STORMBREAKER

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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.

DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER

Written by Ian Fleming

Copyright © 1956 by Glidrose Productions Ltd.

Paperback
Publisher: Berkley (May, 1982)
Language: English

ISBN-0-425-05364-4



In Diamonds are Forever, part of the James Bond series by Ian Fleming, Britain' secret service agent Bond is sent to America to search for diamond smugglers in order to defend the national security and economic well-being of the United Kingdom. Bond once again teams up with his American agent friend and counterpart Felix Leiter and meets the hot, mysterious Miss Tiffany Case as he uses her to go up against the mob.

As Bond tries to infiltrate the mob, it is just a little too unbelievable to me that a stranger from England is able to get into the mob that easily. Granted there was some initial suspicion from the mob, but there was not enough suspicion for me to totally believe that he could get accepted with them even at a low level. It would seem criminals would be very cliquish and paranoid against strangers. There is a little action involved in the book, but not as action-packed as compared to today's media like the James Bond movies. Considering the title Diamonds are Forever, diamonds are hardly mentioned in the book - even if diamonds was the reason Bond was on the case. When you consider the high value of diamonds as a highly traded precious stone commodity, this is a most noticeable lack of use in the book - as diamonds have been the driving violent force behind using slave and child labor, especially in Africa, to fund the blood diamonds by dictators and revolutionary entities. I do not recall any mention of these issues being touched on in the book. It would have been interesting to see if the cliquish criminals had attatched some of the supposed supernatural lore of diamonds to their diamonds when they were dealing with them.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

Live and Let Die

Paperback
Publisher: Berkley (May 1, 1982)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0425053695

Written by Ian Fleming

Copyright © by Ian Fleming Publications Ltd, 1954



British spy James Bond, from the movie Live and Let Die, is assigned to go after Mr. Big - an aggressive Harlem gangster, who is distributing an ancient pirate treasure to fund the Soviet espionage system. Bond's assignment leads from the U.S. to Jamaica with Mr. Big's young female inquisitor Solitaire in tow, as well as Bond's CIA counterpart Felix Leiter. Bond is closer to just an ordinary man in the novel to me than the super spy that is shown in the movies, but Bond is still a dedicated professional.

Since the novel Live and Let Die was written in 1954, the book deals with the social standings of the time -which today would be considered insulting as they are very stereotypical. Granted, there is a rich cultural and religious heritage about Jamaica - but I admit that there were times that it was difficult for me to read the book because of the stereotypes of the Jamaicans and of the people of Harlem. It was hard for me to believe that characters would have acted like that during those times, however it is true that there is widespread poverty and crime in Jamaica. And I was surprised there were little references to the Numbers game in Harlem from the gangsters or of drugs. The black stereotypes reminded me of the Amos and Andy radio and TV series which was very controversial during those times and made me uncomfortable to read about as it was so sterotypical. Ian Fleming's descriptions of the exotic locations makes up for the political incorrectness of the book. In fact, the descriptions almost distracts from the story as the descriptions are quite detailed.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.