I’ve been a fan of Horowitz’s Alex Rider series ever since the first novel, Stormbreaker, was published in 2000. I lost track of the latest books in the series once I began university and was immersed in books for adults, but recently I have caught up with all of Alex’s adventures. He should really be thirty-something now but has only aged two years in two decades! Anyhow, I was excited to be given the opportunity to read the new instalment. I will note that you need to have read the previous book, Nightshade, because Revenge follows on from it. Ideally you’ll have read most, or all, of the series, because this would not be the one to start with.
As with all books in this series, this one is packed with clever twists, action scenes, international locations, smart dialogue and villains worthy of Bond films. Alex is known as the reluctant teenage spy but this time, he is acting of his free will because not only are the lives of thousands of people at risk from the terrorist organisation called Nightshade, there is a personal element drawing him in. He must be the luckiest character I have ever known in fiction – he is often described as being lucky – as he cheats death by a whisker many times in each book. Of course it is improbable and you need to suspend your disbelief, but there are a lot of plausible details too about security, technology and current affairs.
In summary, Nightshade Revenge might possibly be the best in the series yet. I hope it won’t be the last – after all, Horowitz did say that book 10, Russian Roulette (a brilliant prequel) was the last, and here we are at book 14, which I’ll certainly be buying in paperback to add to my collection.
Thank you to Walker Books for the digital review copy via NetGalley. The book will be published on 10th October.