Anthony Horowitz Alex Rider Undercover: Four Secret Files - World Book Day 2020

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Lawyer-Friendly Cameo: The Prime Minister in Stormbreaker. Whilst never named, the tie-in book Alex Rider: The Mission Files states that "Education is at the heart of his government's manifesto". In Skeleton Key, General Sarov switches off the runway lights as the two people who sold him uranium are beginning to depart, then turns on a second set of runway lights which are at a different angle to the real ones (it is the middle of the night and the plane is turning as this happens, which stops the pilot from realising what has happened). This causes the plane to drive directly into a swamp while attempting to take off.

It also rips the Kid Hero trope apart, demonstrating how traumatic, psychologically scarring and generally awful the whole ordeal has been for Alex. His consistent Refusal of the Call (and MI6 frequently finding ways to twist his arm into working for them anyway) is practically a darkly humorous Running Gag as the series goes on. Although Scorpia Rising was long intended to be the series' Grand Finale, Horowitz had a change of heart whilst working on a book of short stories set in Alex's universe. He decided to revive the series with Never Say Die; the short story collection was published in 2019 as Secret Weapon. Another novel, Nightshade, was released the following year, with at least one more book in the series to come (tentatively pencilled in for 2023). Villain Decay: In-Universe example; Scorpia's credibility is seriously affected when a fourteen-year-old boy destroys two of their operations and (indirectly) kills two of their executives within a few months. The failure of their plan in Scorpia Rising results in the organisation disbanding. Let’s face it, preparation is the key to surviving the juggle of work, household and children. Ideallyyou’ll have it in your diary with a reminder set, but if that hasn’t happened (and if it had then you wouldn’t be reading this) then you’re not too late. Just don’t leave it until the night before (but if you do, skip straight to point 3)! Costumes – the survival guide

Scorpia condemned Damian Cray as a madman.However, this is a debateable example, as their comments could be based on his Utopia Justifies the Means mentality (some SCORPIA Members are implied to be involved in the Drugs trade, which Cray plotted to eradicate in Eagle Strike) as much as his crimes. Just Between You and Me: Every book. The exception is Scorpia, where Alex and the COBRA cabinet manage to work out the plan themselves. Disproportionate Retribution: In the first book, Herod Sayle planned to kill millions of innocent schoolchildren as revenge for the Prime Minister bullying him at school. Then we have Damian Cray in the fourth book, who arranged the death of a journalist who objected to the violence in his video games, and later told Alex he planned to kill him before he found out he was a spy, on the basis that Alex had done too well at what was supposed to be an extremely difficult game. And then in Scorpia Rising we have Razim, who, as a child, stabbed his nanny in the leg when she told him off for teasing his sister. Yeah, Anthony Horowitz is fond of this trope. Major Winston Yu in book seven is also pretty affable. While he's ruthless, he's almost always polite to Alex, praises him when he outwits him, and enjoys having him as an opponent; he even voted against sending a sniper to kill him at the end of Scorpia. Chekhov's Gun: Word of God stated that Smithers has had a gadget that has appeared, unknown to the reader, in every book to up to the 8th book, Crocodile Tears. This was finally revealed in Scorpia Rising, book 9. And that gadget is Smithers' own fat. In fact, he's very thin and fit but has been wearing a special suit that has made him look fat all along.

There have been eleven books in the main series, plus a prequel and a collection of short stories which are both included in the series' numbering: Stuff Blowing Up: Several of Alex's gadgets; Smithers notes when giving him the exploding pens in Crocodile Tears that he "likes his explosions". Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker (2006)". Box Office Flops. Archived from the original on 1 June 2016 . Retrieved 18 May 2016. Sayle at the end of Stormbreaker holds Alex at gunpoint while screaming at him for ruining his decades-long Evil Plan. Personalised Items are non-returnable. Some goods are non-returnable for hygiene reasons. Please note that this does not affect your statutory rights.Punny Name: Lots. Horowitz has confirmed that since the series takes a lot of inspiration from Bond, several female characters have punny names (though since this is a young adult series, obviously teen-friendly ones). Sabina Pleasure ("it's been a pleasure") is the most notable; others include Fiona Friend ("phone a friend"), Tamara Knight ("tomorrow night"), and Diana Meacher ("dying to meet you"). The beauty of Invisible Sword... dropping dead for no particular reason is definitely both cruel and unusual. Alex Rider - cool kids clothes with a gadget or two! Kids could make their own gadgets using boxes, kitchen foil etc. Julia Rothman of Scorpia also averts this, as she pointedly doesn't tell Alex what her plan is, leaving him to figure it out by himself. Although he manages to do so, Rothman is the most Genre Savvy villain of the series, and her plan ultimately fails for reasons largely beyond her control. Leeroy Jenkins: Alex sometimes veers into this, especially in between missions. It's lampshaded in book two when he causes a lot of damage with a crane. Albeit because he didn't finish what he planned and things just fell out of shape.

Sarov intends to kill millions of people by nuking a nuclear submarine repair shipyard, making it look like an accident, and blaming it on the Russian government's incompetence. Especially prevalent in Ark Angel, when the soccer player is examining himself... and spends a good deal of time complimenting his body.In May 2017, it was announced that ITV was developing a television adaptation of the Alex Rider novels. The series is being produced by Eleventh Hour Films, with Tutankhamen screenwriter and novelist Guy Burt acting as showrunner. Eleventh Hour Films is run by Horowitz's wife Jill Green. [8] Ratburger – Your child fancies the scruffy look. Perfect. Stripy t-shirt, old trousers/jeans, sunglasses if you have, scruffy hair. Russian Roulette: Vladimir Sharkovsky forces Yassen to play the game in his office. Yassen plays again, in the same office, when he comes to assassinate Sharkovsky. During the climax of Skeleton Key, Alex is only able to survive his encounter with Conrad because the latter's body is held together with metal plates, and the magnetic crane being used for the Evil Plan is in exactly the right spot to attract them.

Incident in Nice" note Also known as "Quite a Ride" (2009) (post- Point Blanc, summer. Revised version published in Secret Weapon as "High Tension") If you’re talented enough to turn your hand to sewing, be proud and enjoy it. If you have a bit of spare time or need a little bit of extra cash, let your friends know. They might be just delighted to have a saviour in their circle of friends.Cold-Blooded Torture: Subverted several times. The bad guys seem to prefer bragging about what they're going to do to their victims instead of actually doing it (see Bond Villain Stupidity). A Taste of Death" note Also known as "London Down" (2012) (post- Point Blanc, spring. Revised and expanded version published in Secret Weapon as "The Man with Eleven Fingers") Taken to its logical extreme in Skeleton Key where the villain more or less tries to adopt him and treats him like his now-dead biological son, after Alex ends up getting captured. Much of the book is the Big Bad letting (or rather, forcing) Alex to live with him in his luxury home, getting him to take part in various activities (like horse riding) and telling Alex We Can Rule Together. And dining with him, of course. He even forbids his Mooks and The Dragon from harming him (the latter glefully disobeys) When Alex finally foils his Evil Plan and puts himself at his mercy, he chooses to shoot himself rather than kill him. Point Blanc has had at least three, used on various different editions; early reprints used "Alex Rider - we need you again" (where the original just used "From the author of the bestselling Stormbreaker"), although the audiobook used "I cannot be killed, Alex - the world is already mine...", and later versions used "High in the Alps, death waits for Alex Rider".