Skeleton Key (Alex Rider Adventure) by Anthony Horowitz
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Book Reviews of Skeleton Key (Alex Rider Adventure)
Book Review: Skeleton Key
Summary: 3 Stars
Alex Rider is a 14-year-old boy turned spy by M16, the British Intelligence Agency and he has already been on two adventures: Stormbreaker and Point Blank. At the beginning of Skeleton Key, Alex is invited to be a ball boy at Wimbledon and meets a ball girl named Sabrina Pleasure. He learns that the Chinese mafia is drugging some of the players so they can bet on the winner and make money. Alex fights and stops them and soon after, Sabrina invites him on a vacation to Cornwall, where he was in his first adventure. While Alex is surfboarding, another agent from the Chinese mafia tries to kill him, Alex jumped off just in time to grab the gun and save himself while killing the agent. Sabrina saved Alex and M16 took him away to go on another mission. On this mission Alex learns that a general named Sarov from the USSR has bought a lot of weapon grade Uranium. He goes to the Island of Skeleton Key with two agents that act as his parents. In his hotel he finds out that the game boy advance that his "mother" bought for him is actually a Geiger counter that tracks down a nuclear bomb. Alex foils Sarov's plan of destroying Russia to rebuild it the way Sarov wants it to be.
Skeleton Key is not my favorite of the Alex Rider books because the book did not have a real evil villain. For example, the villain tried to adopt Alex, which led to his death. What I did like about the book is that it contained some good gadgets like a stun grenade that looks like a Tiger Woods figure, a cell phone with poison darts and another is bubble gum called bubble07. What I like about Alex Rider as a character is that he takes the aspect of a normal British 14 year old and at the same time he is like a young James Bond. He makes it seem like his adventures could really happen because the plots are similar to what is happening when the book was being written. The books' ending was disappointing because I didn't like that the bad guy had a heart and cared about Alex.
The author writes in a way that the reader is included in the book as the narrator. For example, when I read this book I felt like the narrator was me, as if my voice was narrating the story. The book uses a lot of descriptive words, which gives the book a strong setting. The dialogue is very "James Bondish". Alex is able to stay cool in many situations. The book is easy to read because the plot is interesting.
In comparing this book to the other Alex Rider books that I have finished reading, this book is my least favorite book because it doesn't have as good as a plot as the other ones and he didn't have as good of gadgets. I would still recommend it to anyone reading the Alex Rider series.
Skeleton Key is not the best of the Alex Rider books, but it is a good one. I think the author could have improved it by making a better villain and "upgrading" The gadgets. This book had a moral about fathers: The only one that's right is your real one.