View source for Blink and You Die (Ruby Redfort Book 6) by Lauren Child

{{infobox2
|title=Blink and You Die (Ruby Redfort Book 6)
|author=Lauren Child
|reviewer= Louise Jones
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary= Fans of the series prepare to say goodbye to our sassy teenage heroine in a gripping series finale.
|rating=4.5
|buy=yes
|borrow=yes
|pages=560
|publisher=Harper Collins
|date=October 2016
|isbn=9780007334285
|website=http://www.rubyredfort.com
|aznuk=0007334281
|aznus=0007334281
|cover=0007334281
}}

Here we are: the final book in the popular Ruby Redfort spy series. Get ready to say an emotional goodbye to 'every smart kid's smart kid.' Things are looking bleak: Spectrum has a mole, nobody can be trusted, the infamous 'Count' is working for someone even more evil than he is and the fly is about to get tangled in a very sticky web. Stay alert. Stay Awake. Blink and you die.

There are so many things to love about this book and the whole Ruby Redfort series. The story, setting and characters are all imaginatively-written and engaging. The 1970s setting gives the story a cool, retro edge and of course, also means that our heroine has to rely on her brains rather than technology. That's not to say she's not without gadgetry, she is a spy after all, but all of her state-of-the-art equipment has a delightfully ''analogue'' feel about it.

The tension is running high in this story, because Ruby simply doesn't know who she can trust. People that she thought she could have trusted implicitly start acting in ways that seem suspicious. She also has to ponder a cryptic message from the Count: if it is true, then it casts doubt on everything she previously held to be true. But why should she trust a message from one of the most infamous and wicked villains she has even met?

As always, the book is full of clever codes and tricky clues, all explained and unravelled at the back of the book. The error-correcting code is simple but brilliant; one of those puzzles that seems impossible to solve but once you know the key to solving it you will kick yourself for not working it out on your own.

Despite a relatively slow start, the book builds up to an absolutely gripping finale. The last 80 pages of the book really are 'heart in mouth' scenes that will have the reader on the edge of their seat. There are plot twists aplenty, as well as the odd character death to stir things up a little and leave you with that uneasy, unsettled feeling that no-one is safe and that anything could happen.

I've enjoyed the books that I have read in the series and this one has inspired me to fill in the gaps in my collection and read the whole series from the beginning. It really is a unique series and unlike anything I've read before. The artwork at the back of the book was a nice touch and I have to admit that the visual depictions of the characters were very similar to the ones in my own mind.

Although this could be read as a standalone story, it's best to read the previous books in the series to get a better idea of Ruby's back-story. Bookbag enjoyed [[Ruby Redfort: Catch Your Death by Lauren Child|Ruby Redfort: Catch Your Death]], a clever story that encourages the reader to work out the clues and solve the mystery.

[[Lauren Child's Ruby Redford Books in Chronological Order]]

{{amazontext|amazon=0007334281}}
{{amazonUStext|amazon=0007334281}}

{{commenthead}}