Hands-down, the best book in the series. It introduces a believable and threatening new villain and actually starts showing the protagonist as a person. Exciting and engaging YA spy book.

Age range: 10-16
May be too violent for younger readers.

The 5th book in the Alex Rider series introduces us to SCORPIA, an organization that was teased at the very end of the previous novel. SCORPIA is to the Alex Rider world what SMERSH is to James Bond (or THRUSH for Man From U.N.C.L.E. fans or CHAOS for Maxwell Smart fans). It’s an international criminal organization that performs high-level operations for well-paying clients.

Alex starts this book disillusioned with MI-6 and their continuing manipulation of him. The end of the last book provided some eye-opening revelations about his family and now he’s a vulnerable teenage boy who just wants a normal life. Enter SCORPIA. Alex finds himself torn between loyalty to his father’s legacy, revenge, and trying to figure out where he belongs.

Another critical entry in the series as Alex discovers much of his family’s secrets and his own backstory. This series is really jelling into a much larger story arc than individual books would suggest. Readers should definitely start at the beginning of the series. While we still get the adrenaline-charged saving-the-world-adventure that makes these books so fun to read, this one dives a bit deeper into the character of Alex Rider. It was also nice to see the MI-6 leadership perhaps turning a corner with Alex.

The final chapter of this novel provides one of the biggest cliff hangers I’ve ever experienced in my reading life. I’m sorely tempted to peek at the first chapter of the next book immediately, just to reassure myself.

This was just as good as the other books and I loved it just as much! Alex wanted to find out about his father but scorpia will never provide the information that MI6 can.

Don't remember this one either (unless it's the one with the drowning box thing?)