It is time for me to return to one of the few series that I consider to be a favorite that is not fantasy. Skeleton Key is the third book in the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz and this book sets up an interesting precedent for young Alex. It opens with Alex at school trying to figure out how he feels about being blackmailed into being a teen spy for the English Government. However, he is quickly recruited as a volunteer to go undercover at Wimbledon as a favor for Crawley, a chief of staff for MI6, in order to investigate a weird break-in. When this ends up getting Alex on a hit list from the Chinese Triads, MI6 is forced to step in and help protect Alex. Their grand idea, loan him out to the CIA for a small role in one of their operations while MI6 works on convincing the Triads to leave him alone. Though reluctant to do so, Alex does end up agreeing to the scheme and departs England to head to Florida. Upon arriving he meets with a CIA official and two agents who explain the mission. They are meant to infiltrate the island known as Skeleton Key, near Cuba, in order to investigate General Sarov, a former Russian official. Alex’s job is to pretend to be a teenager on vacation to help the CIA agents get through customs and onto the island easier. As always with an Alex Rider mission, things quickly go off-script and Alex is left to save the world.
I really like this series, which is weird considering my tastes tend to be more toward the fantasy end of things. However, the one thing I always enjoy, regardless of genre, is a great story and this one is a great story. Just as good as the earlier books in the series. Horowitz creates a very compelling world for his teen spy, Alex Rider, but I have to admit that there are parts of it that as an adult I find slightly disturbing. The British Government, and now the United States Government, are meant to be the good guys and to protect people but this series really shines a light on the unsavory actions some of these people take in order to do that. I greatly enjoy how Alex gets caught up the thrill of the adventure but I don’t like the lack of morals that the adults show by continually putting him in those positions in the first place. Don’t get me wrong, these books are still a great story but it really helps show what that world is actually like. I think in some ways that this actually shows a higher level of realism than books about adult spies. I say that because adults who become spies typically have a certain level of choice about doing so but Alex seems to never really have a choice. The closest he comes to having a choice is between two bad options and the best of the two bad ones is to become a spy. What is really weird about this whole thing is that when I was first reading these as a kid, I don’t remember thinking about this and really only remember enjoying the mystery of what was going on. This actually happens to be one of the best elements in the series. I often feel like this series doesn’t show a lot of great characterization but it does exhibit some of the best and most detailed plotlines I have seen in a young adult series. The amount of mysterious and semi-random elements that crop up and are intricately intertwined to create this giant mystery, which never ends up being what you think it should be, is rather incredible. I am giving it four out of five stars.
I like this series and would definitely recommend it to other readers, especially young adult readers who enjoy a good mystery or thriller. At the same time, I would also encourage them to really think about what kinds of things actually take place in the world of spies and espionage as this book series really paints a potentially negative light on certain elements of that world. That being said it is still a great story and one that I greatly enjoy. Now this series is primarily aimed at young adults and teenagers which makes sense as Alex is still a teenager during these books. Despite that I think that this series would probably hold a certain level of appeal for adults who enjoy books about spies and espionage as well. However, I would not recommend it for younger readers as the books are a little on the dark side and do contain violence. Only natural considering their thematic content but still something to be aware of. If you happen to try the series feel free to share your thoughts in the comments as I am perpetually curious about what everyone else thinks of some of these books.