Nightshade (Alex Rider) Hardcover – 7 April 2020

THE GOOD,- After the dramatic events of ‘Scorpia Rising’, the sequel ‘Never Say Die’ felt a bit of a cheap cop-out to me (I appreciate some people will hold differing opinions on that!) But this is a much better attempt at ‘resetting’ the Rider series by Horowitz, with a new, interesting and most importantly different enemy to face off against.- This is one of, if not the longest, Rider story yet (haven’t checked definitively so don’t hold me to it!), but it still doesn’t felt slow or dragged out in any way. As ever, the writing is snappy, detailed and engaging all at once - one of the outstanding hallmarks of this series that keeps me coming back! - and strikes a good balance between action and those important reflective moments to understand what is going on inside Alex’s head. If anything, it could probably have done with another couple of chapters at the end but I’ll come onto that down below.- If you’ve read the previous novels (which you really must in order to enjoy this one) then it’s no secret to say that some favourite characters and locations return to play their part. This is a nice reward to loyal readers of the series! But they never feel ‘throwaway’, the plot does a good job of making all characters and settings feel important.- Finally, although I won’t spoil the ending, it leaves considerable space for a new story arc that Horowitz can develop further with some important questions still to be answered. This is important, to prevent the Rider series from feeling like it has been dragged out for money reasons only since the decision to restart again after initially planning to end after ‘Scorpia Rising’. Although the jury remains out on this decision for me (it seemed like a perfectly believable and satisfying ending), this book gives the series a new direction which Never Say Die did not (in my humble opinion!)THE BAD,- Most frustratingly for me, I guessed the plot and main answers to the ‘puzzle’ fairly early on, which left me slightly...empty of the usual thrill I get. What was left was still a very enjoyable read, with a lot of curiously about HOW it would be resolved, but something was missing in that the plot seemed more simple than usual. Which is odd given the length of the book. Now, I appreciate that I’m a long time reader, having started when the original ‘Stormbreaker’ novel came out all those years ago. So as an adult now, I have hopefully improved my ability to predict the plots of this series! But even taking this into account, I’m still left with a slight feeling Horowitz could have taken a few more chances with the overall ‘aim’ of the villain, even if the character themselves is quite interesting, as mentioned above. It’s possible this may be developed further in future books, of course!- The ending could have done with a bit more explanation in my opinion. Not because it didn’t make sense - as mentioned above, it was almost too easy to follow! - but there are a few too many important plot holes left unanswered for me. Some of these may well be dealt with in future books and it’s difficult to explain what I mean without giving away some of the plot. The best way I can find is to say that certain people seem to end up knowing key information without any explanation of how. In addition, it seems quite hard to believe NO ONE at MI6 worked out what was happening...but then again, it’s a story and the plot dictates that. Similarly, some of Alex’s stunts as ever border on the ‘Indiana Jones’ scale of incredulity, but I’m cool with this - it’s all part of the fun after all! Although I can’t help wondering just how a message hasn’t yet spread effectively throughout the crime world about a certain boy spy with fair hair...- ...which brings me nicely onto my last and probably most controversial point. As mentioned earlier, I personally felt Scorpia Rising was a good, clear ending for the series so the decision to restart again held considerable risk for me. And it still feels like the series is searching to regain earlier momentum. It’s a better attempt than Never Say Die, but there is no getting away from the fact that most of the key personal questions about Alex and his life have already been answered. AH attempts to try and deal with this by taking it in a different direction in this book and, to be fair, it’s a good effort. And maybe that’s not even important to you! But for me, the mysteries of Alex’s history in earlier books are always going to be a struggle to live up to! Also - no Smithers! Which is a big loss to the series - surely there could have been some way to bring him back?SUMMING UP...To many people, just having a new Rider book will be enough in itself. And to be fair, there’s also a part of me that is very glad to have him back also! I really enjoyed reading this book and it was a genuine struggle to put it down at times, it’s fast moving and engaging. Is it in my top 3 Alex Rider stories? No, probably not even top 5 to be honest. But it’s hovering somewhere around the middle, which is good going compared with the letdown of Never Say Die. To reboot a series after initially intending to end it so comprehensively (as admitted Horowitz himself) is no easy task. But this book is a fine attempt and continues to fuel my enthusiasm for Alex and his adventures! Well done Mr Horowitz - looking forward to the next instalment now!

Overall, Alex Rider is a great series. I've read all of the books and the ones I think are the best are Point Blanc, Scorpia, Scorpia Rising and Skeleton Key. The books are crammed to the full with adventure and plot twists, and I like the way Alex doesn't want to be a spy. Excellent stories!!The one complaint I have is that the books are getting a little too much. I think that Horowitz should stop now because the books are so good, you kinda just want to leave it at that. Every time a new book is written, I actually feel myself getting drawn away from Alex instead of closer, as new feelings are revealed along with the new plot, and thers only so much amazingness and briliance we can take!One last thing is that the last 3 or 4 books have been kind of cliche for me. I loved Russian Roulette, that was amazing, but I felt the collection of stories, although interesting, was a bit boring at the same time. But now, all the stories basically follow the same plot. Alex thinks that he and Jack are settling down to a nice peaceful summer, when along come MI6 asking him for help. They blackmail him in some way or another, Alex goes on the mission, finds out something, back to MI6 and then they all swoop in for a final showdown.As well, one thing that really annoys me is that all the bad guys have crap shots with a gun. I mean, in all the missions Alex has gone on, he's only been shot once or twice, and every time a bad guy has had a gun. That just gets to me, I don't know.Anyone reading this, I've probably put you off these books, and I'm sorry. Please don't get the impression that these aren't worth reading, I loved them. Out of all the books (are there 14?) these are just petty complaints from the whole series. I think you should get the first one, see how you do and then welcome to the world of Alex Rider!Thank you Horowitz, I love to settle down with one of your brilliant books and scare the wits out of myself as people get drowned in cement, held at gunpoint and thrown too the jellyfish!!I hope you liked this review!By Muirean, aged 12 :) :) :)

Can you believe its has been 20 yrs since the first Alex Rider book (Stormbreaker) was published and the series is still going strong.In this new instalment Alex is just returning from a trip with Jack and is looking forward to getting back to school now that he is no longer working for MI6, however on the other side of the world (in Rio) a agent of MI6 is investigating a terrorist organisation known as Nightshade who are planning a attack that is going to take place in London however he is murdered (by two teenage assassins) while he his delivering the message to MI6. However the secret service were able to capture one of the teenagers and bring him in for questioning (however they are unable to learn anything )With Mrs Jones under pressure by the ministry of defensive (who has learnt about Alex's previous cases) and who seems to have a personal connection to this case will she be able to persuade Alex to do one more mission by going into the prison where the assassin is being held, befriend him so he can learn about the attack and prevent it from happening.This is other action pack novel which has a brilliant climax (which looks like a scene from the latest Mission Impossible movie).I grow up with the Alex Rider novels and although I am no longer the target audience (now being an adult) I'm still a big fan and fully enjoy this series.Fans of the series will not be disappointment and will be carving for the next instalment.I would recommend reading some of the series past books meanly Point Blanc and Scorpia to refresh yourselves as the events of those books are covered in this book.Fully recommend this book and the series.

Slow and uninspiring. Never thought I'd end up skipping long portions of a Horrowitz book but I couldn't buy into this story. Isn't it time Alex left school and got a real job.

Son loves the series. But expensive