The initial concept may be intriguing but the plotting, characterization and writing style are strictly comic book. Panic is riddled with howlers and the only area of which the author seems to have any real knowledge is his strictly nerdy obsession with computers, PDAs and …more uploading/downloading and encrypting files - something he has learnt at his desk as he obviously doesn't get out much.
The relationships are sickly gooey and unrealistic. The hero escapes death about 17 times - each time more ridiculous than the last - despite being hunted down, trapped and shot at at close range by the most efficient, ruthless hitmen in the world. The central idea - that the Soviet Union would turn children into sleeper agents by building a fake US town in the USSR then sending them to live in the USA has possibilities , but the proposition that having spent all this money and effort the KGB would then forget about them while they become illegal operatives for bent CIA departments is completely implausible. A very exciting first few pages lead to a very disappointing and laughably bad book. (less)