The Bodyguard

The Bodyguard, an “Orca Soundings” book, is a fast-paced and high action book that avoids a lot of character development or plot subtlety. This is not necessarily a bad thing when considering that the book is to engage and hook younger readers who are struggling with reading comprehension and finding materials that they enjoy.

Teen Ryan “Replay’ Hale, who is incredibly skilled at football, is the star running back for his high school’s team. He has university scouts making him offers, and his parents and friends have all seemed to have decided his future for him. Ryan’s issue is that his passion is with films and filmmaking, and he feels that future will be taken away if he follows in the predetermined footsteps set out for him. A guidance counselor, Mr. Pier, is encouraging him to follow his dreams, and he introduces Ryan to film schools and the application process. For Ryan, the big issue is money, and he can’t afford the fees associated with the film school applications. It is at this point that Ryan meets Markus, a new exchange student from Estonia. Because Markus is being bullied, he offers Ryan $100 a week to act as his bodyguard and to protect him; however, Ryan is not aware that Markus has a dark past with the Russian mob and gambling, a past which is about to come back to haunt him.

The novel mainly focuses on Ryan and Markus and the member of the Russian mob who is in pursuit of Markus. Ryan, as the main character, is given some development and shown to have different facets to his personality. On the other hand, Markus is less developed in who he is and what his motivations are. Although Markus is not quite a caricature, the author could have done a bit more in fleshing him out since the book principally focuses on the two. All the other characters in the book are present because they have to be in order to tell the story, with none of them being really developed beyond their role as friend, parent, sibling, classmate, etc.

The Bodyguard is quickly paced with some interesting plot turns. Ryan’s character is one that is nice to see unfold as he is not a selfish teen, and he wants to help others, but he also learns that he has to help himself as well. The character of Markus is a bit one dimensional as his backstory is quickly explained and glossed over in order to focus more on Ryan. The image on the cover is of a young black man, but, in reading the book, there is no mention of skin color or ethnicity, and so it can be assumed that all characters are white.