What if James Bond had started spying as a teenager? This thriller pits 14-year-old Alex Rider against a mad billionaire industrialist. Non-stop action keeps the intrigue boiling as Alex tries to stop the remarkably evil Herod Sayles from murdering Britain’s schoolchildren through biological warfare. Alex begins as an innocent boy shocked by the death of his Uncle Ian in a traffic accident. Suspicious of the official explanation, he investigates and finds Ian’s car riddled with bullet holes. He narrowly escapes being crushed in the car as it’s demolished, then climbs out of a 15-story window to break into Ian’s office. He learns that Ian was a spy, and reluctantly joins Britain’s MI6 intelligence agency. After surviving brutal training and armed with stealthy spy tools, Alex infiltrates Sayles’s operation as the teenage tester of the “Stormbreaker,” a new computer Sayles is giving to British schools. Thereafter he survives murderous ATV drivers, an underwater swim in an abandoned mine, and an encounter with a Portuguese man-o-war jellyfish before hitching a ride on an already airborne plane. The plot is, of course, preposterous, but young readers won’t care as they zoom through numerous cliffhangers. This is the first book in a series planned by the author, and may prove useful for reluctant readers looking for excitement. (Fiction. 12-14)
Pub Date: May 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-399-23620-1
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
Jacques turns his storytelling talents from the world of animal fantasy to the sphere of human and animal monsters in this collection of six weird tales. The stories incorporate a variety of horror and occult tropes and/or mythological characters, e.g., conjuring gone wrong in “The Ribbajack,” a malevolent ghost in “A Smile and a Wave,” naiads in “The All Ireland Champion and the Nye Add,” a paralyzing visit from an ancient Greek in Huma D’Este, and werewolves in “Rosie’s Pet.” Sly humor and suspenseful plotting will keep readers’ interest engaged. Short poems introduce each story and an omniscient narrator leads the reader adeptly to the (mostly) surprise endings. Jacques’s leisurely approach to narrative works better at a longer length when he uses fewer literary shortcuts (the stereotype British colonial gent, the vaudeville Irish peasant), while his rendering of dialect jars less in his animal fantasies. Lovers of the Redwall and Castaways of the Flying Dutchman series will want to read these stories, which will appeal most strongly to Jacques’s fans. (Fiction. 12-14)
Pub Date: May 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-399-24220-1
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2004
This first in a new series introduces 15-year-old Rachel Buchanan, Beverly Hills princess gone bad, who turns to fighting evil. The first half of the story simply follows Rachel’s rebellion against her uncaring parents, which leads her into minor criminal activity. Then a judge sentences her to attend a strange school in Pennsylvania, where the school’s enigmatic principal, Mr. Kim, requires every student to learn Tae Kwan Do and take criminology classes. When Mr. Kim disappears, Rachel discovers a hidden, high-tech lair behind a secret door in his office. She enlists three other students to find him and uncovers an evil madman’s plot to rule the world. Though this begins as an interesting exploration of adolescent rebellion, it morphs into a trite fantasy. Despite the title, no shopping occurs in this installment. Catchy and designed to pull in the chick-lit (and Bond?) crowd, it’s a deceit of sorts; perhaps the ritual will emerge in later episodes, though by then it may be too late. (Fiction. 12-14)
Pub Date: March 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-059407-1
Page Count: 224
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2005
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