Snakehead by Anthony Horowitz

Finally got a my hands on a copy, and dedicated the whole evening to reading it slowly and savoring it. Just fabulous. How can you not like a book that starts out with splashing down from space and being recruited by the Australian Secret Service? Throw in Alex's godfather, who was the last person to see his parents alive, a trip to Bangkok where Alex gets involved in a boxing match, and the threat of a bomb that will set off a tsunami that could kill tens of thousands of people along the coast of Australia, and you've got a real page turner. Will Alex save the day? Of course, but all the fun is in how he does it.

Packed with the gadgets we have come to love and wonderfully descriptive and clever writing, this is a worthy addition to the Alex Rider series. Horowitz has clearly done his research to make this all seem real, and somehow makes it seem plausible as well. The only thing I missed in this was some emotion from Alex. He seemed a bit cardboard in this one. There was a lot going on, but he seemed distanced from it. I know that your average teen boy is not going to miss that, but I did. Alex did think about the lonliness that the life of a spy can cause, but I didn't have as good of a grasp of his character in this one, and hope to see more in the future!