The Recruit

The Recruit is the first novel in the CHERUB series. It introduces most of the main characters, such as James Adams (né James Choke), Lauren Adams (née Lauren Onions), 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.

Plot
The Recruit begins with twelve-year-old James Choke in combined science class in his first term of secondary school, where he accidentally slashes classmate Samantha Jenning's face with a nail on the wall after she teases him about his mother's obesity. He shoves his female teacher over and runs home, an offense he is later expelled for, to find his stepfather Ronald Onions visiting his mother, Gwen Choke. He goes back to school to pick up his nine-year-old half- sister, Lauren Onions and they eat dinner at a local burger store. They return home to find Ronald gone and Gwen asleep, with multiple missed calls from the school on her phone and a note from the Deputy Head pushed under the door. Later that night, James discovers that Gwen has died, which he later finds out is from her consuming alcohol while taking painkillers. James is sent to a children's care home called Nebraska house, where he shares a room with 13-year-old CHERUB agent Kyle Blueman. Lauren, however, is taken to live with her father Ronald Onions, who views James unfavourably and doesn't allow him to visit. Contrary to Kyle's advice, James befriends Rob Vaughn and his friends. A few weeks later, James is called in to the police station, where he receives a caution for assaulting Samantha and his teacher. Later that night, Rob and his cronies convince him to steal a pack of beer from an off-licence. The shop clerk catches him after Rob blocks the exit for James to run. He is escorted to the police station, where he is placed in a cell and his statement recorded.

The next morning, James awakes naked in a room at CHERUB campus. After dressing, he finds his way to reception, where the receptionist directs him to the office of CHERUB chairman Dr Terrence 'Mac' McAfferty. He introduces him to CHERUB and puts him through a series of entrance tests where he meets Bruce Norris. He passes all the entrance tests, and is then sent back to Nebraska to decide if he wants to join. Kyle reveals that he was sent to recruit him. Upon returning to CHERUB, Kyle shows him his new room, and he meets his handler, Meryl Spencer. In her office, he chooses his new name, James Robert Anthony Adams (after Arsenal player Tony Adams). He is then given a physical assessment, and told to run 30 km per week and learn to swim. He is taught to swim by Amy Collins, a sixteen-year-old black-shirt CHERUB. A few days after arriving at CHERUB, Kyle sneaks him onto a one-day mission in London to visit Lauren; Kyle is reprimanded but James gets off with a warning. Three weeks after his arrival at CHERUB, he and seven other recruits begin Basic Training, a 100-day course designed to prepare CHERUB agents for missions, and is paired up with Kerry Chang, a recruit with two attempts at Basic Training under her belt. Despite nearly quitting after spending Christmas night outside in their underwear, they both pass. Shortly after arriving back on campus, he finds out that Lauren has joined CHERUB and Ron has been sentenced to nine years in jail.

Two months later, Amy tells James that their swimming lessons are over, and they have a mission together. Overseen by mission controller Ewart Asker, they are to stay with Cathy Dunn at Fort Harmony, a hippy commune in Wales. There, they discover that brothers Fire and World Dunn are planning an anthrax attack against 200 oil executives and politicians, including the United States Secretary of Energy and the Deputy Prime Minister of Great Britain, at Petrocon, an oil conference held in the nearby Green Brooke conference center. They successfully prevent the attack, although accomplice Brian "Bungle" Evans manages to escape. For his exemplary job in the mission, James was awarded a navy shirt.