A great many of the details in this book are therefore based on fact but it’s fair to say that the overall picture may not be entirely accurate. So much changed between 1995 and 2000 – the approximate setting for the story – that I’ve been forced to use a certain amount of dramatic licence.
My assistant Olivia Zampi organized everything right up to the photocopying and binding. I owe a very special debt of thanks to my son Cassian, who was the first to read the manuscript and who made some enormously helpful criticisms, and to both Sarah Handley at Walker Books and Harry F at HMP Ashfield who both suggested the title. I am, as ever, grateful to Jane Winterbotham, my squeamish but incisive editor at Walker Books. Finally, my wife – Jill Green – lived through the writing of this without hiring a contract killer to have me eliminated. She must have been tempted.
Collect all the Alex Rider books:
STORMBREAKER
Alex Rider – you’re never too young to die…
POINT BLANC
High in the Alps, death waits for Alex Rider…
SKELETON KEY
Sharks. Assassins. Nuclear bombs. Alex Rider’s in deep water.
EAGLE STRIKE
Alex Rider has 90 minutes to save the world.
SCORPIA
Once stung, twice as deadly. Alex Rider wants revenge.
ARK ANGEL
He’s back – and this time there are no limits.
SNAKEHEAD
Alex Rider bites back…
CROCODILE TEARS
Alex Rider – in the jaws of death…
SCORPIA RISING
One bullet. One life.
The end starts here.
The Alex Rider graphic novels:
www.alexrider.com
www.facebook.com/alexrideruk
www.youtube.com/alexriderinsider
WELCOME TO THE DARK SIDE OF
ANTHONY HOROWITZ
BOOK ONE
He always knew he was different.
First there were the dreams.
Then the deaths began.
BOOK TWO
It began with Raven’s Gate.
But it’s not over yet.
Once again the enemy is stirring.
BOOK THREE
Darkness covers the earth.
The Old Ones have returned.
The battle must begin.
BOOK FOUR
An ancient evil is unleashed.
Five have the power to defeat it.
But one of them has been taken.
BOOK FIVE
Five Gatekeepers.
One chance to save mankind.
Chaos beckons. Oblivion awaits.
OTHER BOOKS BY ANTHONY HOROWITZ
London is dirty, distant and dangerous … but that’s where orphan Tom Falconer is heading. And he’s got a whole assortment of vicious criminals hot on his heels.
Tom is helpless and alone until he meets Moll Cutpurse, a thirteen-year-old pickpocket. Together the two of them find themselves chased across the city by the murderous Ratsey. But it’s only on the first night of a new play – The Devil and his Boy – that Tom realizes the fate of the Queen and indeed the entire country rests in his hands.
He could see it in the wicked glimmer in her eyes, in the half-turned corner of her mouth. And it was so strong, so horrible that he shivered. She was evil.
“Wickedly funny.”
“A hoot… Anthony Horowitz has created a scary and unmissable old hag.”
Daily Mail
Be careful what you wish for…
Tad Spencer has everything a boy could want – incredibly rich parents, and a whole summer ahead to enjoy however he pleases. Until one evening he makes the huge mistake of wishing he was someone else.
THE DIAMOND BROTHERS SERIES
Meet Tim Diamond, the world’s worst private detective, and his quick-thinking wisecracking younger brother Nick!
“His first job was to find some rich lady’s pedigree Siamese cat. He managed to run it over on the way to see her. The second job was a divorce case – which you may think is run-of-the-mill until I tell you that the clients were perfectly happily married until he came along… There hadn’t been a third case.”
Collect all 4 hilarious Diamond Brothers investigations!
Titles by Anthony Horowitz
The Alex Rider series:
Stormbreaker
Point Blanc
Skeleton Key
Eagle Strike
Scorpia
Ark Angel
Snakehead
Crocodile Tears
Scorpia Rising
The Power of Five (Book One): Raven’s Gate
The Power of Five (Book Two): Evil Star
The Power of Five (Book Three): Nightrise
The Power of Five (Book Four): Necropolis
The Power of Five (Book Five): Oblivion
The Devil and His Boy
Granny
Groosham Grange
Return to Groosham Grange
The Switch
More Bloody Horowitz
The Diamond Brothers books:
The Falcon’s Malteser
Public Enemy Number Two
South by South East
Four of Diamonds
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or, if real, used fictitiously. All statements, activities, stunts, descriptions, information and material of any other kind contained herein are included for entertainment purposes only and should not be relied on for accuracy or replicated as they may result in injury.
First published 2013 by Walker Books Ltd
87 Vauxhall Walk, London SE11 5HJ
Text © 2013 Stormbreaker Productions Ltd Cover design by Walker Books Ltd
Trademarks Alex Rider™; Boy with Torch Logo™ © 2013 Stormbreaker Productions Ltd
The right of Anthony Horowitz to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted or stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, taping and recording, without prior written permission from the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data:
a catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-4063-5085-2 (ePub)
www.walker.co.uk