Eagle Strike

by Anthony Horowitz

Will Alex never learn? Unlike Robert Muchamore's Cherubs, he is a reluctant agent, drawn into danger against his wishes, and for some reason, he expects a quiet life.

Of course we know better.

On holiday with the nubile Sabina Pleasure (presumably this is a throwaway children's reference to Pussy Galore), Alex runs into trouble with his old nemisis Yassen Gregorovich, provoking an interesting subplot which runs throughout the book. Unfortunately this subplot is about as believable as the main one.

The main plot involves Alex working almost on his own to find out why Yassen was trying to blow people up in the South of France. This leads him to investigate rock star and public saint Damien Cray. Cray runs a sinister technology company, more along the lines of say Dr No than Alan Sugar. In many ways, this is a rehash of Stormbreaker, but on a grander scale. Again we have the unlikely villain at the heart of the establishment, now diversifying into computer games consoles - oh, and the odd WMD, with the inevitable countdown to destruction.

As with Skeleton Key, the story flies on the detail rather than the overall premise, and in giving us an exciting adventure, Horowitz is on top form. Ultimately though, the lack of a believable conspiracy is a touch disappointing given the author's obvious skill. Cray does begin to have a human side and reasons to act as he does, but these just never get a chance to develop, so we are left with a 2-D villian who never really leaves the pages. Perhaps later adventures will involve more believable plots. You might say though, that's an adult's criticism and this is a children's book.


© Arjuna Krishna-Das 2007. This page last modified 12 March, 2007	Top