Stormbreaker is an exciting spy novel about a fourteen year old boy named Alex Rider who becomes a spy for the MI6, the intelligence part of the British government. It is an extraordinary tale of high tech gadgets, high speed chases, giant man killing jelly fish, secret codes and underground secrets.
Alex Rider lead the life of any teenaged boy in modern England, that is, until his Uncle Ian Rider, the man who had raised him, died. He had “supposedly” died in a car accident, but Alex knew better. After inspecting the car to find out the truth, he discovers bullet holes all over the driver’s side of the car, which definitely invoke Alex’s curiosity.

The next day, a man from the bank that his Uncle worked at, came to take Alex there to settle his uncle’s estate. The man took him by his Uncle’s office, and told him to go into his office which was next door. When the man left to go to the lobby, Alex decided he had to get into his Uncle’s office, no matter what. After further inspection of the room, he saw the open window and the flag pole with the British flag flying on it. Alex climbs out onto the window sill, and jumps for the pole, but misses and gets the flag
instead. Alex gracefully, but with some difficulty, climbed up the pole, and jumped onto the ledge into the office. He then opened the drawers of his uncle’s desk to find files on something called a storm-breaker, nerve poison, and assassinations; things no one would expect to find in a bank.

Unknown to him, Alan Blunt, head of MI6 had been watching him this entire time along with Mrs. Jones, another spy. They were amazed at his actions, and at once decided he had to join the MI6. They went to the office, and as Alex yelled questions at them, they shot him with a stun gun.

After a day, Alex woke up in a house where he met Alan Blunt and Mrs. Jones. They explained to him about his uncle, and about a mission they wanted him to do. It was the one that had gotten his uncle killed, but they thought he could handle it. It had to do with Herod Sayle, a computer designer. He was going to release these super fast computers called Stormbreakers, and he was giving one to each school in England. They doubted he was just being generous. They knew he had contacts in foreign countries and had a private army. This seemed to implement he had something to hide. They knew that since Sayle had Ian Rider killed, something suspicious was really up. They suspected Yassen Gregorovich, an assassin for hire to be Ian‘s killer. They also knew that they had to send in another agent, but he would be expecting that. So the MI6 had to send one in that he wouldn’t expect: a teenaged boy. Alex goes in undercover as the boy who won a computer magazine contest to be the first one to try out the computers.

The MI6 equips him with state of the art technology to help him on his mission, things no one would think of as suspicious for a boy to have: a yo-yo, a gameboy, and a tube of facial cream. The yo-yo was actually a rappelling device that could be used to climb up buildings by hooking the string to his belt, throwing the yo-yo part up and catching it on something, then pressing a button that would slowly propel him upward. The second was a gameboy color, that not only played games, but could also unlock features in the game packs made for him, including a smoke screen, a scanner and communicator, and a bug detector. The cream, labeled Zit-Clean, was a substance that was not harmful to humans and could actually melt metal. After getting his “toys” and spending two weeks at a training camp that almost literally killed him, Alex was ready to enter the Sayle Mansion.

After almost blowing his cover when he got there, saying his name was Alex, everything went well after that. Alex met Sayle and his strange butler Mr. Grin. He also showed Alex his giant Portuguese man-of-war, a jellyfish he kept in his study as a pet.

He was allowed to use a Stormbreaker. It was the nicest computer he had ever seen, but Alex knew he was there to investigate, not play games. He had been left in the room by himself, so he decided to explore the mansion, and look for clues about his uncle’s death. When he went down the hall, Alex met no one until he got to these stairs, which he went down. He stood outside a door at the bottom of them, and used his gameboy to see though the door. Inside, he could see people moving around and some sort of equipment. Nadia Vole, the woman who had taken him to the computer, found him outside the door. Alex told her he was looking for the bathroom, and had gotten lost.

The next morning, after watching the delivery of some mysterious metal cases by Yassen Gregorovich, Alex realized he had made a mistake. Sayle suggested to him to take a walk because he had to get the computers ready to be shipped, considering his dedication ceremony where the Prime Minster would press a button to activate the computers was only a day away. As he walked across the field, he heard something behind him. As Alex quickly turned around he saw two four-wheelers headed straight for him with deadly cheese wire strung between them.

How will Alex escape the men on the four-wheelers with nothing to defend himself? And even if he does, how can he escape the grasps of Sayle’s poisonous pet? Can he stop Herod Sayle before he activates the computers, and uses them to destroy Great Britain? To discover the answer to these, and many more questions, read the action packed adventure Stormbreaker. Remember, you’re never to young to die…