Skeleton Key by Anthony Horowitz

Winner of the Red House Children's Book Award

"Horowitz has become a writer who converts boys to reading." The Sunday Times

"Done with enormous style, fun and suspense. Wannabe James Bonds will be completely hooked and eager for more."

The Guardian

'Night came quickly to Skeleton Key. The sun hovered brifly on the horizon,then dipped below. At once the clouds rolled in - First red, then mauve, silver, green and black as if all the colours in the world were being sucked into a vast melting pot. A single frigate bird soared over the mangroves, its own colours lost in the chaos behind it. The air hung close. Rain hung waiting. There was going to be a storm...'

Teenage superspy Alex Rider is enlisted by the national security services again - this time for a routine reconnaissance mission at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships.

But before long, Alex finds himself caught up in a terrifying chain of events that leads from the Chinese Triad gangs in London to an undercover assignment in Cuba.

Alex begins to make chilling links between suspicious deaths, an illegal nuclear weapons deal and the plans of his host, Russian General Sarov, for the future of the world...

Find out more about the book at the Alex Rider website by clicking here...

About the Author

I had always wanted to write a modern 'teenager saves the world' story. It was a recurring fantasy when I was at school that I wasn't a bored thirteen year old stuck in a gruesome north London prep school, but that I was, in reality, an MI6 agent.

At he same time, I wanted to make my story seem very credible. So I've researched everything from the rudiments of SAS training to remaing in a car until the very last moment before it's crushed in a breaker's yard, and I get my thirteen year old son Nicholas to try out things like diving and snowboarding!

Anthony Horowitz is a popular and prolific children's writer, whose books now sell in more than a dozen countries around the world. He has won numerous prizes for his books which include Stormbreaker, Point Blanc (shortlisted for the 2001 Children's Book Award) and both reviewed on this site as well as Eagle Strike and Scorpia. Anthony also writes extensively for TV. He lives in north London.

Watch Anthony Horowitz interviewed for readingzone.com