Secret Weapon (Alex Rider)

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This variety kept me interested and entertained although I would say that I prefer the format of a full length story than the shorter stories as you can get into them more.

High Tension is the shortest story in the book, set in the south of France on a day when Alex tries out parasailing, and naturally, things don’t go entirely to plan, forcing him to put his skills and training to use to get out of a dangerous situation, that for once has nothing to do with anyone deliberately trying to kill him. There is lots of adventure from the very start of the story, with plenty of action to keep me entertained. I thought the book had a really good plot line, with the stories being set in lots of different places. Then, several years later, his publishers suggested the idea of tidying up some short stories he’d written, published as bonus features and other extras, and Secret Weapon was the end result. In my view, Smithers is the only person in MI6 who never manipulated or lied to Alex and, as his creator revealed in Scorpia Rising, there’s a lot more to Smithers than meets the eye – or do I mean a lot less?Rupert Degas's narrations are marked by his versatile and emotive voice, creating a captivating and enjoyable listening experience. It demonstrates a cynical willingness to exploit a young boy, and shows that, in essence, Alex’s whole relationship with Ian Rider was based on a series of lies, a hard lesson for him to learn and an even harder one to look back on, although there is an alternative explanation that maybe Ian was simply giving his nephew the skills needed to survive if Ian ever accidentally brings his work home. The book contains three new adventures as well as the previously published stories, and in writing those, Horowitz realised that there were still more tales he could tell, and so the series continued, and in a very satisfactory manner, too, proving that follow ups aren’t always a mistake. 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. In Alex in Afghanistan, he has to undertake a perilous journey that only someone of his age – and size – would be able to accomplish, but despite all the promises, nothing is ever simple where his missions are concerned.

After the traumatic events of Scorpia Rising, it looked very much like Alex had finally been allowed to go back to the life of an ordinary boy, moving to the States to live with his friend Sabina Pleasure and her parents. It was an exciting book and I was really keen to find out what was going to happen next and wanted to keep reading on. By submitting a review you grant us the right to display and use it in any way; please read our General Legal Notices for full details. Secret Weapon is a collection of seven explosive adventures featuring familiar and new assailants from the much-loved world of Alex Rider, including three never-before-seen stories.This book was good because I enjoyed finding out more about the character of Alex Rider and his determination to solve problems in a fearless way. And Alex’s concerns about some dubious chocolate bars lead to one of the few times he actually contacts Mrs Jones and Alan Blunt of MI6 of his own accord. There are half a dozen stories I’ve written over the years for newspapers and magazines, and they wanted to bring them together.