ALEX RIDER - POINT BLANK

PUFFIN BOOKS

Written by Anthony Horowitz

Copyright Anthony Horowitz, 2001

All rights reserved



In Point Blank, the second book in the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz, some billionaires have been mysteriously killed and orphaned Alex Rider is sent by MI6 - the British Secret Intelligence Service - to infiltrate a school in the snow-covered French Alps that is a school for these malcontent children of these high profile industry businessmen in order to find out why they are being killed.

Alex is brought by helicopter to Point Blanc by Mrs. Stellenbosch, the co-director of the Point Blanc Academy for young men. While at the Academy, Alex meets the students at the Academy which includes James - who wants to escape from the Academy. After sneaking out of his room, Alex sees a boy being dragged downstairs and believes it to be James. The next day, Alex sees James - whose attitude towards escaping the Academy have changed. James has become just like all the other robotic students at the Academy.

Alex soon finds out the sinister truth about the Academy - that the Academy is targeting these young men - and signals MI6 for help.

What I did not like was that the head of MI6, Alan Blunt, refuses to have his people go in on the Academy immediately - thus risking Alex's life. But I did like that when a team of SAS - Special Air Service - soldiers is finally sent out to liberate the school, the team is lead by Alex's former SAS trainer Wolf.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

STORMBREAKER

speak
An Imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

Written by Anthony Horowitz

Copyright © 2000 by Anthony Horowitz, All rights reserved




In Stormbreaker, written by Anthony Horowitz, the British banker uncle of teenager Alex Rider is killed. Alex soon discovers that his uncle was not just killed in a car accident - but was murdered. His uncle's boss, Alan Blunt, then has Alex brought into "The Firm" and recruits teenaged Alex for something completely unexpected - as being an agent for Britain's Secret Intelligence Service - MI6.

The first of the young adult Alex Rider series, Alex, with his talent as a martial artist, is blackmailed by Blunt into now completing the counter terrorism mission Alex's secret agent uncle was on - finding out why a philanthropist, who is distributing new computers to schools across the country, had his uncle killed.

Of course, Alex was completely in the dark about his uncle's true occupation as an agent and was totally in shock about all of this. Alan Blunt, as the Chief of MI6 Secret Intelligence Service, is ruthless in that he blackmails teenager Alex and Alex's skills as a martial artist into being an agent for MI6, when Alex really is just a kid. Blunt really does not care about Alex as he sees and only uses Alex as a tool to be used for Her Majesty's Government's national security and economic well-being. Making Alex as a tool does not necessariliy gaurentee him to be a good intelligence officer - although he is - but Blunt does not seem to care.  Blunt also does not seem to be aware of, or care of, the political fallout to him and the agency if the news of Blunt using a kid as an agent for MI6 ever gets out to the public. You want Alex to be so good at his mission and confront the man who had killed his uncle - so that at the end of all this adventure, Alex can be justified in telling Blunt off and to go shove it so that Alex can go home and live out his life in peace.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.