After the death of the uncle who had been his guardian, fourteen-year-old Alex Rider is coerced to continue his uncle's dangerous work for Britain's intelligence agency, MI6.

Relaxing in the south of France, reluctant MI6 agent Alex Rider is finally able to feel like any ordinary fourteen-year-old -- until a sudden, ruthless attack on his hosts plunges him back into a world of violence and mystery. And this time, MI6 don't want to know. Alex is determined to track down his friends' attackers, even if he must do it alone. But it's a path that leads to a long-buried secret -- and a discovery more terrible than anything he...

"When the critic who gave his new play scathing reviews is murdered, stabbed in the heart with his ornamental dagger, author Anthony Horowitz is arrested by an old enemy out for revenge and the only man who can help him is his estranged partner in solving crime, Daniel Hawthorne."