The Boy Who Knew Too Much

By: Jeffrey Westhoff

Narrated by: Josh Click

Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

The adventure of Brian Parker's dreams has just become a nightmare. While on a school trip to Europe, Brian hopes for just a taste of the glamour and excitement from his favorite spy novels. Yet he gets way more than he bargained for when he stumbles across a wounded spy in a Lucerne alley.

The man's dying words catapult Brian into a desperate chase across the continent. America's latest superweapon is at stake, and everyone from a rogue CIA officer to a sadistic criminal mastermind is after it and Brian. New enemies emerge at every turn, but he soon finds a welcome ally in Larissa, a beautiful French girl who loves the Ramones and is handy with a blast of pepper spray.

Brian faces a deadly path, but reading all those spy novels has taught him a few tricks of the trade. They just might save his life.

©2015 Jeffrey Westhoff (P)2019 Intrigue Publishing, LLC

Fast moving story for any age

Well written story. Great for any age. Story keeps your attention.


Great narration. I would listen to this narrator again.

I was given this book at my request and have voluntary left this honest review.

Good for the audience

This was a YA novel, so I kept that in mind. There were many times when a healthy suspension of disbelief was required. It wasn't supposed to be a realistic narrative, but a teenage boy-turned-spy. Good for YA or for some mindless listening. The narrator wasn't bad, but did get a little over dramatic at times. Also probably due to the age of the audience.

Action Packed!!

4.50
Language, Violence

Geared for a slightly older, more mature audience than Spy Kids and Agent Cody Banks, The Boy Who Knew Too Much’s MC is a dir hard secret agent movie junkie.

It’s action packed with tons of characters- mostly chameleon villains. It took me several listens to keep them straight in my head! Maybe it’s because I’m not used to complexity like this; most readers/listeners may not have this problem.

I really disliked when an action was followed or preceded with how he would remember it years from now. Those comments pulled me out of the immediacy of the story.

Chapters usually ended at cliffhangers - which tells you how MUCH was happening.

I liked Larissa.
Josh Click performed an excellent production, including unique voices, accents, and pacing to match the action and emotion.
This is a must listen for maturish audiences who can gobble it up in one setting. There are few moments to ‘pause and return later’.

This is my voluntary review of an audiobook received for free.

The Boy who knew too much

Excellent story of a teenager on a school trip to another country getting caught up in a plot to steal a machine that could change war.The boy in question is fixated on spy novels and handles himself with great knowledge.I enjoyed it a lot! Josh Click was a terrific narrator. was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.' 

Non-stop action

Carefully constructed thriller showing author's love of the spy story genre. Might be intended for teen readers, yet enjoyable by all.

EXCELLENT READ!

I absolutely loved it! This book caught my attention from the very beginning and held it throughout the entire book. This book is full of action, drama and suspense, The narration was excellent. It will keep you entertained! The author did an amazing job with the character builds and plot. Anyone of any age will enjoy this book. This was my first book from this author but definitely not my last. I look forward to reading more of his books! I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Action Packed YA Spy Thrillride!

The Boy Who Knew Too Much is a fun, fast paced action ride of a YA spy thriller. The protagonist's love of spy novels (a la a knockoff James Bond type) and obsessive learning about the realities and differences between fiction and real life pay off big for him. The supporting characters, both allies and villians, are all interesting and have believable motives. Once the story gets going, the pacing makes you not want to stop until you reach the end, with engaging twists and turns along the way. There are parts that make this book only for more mature YA readers (7th grade+ or a very mature younger reader/listener) due to some scenes with torture and one nasty and semi-graphic death. Highly recommended for any fan of the spy genre.

Disclaimer: I was given this free review copy audiobook and have voluntarily left this review.

Easy entertainment

The books premise is one not wholly original but always captivating.. a person is plucked out of ordinary life and thrust into the world of espionage by series of unfortunate and unlucky events. They have to then see it through to the end and catch the bad guys to save themselves and loved ones. We have all read, watched, and listened to this story a thousand times. Am I going to knock this book because it isn’t the most original book ever? No. Because the reason we have all seen or heard this story a thousand times is because we love this story. So no issue with the story.. why only 3 stars? Because this book took that premise and messed it up. This was some random kid put into an outlandish circumstance. This was an episode of macguyver. Apparently because the protagonist was a super fan of a spy novel series he knows exactly what needs to be done at the exact right moment every time. And he knows exactly what the bad guys are going to do. It only does this “random kid put in a bad situation” have the knowledge and aptitude of a veteran James Bond.. he is also basically a BLACK BELT in taekwondo. He says he only doesn’t have a black belt because he hasn’t been able to break the concrete block. And if we are to assume he has actually earned a black belt from a real martial artist and didn’t just pay for it by attending a certain amount of classes, then we have to assume this 15 year old kid is some sort of spy prodigy. And we have to assume his black belt is real because he escapes, disarms, and beats his way out of 5 (FIVE) (!!!!!) kidnappings throughout the book. So it made this book not about an unlucky, normal, “it could happen to anyone” type of guy story.. but instead a story about the bad guys being the most unlucky bad guys of all time because the 15 year old kid who found the dead body and became involved is a ninja, spy, kid genius, savant who was the only one that could have thwarted their crime. Now with all that being said, you don’t go into a book like this and expecting Shakespeare. It provided b level movie entertainment which I’m guessing is what most people are looking for with a book like this.. time passing, mind numbing entertainment. And it does do that. So 3 out of 5!