Murphy Lawson

AKA Simon Lee #3

by P.D. Atkerson

If you cause too many ripples, you're bound to get noticed, even if people think you’re dead.
Lee must figure out what the Underground and Deadlock are up to, while staying off the radar of every agency who might be tracking his movements.

Lee knows what POTUS stands for and what a five-finger discount is. But what the heck is P.E.? Terrorists and criminal masterminds Lee can handle. Kids his own age? Not so much.

Plunged into an unfamiliar atmosphere called “high school,” Lee is at it again in his latest adventure, Murphy Lawson, book 3 in the AKA Simon Lee Series.

Genres: Espionage

220 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 17, 2020

About the author

P.D. Atkerson is a homeschooled writer, living in Montana, who may or may not be a secret agent. She spends almost as much time in the worlds she creates as she does the real one.
When she’s not reporting the stories of her agents, she’s learning different languages, or traveling to different worlds through the portals of books.
She has a black belt in sarcasm and a master’s degree in useless facts.

If you're interested in reading any of her books for an honest review, just fill out the form here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FA...

Reviews

[Erika Mathews · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story even better than the previous books, I think! More and more, I'm seeing that this series is one complete story, each book getting deeper and more complicated and more involved...

So many twists. So much action. He looks like an ordinary high school student, but he's far from ordinary. He hates everything about school - and this school might be different from what it seems. He runs into people from his past . . .

In this book, Simon Lee felt a little slower to put things together and act than he did in previous books. I did, however, enjoy seeing him work with his father. I appreciated how suspicious he was of everyone - I was, too! He's active, quick, highly skilled, and able to create a plan faster than most people can blink.

If you are enjoying the AKA Simon Lee series, this book won't disappoint you!

[M.L. Milligan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another amazing installment to the AKA series! And boy, what a book! Probably one of my favorite Simon Lee books yet, and THE ENDING!!!! Get ready to buy the next book, Ghost Hunter, right after, cause trust me, you won't want to wait to dive deeper into the series.

Simon Lee-Murphy Lawson- strikes again. . .

[Rosy Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahhh, SO GOOD!!!! This may be my favorite in the series so far. 😍 I love both Lee and Winfield more than ever!! But that cliffhanger.....!!! Ugh, I need the next book!!!

[P.D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Update 8/12/2025: Slowly making it through this series again, giving them new covers in paper and hardback.


I just added a pinboard! https://www.pinterest.com/PDAtkerson/...

Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B083C3VWDZ

Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/165...

[Lydia Willcock · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Murphy Lawson was one of my favourites in the series. The twists in this one came as a complete surprise - and they were brilliant! Especially the twist near the end about something which had happened before... Let's just say I immediately had to open Phantom Thief and read a certain part again - and I was completely blown away by the clues I had missed!
I loved seeing Lee at school, trying to act like a normal teenager, but still doing the job he's there to do. The book also shows up the school system for what it is, and the sort of thing that goes on in them. Some of Lee's comments are pretty good summaries of the sort of teaching being done! I loved finding out that Lee was homeschooled before this all started, too, and it shows the sort of man his father is to take the trouble to do that despite having so much else to do. Yet another reason to love his father...
Speaking of which, I loved seeing them working together again. The other members of the team having no idea who Lee really is made the situation very humorous at times, and the way the two of them act together, especially undercover, is hilarious. At the same time, they make it clear that they love each other very much, and will do anything to protect each other. One scene near the end was especially sweet!
But oh, that epilogue... Things just got a hundred times worse than they were before, and I think they're going to have quite a hard time getting out of this one! But one thing's clear, Lee already has a plan up his sleeve...

Note: I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.


