Eagle Strike is the fourth in the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz.
Alex has met several criminal masterminds in the past, but now goes out on his own when MI6 won't investigate an international pop star.
Damian Cray was a popular singer and celebrity, somewhat like Bob Geldof, who is now an international philanthropist and peace activist. He has the ear of the leaders including the US President. Who would think he was plotting to destroy the world?
While in the south of France with his friend from Skeleton Key, Sabina Pleasure, Alex narrowly misses a house bombing. His rival, the Russian killer Yassen Gregorovich is also there, and Alex finds out from him that Cray might have been behind it.
Back in London, Damian Cray is unveiling a new computer gaming system he has developed, and Alex is chosen from the crowd to test it. On his quest to find out about Cray and the system, he follows leads to Paris, and then to the factory in Holland. There are chases by assassins and high speed bike races along the way, as Alex steals the key to the computer game and Cray's plot for world domination.
Alex and Sabina discover Cray is about to launch all the nuclear missiles in the US, simultaneously, from the office of the President, and they are to be involved!
This entry has excitement from Southern France to London, Paris to Amsterdam.
It also has more guns and shooting than the others, although not by Alex. Cray's evil henchmen, including killer Yassen have no problem eliminating foes. Not a problem in a spy thriller, but a different tone I thought than the previous novels, and something to think about for younger readers.
We also learn more about Yassen, who was in the first novel Stormbreaker. He once worked with Alex's uncle and fellow spy Ian Rider, and gives a few surprising revelations to Alex.
The series is getting more complex. Although this was a slightly unrealistic story in the series, if you are a fan of computer games and bike chases through the crowded city, it was exciting.
2003 / Tradeback / 322 pages
Comments