Alex Rider Graphic Novel 3: Skeleton Key - Softcover

Anthony Horowitz

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1406313483 ISBN 13: 9781406313482

Publisher: Walker Childrens Paperbacks, 2009

Synopsis

This is an explosive graphic novel adaptation of Alex Rider's third thrilling mission. Reluctant teenage superspy Alex Rider is useful to M16 in ways an adult could never be. Now they need his help once again. But a routine reconaissance mission at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships sets off a terrifying chain of events for Alex that sees him on the run from a murderous Chinese triad gang. Forced to hide out, Alex is sent to Cayo Esqueleto - Skeleton Key - an island near Cuba. Waiting for him there is General Alexei Sarov - a coldly insane Russian with explosive plans to rewrite history. Alex faces his most dangerous challenge yet. Alone, and equipped only with a handful of gadgets, Alex must outwit Sarov as the seconds tick away towards the end of the world. "Stormbreaker" - the hit 2006 movie - awakened a whole new army of Alex Rider fans, eager for more thrilling spy adventures. The follow-up to "Point Blanc: The Graphic Novel" which was selected in 2008 by the School Librarian's Association as a Riveting Read for Boys in the government's Boys into Books scheme. Featuring full-colour, Manga-style art, this graphic novel is ideal for encouraging reluctant readers.

About this title

About the Author:

Anthony Horowitz is an award-winning children's author, writer for television and creator of the phenomenal Alex Rider series. He lives in central London. Antony Johnston is an award-winning author of more than a dozen graphic novels in everything from horror to romance, and has also written video games, books and animation. He has reinvented Marvel's flagship character Wolverine for manga, and adapted many of Alan Moore's prose works into comic form. He lives in north-west England. Kanako and Yuzuro, two sisters from Japan, collaborate to produce manga-style art for comics and graphic novels. Yuzuro is an illustrator and lives in Tokyo; Kanako is a graphic designer and lives in London.

From Booklist:

Is there a single innovative moment in this graphic adaptation of Anthony Horowitz’s third novel of teen super-spy Alex Rider? Not really, no. From the “pre-credits” sequence to the Bondian gadgets, from the megalomaniacal villain with a penchant for explaining things to the nuclear bomb–defusing climax, even the most inexperienced spy-fiction reader is likely to see what’s coming next. Does the adaptation contain any real substance or insight? Oh, come now. When the orphaned 14-year-old notes that he may lack a proper family but at least he gets to sun himself in five-star hotels, you can rest assured they’ve given up human drama in favor of bang-up action set-pieces. Does it have a place in your collection? Absolutely. It will be much enjoyed by those looking for a lightweight adventure with a high body count, a propulsive (though wordy) plot, and well-choreographed action rendered in capable illustration. Such readers might also be directed to Charlie Higson’s more thoughtful and involving Young Bond series, which is due to be adapted into graphic-novel form in 2010. Grades 7-10. --Jesse Karp

About this edition

• Publisher: Walker Childrens Paperbacks
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1406313483
• ISBN 13: 9781406313482
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 176
• Illustrator: Kanako Damerum, Yuzuru Takasaki