When Georges moves into a new apartment block he meets Safer, a twelve-year-old self-appointed spy. Soon Georges has become his spy recruit. His first assignment? To track the mysterious Mr X, who lives in the flat upstairs. But as Safer becomes more demanding, Georges starts to wonder: what is a game and what is a lie? How far is too far to go for your only friend? Winner of the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize and shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal. ‘A joy to read’ Independent ‘Rebecca Stead makes writing this well look easy’ Philip Ardagh, Guardian ‘Exactly what I would have wanted to read in my early teens. It feels sophisticated and clever and knowing without being too grown-up and dark’ Viv Groskop, Observer