

CHERUB is a series of teenage spy novels written by English author Robert Muchamore, focusing around a fictional division of the British Security Service called CHERUB, which employs children, predominantly orphans, 17 or younger as intelligence agents.

<i>The Recruit</i> (novel) 2004 novel by Robert Muchamore

The Recruit is the first novel in the CHERUB series, written by Robert Muchamore. It introduces most of the main characters, such as James Adams, Lauren Adams, Kyle Blueman, and Kerry Chang. It was released in the United Kingdom by Hodder Children's Books on 30 April 2004, and by Simon Pulse in the United States on 30 August 2005.

<i>Class A</i> (novel)

Class A, published as The Dealer in the United States, and as The Mission for 5000 prints, is the second book in the Robert Muchamore's novel series CHERUB. It continues the story of teenager James Adams and his fellow CHERUB agents as they try to bring down a drug gang led by Keith Moore. The book was originally to be called Drugs, Cars and Guns, but this was changed so as to sound more appropriate for children. It received generally good reviews although not as many awards as its predecessor, The Recruit. It is followed by Maximum Security.

<i>Maximum Security</i> (novel)

Maximum Security is the third novel in the CHERUB series of books, written by Robert Muchamore. In this novel CHERUB agents James Adams and Dave Moss infiltrate a maximum security prison in Arizona to get to the son of an international arms dealer.

<i>The Killing</i> (novel)

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.

<i>Man vs Beast</i>

Man vs Beast is the sixth novel of the CHERUB series by Robert Muchamore.

I Was a Sixth Grade Alien! is a Canadian-British children's science fiction comedy television series following the chronicles of Pleskit, a purple-skinned, blue-haired extraterrestrial being with an antenna positioned on his head. He tries to fit in and make some friends, but due to his strange appearance, he does never succeed very well. He does make one friend, Tim, who is interested in space and aliens. The two friends go through the sixth grade together. During the series, they solve many unusual problems, from a trans-universal portal game to a blue-coloured, wailing pig creature from Pleskit's home planet. The show is premiered on July 13, 1999, ended on January 10, 2001, and was produced by UK-based Winklemania Productions and Canadian-based Alliance Atlantis Communications' children's unit, AAC Kids with the participation of the Canadian Television Fund/Fonds canadien de télévision, the Canadian Film Or Video Production Tax Credit, and the Shaw Television Broadcast Fund/Fonds de télédiffusion Shaw. The television series was based on Bruce Coville's book series of the same name.

<i>Mad Dogs</i> (novel)

Mad Dogs is the eighth novel in the CHERUB series by Robert Muchamore. In the novel, CHERUB agents infiltrate a violent street gang.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Adams (character)</span> Character in the CHERUB books series

James Robert Anthony Adams is the main character in the first series of the acclaimed book series CHERUB by British author Robert Muchamore. Upon joining CHERUB he changed his surname to Adams. He ended his CHERUB career wearing a black T-shirt, which is the most elite colour granted. At the end of his CHERUB career, he returns to his "Choke" surname and switches his two forenames around, to become Robert James Choke. However, he is still referred to as James in later books. He made an appearance in the third book of the second CHERUB series, Black Friday and is a mission controller in the fourth book of the second CHERUB series, Lone Wolf. He also made an appearance in the last book, New Guard.

<i>The Sleepwalker</i> (novel)

The Sleepwalker is the ninth novel in the CHERUB series by Robert Muchamore. It was released in February 2008. The book features Lauren Adams and Jake Parker in the lead roles, investigating an airline crash that a mentally disturbed boy called Fahim claims was caused by his father. Meanwhile, James Adams has a subplot doing work experience with Kerry Chang at a fast food restaurant. This is the first CHERUB book to feature Lauren in the lead role, with James' story as a subplot.

The Eyes was a series of science fiction novels written in the 1970s by Richard Gordon under the pen name Stuart Gordon.

<i>Dark Sun</i> (novella)

Dark Sun is a World Book Day novella in the popular CHERUB series by Robert Muchamore. It fits into the series between The Sleepwalker and The General.

<i>The General</i> (Muchamore novel) 2008 novel by Robert Muchamore

The General is the tenth novel in the CHERUB series by Robert Muchamore. The primary action of the novel is set in the Nevada desert during a joint training exercise of American and British troops.

<i>Brigands M.C.</i>

Brigands M.C. is the eleventh novel in the CHERUB series by Robert Muchamore. It was released on 4 October 2008. A blue-cover edition of which only 8,499 copies were made was also produced. The special editions were only sold in W.H.Smith in the United Kingdom. Of developing the plot Robert Muchamore said:

"I also like to mix the books up, so while The General was very much a story about CHERUB agents and training, Brigands is totally focused on the story of a boy called Dante and a huge mission to infiltrate and bring down a dangerous biker gang".

<i>Shadow Wave</i>

Shadow Wave is the twelfth novel in the CHERUB series by Robert Muchamore. It was published by Hodder Children's Books (ISBN 9780340956472) on 26 August 2010, and features the final mission of the long-standing central character James Adams. A limited edition of Shadow Wave, with an orange cover, was made available exclusively at W.H.Smith. Details of Muchamore's plans to create a small three-book series called "Aramov" without James, were revealed via a secret website detailed on the back pages of all copies of the book.

<i>Lone Wolf</i> (Muchamore novel)

Lone Wolf is the sixteenth and penultimate novel in the CHERUB series by Robert Muchamore, and the fourth book of the Aramov series. It was released on 1 August 2014.

<i>New Guard</i> (novel) 2016 novel by Robert Muchamore

New Guard is the eighteenth and final novel in the CHERUB series by Robert Muchamore, and the fifth and final book in the Aramov series. It was published on 31 May 2016.

References

  1. (2006). Divine Madness . CHERUB. Vol. 5. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN   978-0-340-89434-7.
  2. "CHERUB: Divine Madness Outtake Chapter 5 – Excerpt with added violence by Bruce Norris!". Archived from the original on 17 April 2009. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
  3. Muchamore, Robert. "CHERUB: Disconnected". www.cherubcampus.co. Archived from the original on 10 March 2010. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  4. "News : 'Divine Madness' named Lancashire's Children's Book of the Year". Lancashire.gov.uk. 29 July 2007. Archived from the original on 25 March 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2008.