Stormbreaker

When Alex Rider is told his uncle died because he didn't have his seat belt done up, he doesn't believe it. When he finds his uncle's car ridden with bullet holes, he's pulled into a world straight out of James Bond. His uncle's employers, the Special Operations Division of MI-6, blackmail the 14-year-old into taking over his uncle's mission, sending him into dangers he couldn't possibly predict. Nathaniel Parker's narration is precise and even. His BBC announcer tones provide the story with an English background that allows the listener to concentrate on the cliff-hanger adventures, special toys, and frightening henchman particular to the British spy genre. This case is an intrigue suitable for the whole family. E.J.F. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine

May 21, 2001
Readers will cheer for Alex Rider, the 14-year-old hero of British author Horowitz's spy thriller (the first in a projected series). When his guardian and uncle, Ian, is mysteriously killed, Alex discovers that his uncle was not the bank vice-president he purported to be, but rather a spy for the British government. Now the government wants Alex to take over his uncle's mission: investigating Sayle Enterprises, the makers of a revolutionary computer called Stormbreaker. The company's head plans to donate one to every secondary school in England, but his dealings with unfriendly countries and Ian Rider's murder have brought him under suspicion. Posing as a teenage computer whiz who's won a Stormbreaker promotional contest, Alex enters the factory and immediately finds clues from his uncle. Satirical names abound (e.g., Mr. Grin, Mr. Sayle's brutish butler, is so named for the scars he received from a circus knife-throwing act gone wrong) and the hard-boiled language is equally outrageous ("It was a soft gray night with a half-moon forming a perfect D
in the sky. D
for what, Alex wondered. Danger? Discovery? Or disaster?"). These exaggerations only add to the fun, as do the creative gadgets that Alex uses, including a metal-munching cream described as "Zit-Clean. For Healthier Skin." The ultimate mystery may be a bit of a letdown, but that won't stop readers from racing through Alex's adventures, from a high-speed bike chase to a death-defying dance with a Portuguese man-of-war. The audience will stay tuned for his next assignment, Point Blanc,
due out spring 2002. Ages 10-up.