The Alex Rider Collection (3 Books) (Alex Rider Adventure)
by Anthony Horowitz
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Book Summary Information
Author: Anthony HorowitzBrand: Speak
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-09-11
ISBN: 0142412511
Number of pages: 912
Publisher: Speak
Book Reviews of The Alex Rider Collection (3 Books) (Alex Rider Adventure)
Book Review: All show, no substance
Summary: 2 Stars
I read the reviews here and purchased the 3-volume set for my son (11). I guess I hadn't understood what the reviews were telling me: this is literally James Bond in a 14-year old body.
The stories each have a unidimensional (and unrealistic) plot, whose purpose is to act as the rope upon which to string a non-stop series of escape scenes, one more fantastic than the next.
You remember how the Hardy Boys books end each chapter with a suspenseful line to get you going to the next chapter? Alex Rider ends every paragraph that way. Do you think I'm exaggerating? Here's a sample from just one section of one book:
No sooner does the boy wake up after a nighttime ride in an armored truck full of bioterrorism vials than he is attacked in a field (for no clear reason) by a pair of ATVs wielding guns, fishing wire, and flame-throwers (I think). He escapes with an ATV and enough energy to get to the library to pick up a secret map of the underground mines, through which he makes his way in a wetsuit, holding his breath and a rope (will he survive?!) to find the secret hiding place. Where he is shot at by guards. He escapes only to have knives thrown at him before being thrown into a tank with a deadly jellyfish. Fortunately, he gets out of the tank (accidentally killing one of the villains) and climbs into an airplane -- in flight, from the outside -- from which he parachutes down into the Prime Minister's press event, saving the world with half a second to spare. Oh, he could have called for help from M16 (British secret service), but it never seems quite the right moment.
Spare me.
Yes, the books are page-turners. But there is little actual plot, and literally no characterization. After reading three books, I can tell you nothing about this boy's personality (well, other than that he seems pretty reckless. Climbing out a 15th-story window to leap from sill to flagpole to sill just to satisfy his curiosity as to what's in the next office?). There is not a single relationship, no personal challenge to be overcome.
These books will leave you breathless, but with nothing else to take along with you. If you have a boy who only likes action flicks and you're trying to get him to read something -- anything! please! -- than these are the books for you. If not, then you'll want to go find some other great books for boys with a little more meat to them.
A disappointment. One of the few books I've bought in a lifetime of reading that I'll try to sell.
Summary of The Alex Rider Collection (3 Books) (Alex Rider Adventure)
The first three thrilling Alex Rider adventures, packaged together in a deluxe box set! Anthony Horowitz?s New York Times bestselling series is the gold standard for modern action-adventure novels, and these first three edge-of-your-seat novels? Stormbreaker, Point Blank, and Skeleton Key?are must-haves for every Alex Rider fan!Teens Books
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