Skeleton Key (Alex Rider Adventure)

203 Pages·2006·0.85 MB·English

by  Anthony Horowitz

Skeleton Key
Alex Rider [3]
Anthony Horowitz
Speak (2002)
Rating: ☆
★★★★
From School Library Journal
Grade 5-10-Fans of Horowitz's Stormbreaker (2001) and Point Blank (2002,
both Philomel), and newcomers to the series alike, will not be disappointed with
this rip-roaring escapade featuring the 14-year-old spy. Trying to return to a
"normal" life as a schoolboy after a mere four weeks since his last MI6
adventure, Alex Rider is recruited right off the soccer field to check out some
suspicious goings-on at Wimbledon. This assignment catapults him into a series
of life-threatening episodes, such as coming face to face with a great white
shark, dodging bullets as he dives off a burning boat, and being tied to a
conveyor belt that is moving toward the jaws of a gigantic grindstone in an
abandoned sugar factory. Soon the teen is single-handedly taking on his most
dangerous enterprise yet. His mission is nothing short of saving the world from a
nuclear attack, engineered by the psychopathic and egomaniacal former
commander of the Russian army. Alex is armed only with a few specially
designed gadgets, which are disarmingly age-appropriate: a Gameboy that
doubles as a Geiger counter, a cell phone whose aerial shoots out a drugged
needle that is activated by pressing 999, a Tiger Woods figurine that doubles as a
small grenade when its head is twisted just so. This page-turning thriller leaves
readers breathless with anticipation. When at last Alex returns home, his love
interest, Sabina Pleasure, asks where he has been. "Well, I was, sort of-busy," he
replies in a classic, understated, James Bond kind of way.
Elizabeth Fernandez, Brunswick Middle School, Greenwich, CT
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From
Gr. 6-9. Fourteen-year-old British secret agent Alex Rider, last heard from in
Point Blank (2002), is back in another adventure. This time he's on an island
near Cuba where he's up against a retired Russian general who plans to set off a
nuclear device and, in the ensuing world chaos, take over the Russian
government and restore the Soviet Empire. The general takes a shine to Alex
once they meet, however, and he offers to adopt him as his son. Of course, this is
the man's fatal mistake; Alex is there at the crucial moment to thwart the
general's plans. This series unabashedly lifts details from the James Bond
formula (minus the vodka martinis and casual sex) and transfers them to a novel
for young adults. Yet, the Bond formula is the most successful in entertainment
history, and there's no doubting the appeal of this action-packed spy novel. Todd
Morning
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Skeleton Key
Alex Rider [3]
Anthony Horowitz
Speak (2002)
Rating: ☆
★★★★
From School Library Journal
Grade 5-10-Fans of Horowitz’s Stormbreaker (2001) and Point Blank (2002,
both Philomel), and newcomers to the series alike, will not be disappointed with
this rip-roaring escapade featuring the 14-year-old spy. Trying to return to a
“normal” life as a schoolboy after a mere four weeks since his last MI6
adventure, Alex Rider is recruited right off the soccer field to check out some
suspicious goings-on at Wimbledon. This assignment catapults him into a series
of life-threatening episodes, such as coming face to face with a great white
shark, dodging bullets as he dives off a burning boat, and being tied to a
conveyor belt that is moving toward the jaws of a gigantic grindstone in an
abandoned sugar factory. Soon the teen is single-handedly taking on his most
dangerous enterprise yet. His mission is nothing short of saving the world from a
nuclear attack, engineered by the psychopathic and egomaniacal former
commander of the Russian army. Alex is armed only with a few specially
designed gadgets, which are disarmingly age-appropriate: a Gameboy that
doubles as a Geiger counter, a cell phone whose aerial shoots out a drugged
needle that is activated by pressing 999, a Tiger Woods figurine that doubles as a
small grenade when its head is twisted just so. This page-turning thriller leaves
readers breathless with anticipation. When at last Alex returns home, his love
interest, Sabina Pleasure, asks where he has been. “Well, I was, sort of-busy,” he
replies in a classic, understated, James Bond kind of way.
Elizabeth Fernandez, Brunswick Middle School, Greenwich, CT
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From
Gr. 6-9. Fourteen-year-old British secret agent Alex Rider, last heard from in
Point Blank (2002), is back in another adventure. This time he’s on an island
near Cuba where he’s up against a retired Russian general who plans to set off a
nuclear device and, in the ensuing world chaos, take over the Russian
government and restore the Soviet Empire. The general takes a shine to Alex
once they meet, however, and he offers to adopt him as his son. Of course, this is
the man’s fatal mistake; Alex is there at the crucial moment to thwart the
general’s plans. This series unabashedly lifts details from the James Bond
formula (minus the vodka martinis and casual sex) and transfers them to a novel
for young adults. Yet, the Bond formula is the most successful in entertainment
history, and there’s no doubting the appeal of this action-packed spy novel. Todd
Morning
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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SKELETON KEY
Alex Rider Book 3
ANTHONY HOROWITZ
First published 2002 by Walker Books Ltd 87 Vauxhall Walk, London SE11 5HJ
Text © 2002 Anthony Horowitz
ISBN 0-7445-9007-8
Table of Contents
IN THE DARK
MATCH POINT
BLOOD AND STRAWBERRIES
THE CRIBBER
TWO WEEKS IN THE SUN
NOT SO SPECIAL AGENTS
DEATH OF A SALESMAN
PASSPORT CONTROL
BROTHERHOOD SQUARE
THE DEVIL’S CHIMNEY
THE CRUSHER
THE HOUSE OF SLAVES
HEARTBEAT
THE NUCLEAR DUSTBIN
SECURITY NIGHTMARE
THE END OF THE WORLD
AFTER ALEX
IN THE DARK
^ »
Night came quickly to Skeleton Key.
The sun hovered briefly on the horizon, then dipped below. At once, the clouds
rolled in—first red, then mauve, silver, green and black as if all the colours in the
world were being sucked into a vast melting pot. A single frigate bird soared
over the mangroves, its own colours lost in the chaos behind it. The air was
close. Rain hung waiting. There was going to be a storm.
The single engine Cessna Skyhawk SP circled twice before coming in to land. It
was the sort of plane that would barely have been noticed, flying in this part of
the world. That was why it had been chosen. If anyone had been curious enough
to check the registration number printed under the wing, they would have
learned that this plane belonged to a photographic company based in Jamaica.
This was not true. There was no company and it was already too dark to take
photographs.
There were three men in the aircraft. They were all dark skinned, wearing faded
jeans and loose, open-neck shirts. The pilot had long black hair, deep brown eyes
and a thin scar running down the side of his face. He had met his two passengers
only that afternoon. They had introduced themselves as Carlo and Marc but he
doubted these were their real names. He knew that their journey had begun a
long time ago, somewhere in Eastern Europe. He knew that this short flight was
the last leg. He knew what they were carrying. Already, he knew too much.
The pilot glanced down at the multifunction display in the control panel. The
illuminated computer screen was warning him of the storm that was closing in.
That didn’t worry him. Low clouds and rain gave him cover. The authorities
were less vigilant during a storm. Even so, he was nervous. He had flown into
Cuba many times, but never here. And tonight he would have preferred to have
been going almost anywhere else.
Cayo Esqueleto. Skeleton Key.
There it was, stretching out before him, thirty-eight kilometres long and nine