Recommended Reading Order for the Simon Lee Universe books (SLU):
Note: This is the order I've put together after reading and rereading almost all of these books, sometimes at once. While there are different opinions on which series should be read first, this is the order I personally feel is best for a first-time reader. It is NOT the chronological order - and I strongly recommend that a first-time reader does NOT read these books in chronological order. That's great for rereads, but the most will be got out of the SLU books by reading them loosely in the following order
Phantom Thief
Nicholas Bishop
Gregory's Epilogue (blog short)
Christmas Hostage
Guardian Eagle
Murphy Lawson
Ghost Hunter
Most Wanted
Winnie Winfield
Not Enough
Rebel Mind
Talking Turkey (blog short)
Killian Young
Domestic Conflict (Seize the Fight)
They Call Her Ella
Deadlock
First Christmas (blog short)
Exploit
Choices
License
Training
Guilt
My Name is Anastasia
Night Crier (blog short)
Only For a Moment (blog short)
Christmas Bear (blog short)
Everything
Sick Leave (blog short)
Water Boy (blog short)
Школьник (blog short)
Bank Robber (Classified Files)
Blinded (blog short)
Room Escapee (Classified Files)
Dare (blog short)
Wrong Number (blog short)
Minor Detail
Unwanted Services
Off the Rails
Smoke Screen
Lost Time
Web of Lies

[Katja Labonté · Rating 5 out of 5]

5+ stars & 6/10 hearts. Okay, so I loved this book even more than books 1, 1.5, & 2. I'm not even sure how much of this review will be just fangirling and how much will be actual reviewing. ;P Maybe we should do bullet points.

- THE PLOT. Mannnnnn!! I was not expecting such an intense, crazy plot!! I loved how it balanced a normal teenager at school and a super-intelligent spy/mastermind trying to ferret out half a dozen criminals. (The homeschool jokes cracked me up.) AND THE PLOT TWIST, OH MY. I'm still reeling!!
- The characters. MY HEART!!! I love Lee so much, which is odd, because I generally have a problem with kids like him. But behind all the snark and sarcasm, you see a kid who really does love people and want to do what's right. I loved getting an even bigger glimpse into his heart in this book. I wish the poor kid could make friends...♥️(Danny, Matt, please make friends?? And Shirley, stay away from my boy... he doesn't need YOU on top of his drama!) And as I said above, Lee's simply hilariously brilliant at sarcastic comebacks. Also his struggle to get up in the morning cracked me up! And so were his constant complaints about school. XD XD Also, I like that he is growing a bit stronger in faith and is more aware of what he is doing, though I wish he'd take that over with the Lord more.
I liked Danny and Matt, too, as I said, and I liked Willis...? I hope he's a good guy and makes a comeback.
AND WINFIELD. OH MY HEART. I always liked him but now I really love him. The poor guy is trying so hard—and HAS tried so hard. And he's just such an awesome guy and has so much potential! (WHAT IN THE WORLD POSSESSED HIS WIFE TO DUMP HIM?!)

[Jes Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the AKA Simon Lee series, and this book continues the great series epically. The strange, but fond relationship between fifteen year-old genius Simon Lee and his father is the life-blood of this story. But their world begins to expand in new ways- characters from before re-enter their lives, and both father and son are hiding secrets of their past from the other. And as Simon Lee takes his biggest cover yet- a former homeschooler trying to act like a normal student- it becomes clear that he's not the only one with an alias...

If you like stories about spies, secrets, and son/father relationships, you'll love this book and this series!

I received a copy of this book from the author, and the views and opinions are my own.

Review first posted on my blog: https://agencyofbooksandspies.blogspo...

[Angie Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

How, how, how are these books so good?!? And how much more can I fall in love with these characters? And how many times can all the existing plot and backstory get flipped on its head and make me question how much I really know about everything that went on before--some of it right in front of my eyes? This is not your average book-by-book plotting, people. Not even your average multiple-episodes-with-a-continuing-character-arc. This is spin-your-head-around "what on earth?" moments that come out of nowhere...except not, because when you look back at what came before, the seeds are there staring you in the face, but not in a way that you would have picked up on without knowing where everything was going, and just...wow. I seriously want to know how far this series is plotted out! It's incredible!

The characters were, of course, to die for. All the little human touches that balance Lee's super-smart, super-cocky, super-independent personality were just so perfect! From the little things like not being a morning person to the bigger things like nervousness about navigating the school environment--okay, someone please tell me why my heart is melting over the fact that he still can't manage to tie his own tie. I think I need help. Or maybe I just need more of these books. That must be what it is. ;) And then all the deep pain that vibrates through the couple fleeting glimpses we get of why it's so hard for him to make friends--I kind of just want to hug him, except he'd detest that... But he really does need it sometimes. <\3 Oh, and there was one scene where I felt like I knew what was coming because I'd seen it a million times and then a single line of dialogue just totally killed my fear and melted me into a helpless puddle at the same time. How does she do this? Just how?!?

