Scorpia (novel): Difference between revisions
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==Plot Summary== |
==Plot Summary== |
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In a secret meeting room of |
In a secret meeting room of criminal organization SCORPIA [[Julia Rothman]] gives a briefing of the latest project, codenamed "Invisible Sword." SCORPIA has devised a plan to kill all schoolchildren aged 12 and 14 in [[Great Britain]]. |
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[[Alex Rider (character)|Alex Rider]] is on a trip with his friend [[Tom Harris]] in [[Venice]]. With the help of Tom, Alex manages to sneak into Rothman's party, infiltrating her office. He overhears a conversation between Rothman and Dr. Harold Liebermann, the executive of a pharmaceutical company Consanto.Nile, a SCORPIA assassin, enters, asking Alex why he is there; Alex only discloses his name. Nile places him in a water chamber, leaving him to drown. Alex escapes and takes a train with Tom to visit Tom's brother, Jerry. |
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Jerry Harris |
Jerry Harris agrees to help Alex infiltrate Consanto Enterprises. Alex infiltrates the building. He is spotted by Dr. Liebermann, who is about to call security; Nile shows up and kills Liebermann. Nile then rigs the facility to explode and takes Alex to see Rothman. |
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Rothman meets Alex for dinner, and offers to have him join SCORPIA. She tells Alex she was falling in love with his father, [[John Rider]], when he was with SCORPIA. Alex tells her he does not want to join SCORPIA, but would like to know the truth about his father's death. Rothman shows him the video of his father's death, which was an assassination. She tells Alex that his father was an esteemed officer in the [[Parachute Regiment (United Kingdom)|Parachute Regiment]] until he killed a man in a bar. He served a year in prison for manslaughter and was dishonourably discharged from the army. SCORPIA became interested in John's services and hired him as an assassin and teacher at their training school on the island of [[Malagosto]]. Rider killed several men, and taught countless other assassins. However, Rothman tells him he was captured by [[Secret Intelligence Service|MI6]] as part of a trap in [[Malta]]. |
Rothman meets Alex for dinner, and offers to have him join SCORPIA. She tells Alex she was falling in love with his father, [[John Rider]], when he was with SCORPIA. Alex tells her he does not want to join SCORPIA, but would like to know the truth about his father's death. Rothman shows him the video of his father's death, which was an assassination. She tells Alex that his father was an esteemed officer in the [[Parachute Regiment (United Kingdom)|Parachute Regiment]] until he killed a man in a bar. He served a year in prison for manslaughter and was dishonourably discharged from the army. SCORPIA became interested in John's services and hired him as an assassin and teacher at their training school on the island of [[Malagosto]]. Rider killed several men, and taught countless other assassins. However, Rothman tells him he was captured by [[Secret Intelligence Service|MI6]] as part of a trap in [[Malta]]. |
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Revision as of 05:01, 15 August 2008
| First edition cover Scorpia Cover | |
| Author | Anthony Horowitz |
|---|---|
| Original title | action |
| Language | English |
| Series | Alex Rider series |
| Genre | Adventure, Spy novel |
| Publisher | Walker Books (UK) |
Publication date | 1 April 2004 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 312 pp (first edition, paperback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-7445-8323-3 (first edition, paperback) Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character |
| Preceded by | Eagle Strike |
| Followed by | Ark Angel |
Scorpia is the fifth book in the Alex Rider series written by British author Anthony Horowitz. The book was released in the United Kingdom on April 1, 2004 and in the United States on March 17, 2005. It takes place several weeks after the events of fourth book, Eagle Strike, and up to nine days before the sixth, Ark Angel.
Official summary
Walker Books plot synopsis:[1]
Still reeling from the terrible discovery he has made about his father, teenage MI6 spy, Alex Rider, is determined to find out more. Traveling to Venice, he manages to infiltrate the glamorous world of Julia Rothman, beautiful society hostess and member of the international criminal organization, Scorpia. Rothman reveals that Alex’s father was murdered by MI6, in an operation masterminded by Head of Special Operations, Mrs Jones. Shocked and mad, Alex faces a choice: to continue to work with the British security services, or to become an agent for Scorpia and get revenge,
Plot Summary
In a secret meeting room of criminal organization SCORPIA Julia Rothman gives a briefing of the latest project, codenamed "Invisible Sword." SCORPIA has devised a plan to kill all schoolchildren aged 12 and 14 in Great Britain.
Alex Rider is on a trip with his friend Tom Harris in Venice. With the help of Tom, Alex manages to sneak into Rothman's party, infiltrating her office. He overhears a conversation between Rothman and Dr. Harold Liebermann, the executive of a pharmaceutical company Consanto.Nile, a SCORPIA assassin, enters, asking Alex why he is there; Alex only discloses his name. Nile places him in a water chamber, leaving him to drown. Alex escapes and takes a train with Tom to visit Tom's brother, Jerry.
