Alex Rider's parents are both dead and he is living with his uncle, Ian Rider. When Ian dies in a car accident, Alex discovers that Ian was murdered and that Ian was a spy for MI6, similar to the CIA, in England. MI6 contacts Alex and forces him to take Ian's place on the mission he was investigating. Alex is sent to investigate Stormbreaker, a new revolutionary computer that is being given to all of the schools in England. Ian had discovered something wrong at the factory and Alex has to find out what it is. When he goes to investigate, his life is also in danger. With only seconds left, Alex stops the biohazard that is contained in the computers. There are six more books in the series. In each one, Alex works with MI6 to solve crimes and investigate unusual circumstances.
Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz
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“When the doorbell rings at three in the morning, it’s never good news…And Alex already knew. He knew from the way the police stood there, awkward and unhappy. But he also knew from the tone of their voices. Funeral voices…that was how he would describe them later. The sort of voices people use when they come to tell you that someone close to you has died. He Went to his door and opened it. He could hear the two policemen talking down in the hall, but only some of the words reached him. ‘…a car accident…called the ambulance…intensive care…nothing anyone could do…so sorry.’”
When Alex Rider learned of his uncle’s death, he was devastated. Ever since his parents died in a plane crash when he was only a few weeks old, his had been raised by his uncle, his only family left. Now what would become of him? And what about Jack Starbright? She came to London as a student, and had worked as their housekeeper and nanny in return for room and board. Would she be sent back to America? But these weren’t Alex’s only concerns. The facts about his uncle’s death just didn’t add up. “He hadn’t been wearing his seatbelt, the police said” (p. 2)—he ALWAYS wore his seatbelt—wouldn’t even drive around the corner without making Alex put his on as well. When Mr. Blunt, the chairman of the bank, showed up at the funeral, Alex’s skin began to crawl. Why was his driver carrying an automatic pistol? When he returned home, why was moving van doing skidding away from the house with EVERYTHING from Ian Rider’s home office—a room that was always locked, and Alex wasn’t even allowed in? Alex decided he HAD to see the car—the wreckage would reassure him that the accident really happened. But when he found the BMW in the junkyard sprayed with bullet holes on the driver’s side and the front seat stained with patches of dark brown, Alex was anything but reassured.
Read Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz to follow Alex Rider on this first adventure as he discovers the truth about his uncle and attempts complete Ian Rider's “007 James Bond” mission