Secret Weapon (Alex Rider)

Product Information

What I like about the Alex Rider books is that he is a young smart and clever and there’s nothing he can’t accomplish. Alex is just like younger version of James Bond.

I received a copy of this book for review purposes from the publisher as part of the Kids Know Best Blogger Campaign. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.

LoveReading4Kids Says

Weaknesses: Freddy is very vicious, so this starts out with more brutal killings than most books. This does, however, serve to highlight Alex's compassion and dislike for killing. my favourites were probably Christmas at Gunpoint and Secret Weapon, but the man with eleven fingers was honestly quite fun too - and most of the short stories, even the ones that strayed a bit closer to the main books were a nice contrast to the generally grim and depressing story of the main line Still good fun, the only advantage the Jason Steed novels have, is the emotion and the coming of age story, of a teenage boy. Ever since MI6 recognized his potential, Alex Rider has constantly been thrust into the line of danger. From a routine visit to the dentist that turns into a chase through the streets of London, to a school trip with a deadly twist, no day has ever been ordinary for the teenage super-spy. This collection of thrilling adventures features familiar and new assailants from the best-loved world of Alex Rider and also includes three never-before-seen stories.

Would I recommend this book? Yes, I definitely do. Would I read another Alex Rider book? Well, I do have Book 1, Stormbreaker on a hold at the library.There was nothing 'bad' about this book at all, but it was simply uneventful, which is not what I want from Alex Rider at all. I've always found Horowitz's prose to be rather clunky, but he does write thrilling action scenes. There was too little action in this book, and action is the brain, heart and skeleton of Alex Rider, without it you don't really have much. For the next book, I hope the Nightshade lot all have a nasty tumble down the stairs and drop dead, so that Alex can face a real villain with real stakes again. There's nothing interesting or thrilling to me about Alex parachuting on top of a cathedral, and talking Freddy Grey out of going through with the plan. Though it feels like Alex grows up with you across this series – due to the extremely dangerous situations he finds himself in – I tend to forget that he is only 15 years old! The series – though spanning 13 books – only occurs across a year or two, as Alex is forcibly recruited by MI6 at 14!

International bestselling author Anthony Horowitz’s short story collection expands the universe of teen spy Alex Rider with more thrilling action, espionage, and pulse-pounding heroics.Short story told in first person. Christmas at Gunpoint is set before Stormbreaker and Alex reminisces about a Christmas he spent with his uncle, Ian Rider, and almost discovered his secret spy life. This story is now available as part of the short story collection; Secret Weapon. Skeleton Key was published in 2002. After foiling a Triad plot to fix the 2001 Wimbledon tennis tournament and befriending Sabina, Alex is in grave danger of assassination. Forced to leave the country, MI6 sends him on a mission to Cuba with two doubtful CIA agents, of whom he is the sole survivor. He encounters former Soviet general Alexei Sarov, who tries to adopt Alex and expresses ideas of a nuclear holocaust and world domination under communist rule. Alex then foils his plans saving the world for a third time. Story three, ‘High Tension,’ was ridiculously short. But it was fun. What was supposed to be a simple parasailing ride turned into something that could’ve been deadly, but Alex managed to stop it. Typical Alex Rider fashion. 3 stars. In July 2018, it was reported that Sony Pictures Television had replaced ITV as Eleventh Hour Film's distribution and financial partner for a new Alex Rider television series. Sony Pictures Television's international and worldwide distribution divisions under Wayne Garvie and Keith Le Goy were attached to the film series. Burt had adapted Point Blanc, the second book in the Alex Rider novel series, for television. Horowitz will serve as executive producer for the series. [9] With Alex Rider you come to expect the unexpected. Nightshade, the twelfth in the series, is a fast-paced explosive read that delivers in so many ways.