Jerry Harris agrees to help Alex infiltrate Consanto Enterprises. Alex infiltrates the building. He is spotted by Dr. Liebermann, who is about to call security; Nile shows up and kills Liebermann. Nile then rigs the facility to explode and takes Alex to see Rothman.
Rothman meets Alex for dinner, and offers to have him join SCORPIA. She tells Alex she was falling in love with his father, John Rider, when he was with SCORPIA. Alex tells her he does not want to join SCORPIA, but would like to know the truth about his father's death. Rothman shows him the video of his father's death, which was an assassination. She tells Alex that his father was an esteemed officer in the Parachute Regiment until he killed a man in a bar. He served a year in prison for manslaughter and was dishonourably discharged from the army. SCORPIA became interested in John's services and hired him as an assassin and teacher at their training school on the island of Malagosto. Rider killed several men, and taught countless other assassins. However, Rothman tells him he was captured by MI6 as part of a trap in Malta.
MI6, however, offered John back in exchange for a normal citezen's son who SCORPIA had held ransom and was intending to murder brutally. SCORPIA accepted, and an exchange was arranged at the Albert Bridge in London. But MI6 double-crossed SCORPIA and a sniper shot John in the back as he was crossing the bridge. Rothman shows Alex that Mrs. Jones, deputy head of MI6 Covert Operations and sent Alex on several missions, issued the order for the assassination of John. Upon hearing this, Alex decides to join SCORPIA.
Alex begins training at SCORPIA's school but tells its principal he does not have the instinct to kill and he will be unable to be an assassin. This is proven in his tests. To fix this, Rothman and D'Arc send Alex on a mission to murder Mrs. Jones. SCORPIA adds that they have arranged for the murder of the English reserve soccer team as a demonstration. The Invisible Sword is used andthe team drops dead upon arrival at London Heathrow Airport. SCORPIA takes advantage of the resulting panic in order to sneak Alex back into England.
Alex infiltrates Mrs. Jones' apartment. But when he sees Mrs. Jones, he hesitates, and Mrs. Jones attempts to talk him out of it. He finally fires at her head, however the bullet hits a large pane of bulletproof glass. Alex is arrested and taken to see Alan Blunt. Later on it is discovered that at the last moment Alex aimed the gun away. Blunt takes Alex to a Cabinet Office meeting to tell him of Invisible Sword. It is determined during the meeting that Scorpia had embedded nanoshells into the bloodstream of the soccer players while they were in Nigeria. The nanoshells were hidden in vaccinations, and contained a lethal amount of cyanide which would be activated by satellite dishes. It is determined Scorpia will use the same method to kill schoolchildren. They begin a search for unlicensed satellite dishes, but MI6 is skeptical of such an obvious plan.
Knowing the satellite dishes were a decoy, MI6 sends Alex back to to infiltrate SCORPIA. Alex realizes he himself was injected with the nanoshells during an inspection by a SCORPIA doctor. Mrs. Rothman thinks Alex should witness the conclusion of Invisible Sword, and takes him to an abandoned church. Alex sees the satellites are concealed in a balloon, and must be activated at a height of 1000 feet in order to work. Alex accidentally blows his cover. However, she refrains from killing him, letting the nanoshells do their work instead. The SAS arrives, and Alex makes his escape in the balloon. Mrs. Rothman orders Nile to follow him,. Alex and Nile reach the top of the balloon as it reaches 100 metres. Alex uses the burner to force Nile off. The satellites are damaged by the fire and the balloon plummets, saving the schoolchildren. The satellites fall and hit Mrs. Rothman just as she is escaping.
Alex is debriefed by MI6, and learns that his father was in fact a mole in SCORPIA, and his crimes had been staged. MI6 decided to pull him out after Mrs. Rothman fell in love with him. Jones tells him John came up with the idea of staging his own assassination. MI6 gave John and Helen a vacation to France shortly afterwards, but Alex had an ear infection at the last second. Mrs. Rothman somehow found out John was with MI6 and was still alive, and arranged for a bomb to be placed on the plane. As Alex steps out onto the street, he is shot, and appears to be dead.
Reception
Booklist said, "Alex goes from thrilling adventure to improbable escape one quick-turning page after the other. High-tech and low-tech machinations will rivet readers. One book, and they'll be hooked!" SLJ said, "Alex Rider brings readers to the edge of their seats and keeps them there until the final page." The Bibliophage said, "Scorpia is not the best Alex Rider book. It is good, but there are many far-fetched scenes....I would recommend this book, but it is not the same Alex Rider adventure as the previous four."[2]
See also
External links
- ^ "Scorpia" (PDF). Walker Books website. Retrieved 2007-05-22.
- ^ The Bibliophage: Mission: Accomplished