Reviewed by Stefan Vucak for Readers' Favorite

In Intel: A Waypoint Prequel by Deborah Adams and Kimberley Perkins, Quinn Lehi is smart, ambitious, and desperately wants a job with the United Nations Investigation Department, a global FBI in 2062. There are two problems standing in her way: her mother is the agency’s director, and several fellow interns hate her. In a live exercise, the team is tasked to find who robbed a major bank, recover the stolen goods, and apprehend the bandits. With the help of an intern she is sweet on, Quinn solves the case, which fuels further resentment from the others. A power outage instigated by a terrorist group affects the whole world. Services fail and lawlessness breaks out. UNID is desperate to identify the group and restore the power grid. For Quinn, the case becomes personally and professionally challenging when she discovers that her mother might be involved.

Intel is a delightful novella, the story told with polished ease by Deborah Adams and Kimberley Perkins. Quinn Lehi is a charming character, full of irrepressible energy, drive, and ambition. The UNID training course presents challenges she must resolve if she is to secure a permanent position, but first, she must overcome professional and emotional hurdles. The intern team are characters readers will readily identify with, and the obstacles they throw at Quinn only make readers cheer for her. Once started, it would be easy to go through Intel in one read, anxiously turning pages to find out what happens next. Young readers not overly concerned with plotting will be twisting their fingers as Quinn faces and overcomes every challenge and obstacle thrown in her path to succeed.