I, Q Books in Order

The I, Q series drops a young blended family into the middle of twenty-first-century espionage. Thirteen-year-old Quest, who goes by Q, has spent years on the road with his musician mother. When she marries fellow rocker Roger and forms the band Match, Q suddenly gains a stepfather, a stepsister named Angela, and a yearlong tour on a luxury bus.

What sounds like a dream road trip shifts quickly. In Independence Hall, Q and Angela begin noticing strange coincidences as the tour heads to Philadelphia: a roadie who always seems to be nearby, a stranger from the wedding who keeps reappearing, breakdowns that happen in just the wrong places. Piece by piece, they uncover Boone and his SOS team, a secret group working with U.S. intelligence, and learn that Angela’s birth mother was a Secret Service agent who may not have died the way everyone says.

Each book pushes them into a new historic setting with fresh stakes. The White House takes them inside 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, where they juggle late-night meetings with the ongoing mystery around Angela’s mother. In Kitty Hawk, a tour stop on North Carolina’s Outer Banks puts them in the path of storms, spies, and the legacy of the Wright brothers. Later books, co-written with Michael P. Spradlin, move the action to San Antonio’s Alamo, Chicago, and finally San Francisco and Alcatraz.

Running through the whole series is the hunt for a shadowy terrorist network known as the Ghost Cell. Q and Angela help from the edges at first, passing notes and watching security feeds, then step more fully into the field as their skills grow. They pick up tricks of the trade—surveillance, code-breaking, quick disguises—while still having to write school assignments and deal with normal sibling friction.

The tone stays grounded. The technology is recognizably current, the security details come with just enough explanation, and the adults around Q and Angela are capable but fallible. Their parents are loving but distracted by life on the road. Boone clearly knows more than he shares. Even the agencies supposedly on the same side sometimes clash or hold back information.

Readers who like fast plots, cliffhangers, and puzzles to solve will find plenty to chew on here, especially if they enjoy real landmarks woven into the action. For the smoothest ride, read the books in publication order from Independence Hall through Alcatraz so you can watch the mystery, and the siblings’ partnership, unfold one step at a time.