The Ring of Five - Tapa blanda

Here's the first book in a brilliant new trilogy by the author of The Navigator. The Ring of Five, set at a school for spies, is full of surprises as well as fascinating questions about loyalty, destiny, and what it means to be a spy.
 
Danny Caulfield doesn't know how he ended up at a mysterious academy called Wilsons. A few of the students are pretty scary. Someone tries to murder him. Even the ravens that haunt the school seem to be against him. Yet he also finds friends: Les, an exceptional thief; Dixie, who has an unsettling talent; and Vandra, a physick with special powers.
 
It turns out that Danny is destined for a terrifying mission. As he embarks on his training, he is shocked and secretly thrilled to discover that he seems to have all the natural gifts of the perfect spy—most importantly, the ability to betray.
 
Eoin McNamee's background as an author of adult thrillers informs this exhilarating, atmospheric adventure.
From the Hardcover edition.

Eoin McNamee was born in County Down, Northern Ireland. He is the author of the Navigator trilogy for children, and he is critically acclaimed as a writer of novels for adults, the best known being Resurrection Man, which was made into a film. He was awarded the Macaulay Fellowship for Irish Literature, and has also written two adult thrillers under the name John Creed.
From the Hardcover edition.