Tom Swift Inventors' Academy, Book 1 - The Drone Pursuit

As the old saying goes, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again! And that is something Tom Swift knows something about. Not only is he an inventor from days of old, but the character has been reinvented not once - not twice - not even three times! No, Edward Stratemeyer's creation has been reimagined, recreated, and reinvented a total of five times since his original incarnation back in the early twentieth century. First, there was simply Tom Swift. Then, there was Tom Swift, Jr. Then, when Simon & Schuster took over publication, Tom Swift was sent into space. Then, to take advantage of the success of the Hardy Boys Case Files and the Nancy Drew Files, Tom Swift was reborn yet again. In the early twenty-first century, with the reboot of both the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, Tom Swift saw publication yet again, this time as the Young Inventor. Now, in 2019, Tom Swift is given life one more time in Simon & Schuster's latest revival of the character in the Tom Swift Inventors' Academy series.

The one thing I've noticed about Tom Swift is that with each new series they come out with, Tom is updated and the stories are more focused on the up-and-coming technology of the time. And, of course, that makes sense when you are working with a series that is technology and invention based. The Drone Pursuit, which is the first book in this new series, centers around a new drone that Tom and his best friend, Noah, have built. They are planning to enter it into the upcoming competition and are testing it out in the school halls when it gets confiscated by the school janitor, who takes it down to the basement. Oh, and shortly thereafter, Tom and Noah, along with their friend Amy (who has a photographic memory) discover that the janitor bears a very strong resemblance to a criminal hacker known as Shadow Hawk. Who was never captured. And who could very well be working in the halls of Swift Academy. The question is - - why?

The story plays on the technology of today - cell phones, computers, video feed, drones, tracking, robotics, etc. And the students at Swift Academy are all top notch in the field, constantly experimenting and creating new things. Plus, with the school located right next to Swift Enterprises, the major tech company owned by Tom's father (Tom, Sr.), it makes it the perfect place for a hacker to come in and try to sneak into the Swift Enterprises' computers through a back door in the system. And when Tom, Noah and Amy discover that Mr. Conway (the janitor) has a computer in a locked basement room that somehow manages to not get shut down when a virus affects everything else in the school, the kids realize that they have to figure out what is going on fast, or Swift Enterprises' secrets could be stolen!

The ghostwriter for the series does not really give any introduction to the two main characters, Tom and Noah - rather, the reader is simply dropped in the middle of class with them as they are testing the drone.  Throughout the story, a few tidbits about them and their family and past are dropped, but not so much as to allow the reader to really get to know them. It's almost as if the reader is expected to know already who Tom Swift is and just go with it. And while the standard chapter "cliffhangers" are not overly exciting, the story itself does move at a pretty good pace, and there are some suspenseful, as well as humorous, moments throughout the books (the closet scene is definitely both!).  Also, with only 130 pages of story, there is not much time for lots of character development and rich descriptions - perhaps as the series progresses, the writer(s) will provide more info about Tom, his family, his background, etc., so that readers will have a good, well-rounded character, rather than a simple two-dimensional cut-out of a techie-kid.

One thing that I do have to mention, however, is the chapter names. Whoever had the idea to use chapter names that are very reminiscent of the episode titles of The Big Bang Theory deserves a raise. I love them!!  "The Evasion Equation."  The Communication Complication."  "The Extraction Distraction."  All of the chapters are named in this fashion, and I hope the publisher continues this, as it definitely brought a smile to my face with each one I saw!

And for those who are wondering - yes, as with the last Tom Swift, Young Inventor series, the books are written in first person (just like the Nancy Drew Diaries and Hardy Boys Adventures).  This seems to be the latest trend, so I doubt very seriously Simon & Schuster will publish any future Stratemeyer property series in third person - that seems to be a thing of the past (just like internal illustrations, which is something I still miss from these books).  Something interesting, though, that neither the Hardy Boys nor the Nancy Drew books do - this series has an author page at the end which simply reads: "Victor Appleton is the author of the classic Tom Swift books."  Not sure what prompted this author page blurb, or why they acknowledge Victor Appleton, when it is simply a pseudonym for who knows how many ghostwriters over the years.  Will be curious to see if this author page continues in future books of this series.

RATING:  7 weird ghost texts out of 10 for bringing this classic character back and providing a fairly palatable story that is worth the read.