*deep breath* What else can I say about this book? The action--seriously intense! The twists and turns of the plot (just talking about the this-book plot, not everything series related that I went on about before)--just incredible! The emotions--so well done! And the school setting--well, watching Lee have to deal with all the normal-kid issues of dealing with bullies and eating cafeteria food and surviving dodgeball plus the not-so-normal issues of rooting out terrorists and dodging spies and trying to escape the bullies without actually hurting them (because you know he could!)...it was all such a fantastic combination! Oh, and I actually got to like some of the supporting characters and definitely hope they'll show up again sometime. :) Also, what is this about Morocco? I smell a lot more story there... And I loved the way Lee was able to get out of certain scrapes just by telling the unbelievable truth. XD

In summary... Book: excellent. Fangirl status: rock solid. Status: waiting patiently for the next one. :)

Content--action-type violence and danger (bombs, gunplay, threats, etc.); mentions of drugs and drug dealers; people drugged; mentions of underage drinking (not condoned); mentions of various crimes, including stealing; mentions of cursing (no words); a villain jokes about wanting to become a god; several uses of "heck," "darn," "gee," etc.

-----

Gaaaaah, this book!!!!!! <3<3<3 Probably my favorite of the series so far, and that's saying a lot!

Better review to come. :)

[C.K. Heartwing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Atkerson's AKA Simon Lee series is so much fun. The adventures with Simon continue in 'Murphy Lawson' when Simon, Winfield, and a few agents go undercover at a local school. The plot thickens as Simon tries to uncover what' going on in the school, and things go deeper than they initially realized. There were so many twists and turns, and it became more intense as the story went on. Simon's sarcasm is great as always. Winfield is such a wonderful character, and I love how he's always looking out for Simon and trying to keep him safe, especially since undercover work can make that difficult for all involved. Along with that, I enjoyed seeing Simon continued to grow in his faith, and I'm looking forward to seeing that continue as the story progresses. I'm looking forward to picking up the next book!

[TheRoer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Definitely awesome! And nope…don’t like Grew and wish Shirley didn’t have to do what she did but I just love the suspense! Ok, who am I kidding? It literally is always killing me! 😝 Ava’s nice… 😏 and…like yeah! I’m terribly at reviews but maybe you can do better!! Read these books and get in touch with the author and… LET HER KNOW HOW AWESOME THEY ARE!!! Every author needs reviews to feel encouraged! Please encourage your fav authors now!

[Michelle D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable for the whole family!

[Akira R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

What. Just. Happened???

Just when you think you have a handle on what is going on in the story, another plot twist shows up and throws you into confusion yet again.

How does the author do it???

Anyway…this was a really good book. I love how Lee’s relationship with his dad is improving, and I love the new characters the author introduced. Also, Lee in school is exactly how I would expect Lee in school to be.

Speaking of school…One thing that I wanted to point out is that the book seemed to give secular schools an overly bad name. I know that the author was not necessarily implying that EVERY private or public school in America that is not Christian produces kids that know nothing. However, I know several people who went to public school that I have been able to have a good conversation about world and American history with. They were well-informed (to my surprise). Now, to be fair, others didn’t know when the Declaration of Independence was signed. But I wanted to point out that, although it wasn’t an outright claim that all schools that aren’t Christian schools are bad, I wanted to point out that it didn’t seem fair to the schools the way that secular schools were portrayed. Also to be fair, this was no ordinary school…

I loved this book and enjoyed Lee’s interactions yet again. His friendly side was a big favorite of mine. : )

A couple things to keep in mind.
- There were 6+ (I lost count because the story was extremely interesting XD) times that a replacement word was used. Since people have different standards on this, I thought I would point that out.
- This book has a lot of sarcasm in it. This book’s sarcasm was a LOT more palatable than the previous book’s. I really enjoyed the sarcasm in this one.
- Lee’s relationship with his dad is still strained. Keeping this in mind, I understand his interactions with his dad, although I do not agree with it.

*I was sent this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun adventure, but not my favorite of the series.

[SawyerMarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is my favorite Simon Lee book! Edge of your seat book.

Disclaimer: I was given a free copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own

[Lizzie Marr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eek! This book is just as good as I remember it being! Definitely recommended read this series! 💛💛