Product Description

As fans of teen spy Alex Rider know, nothing is more fun or mind-boggling than the gadgets that time and again help free him from tight spots, such as the Game Boy that doubled as a Geiger counter in Skeleton Key. Or the CD player with the fast-spinning saw blade in Point Blank that helped free Alex from a steel-barred window. Now, for the first time, readers everywhere can glimpse the secret files and blueprints that detail each gadget. It’s almost as much fun as actually owning these techno-toys. . . .

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #299484 in Books
• Published on: 2006-04-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 56 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780399244865
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From School Library Journal
Grade 5-10-Since Alex Rider is a teenage spy, the gadget inventors must come up with various devices that someone his age would logically have in his possession. The resulting equipment includes a hand-held game console, radio mouth brace, a pizza-delivery assassin kit, etc. Each device is shown in blueprint format, with a brief explanation of its purpose. The cases in which the gadgets appeared are referenced, so readers can now visualize how Alex got out of the scrapes he got into. A glossary explains the key scientific terms used in the explanations. A must-have for fans of the adventure/mystery series.-Lynn Evarts, Sauk Prairie High School, Prairie du Sac, WI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Gr. 5-8. Horowitz, using the voice of M16 covert weapons specialist Derek Smithers, details the gadgets he developed for 14-year-old spy Alex Rider during his first five adventures. For each device Smithers clarifies the setting in which the contrivance was used, offers a detailed description of its operation, and provides a labeled schematic diagram. The inventions, engineered with wonderful kid-appeal, include a high-tensile yo-yo, a radio mouth brace, and an exploding ear stud. Smithers emphasizes that none of the M16 gadgets are deadly (Alex is, after all, still a boy), although he also describes Scorpia's pizza delivery assassin kit and the CIA Geiger counter games console. Horowitz/Smithers' frequently tongue-in-cheek commentary will remind young readers that these gadgets are still the stuff of fiction, although an appended glossary of scientific and technical terms makes it clear that the contraptions aren't that far-fetched. A sure bet for Alex Rider's many fans; classes teaching technical writing may also find this an interesting model. Kay Weisman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"Anthony Horowitz: the lion of children's literature." Michael Morpurgo, 2003-2005 Children's Laureate"

Customer Reviews

No Angel Here ...
'Scorpia' is a hard act to follow, being the best and most emotionally draining Alex Rider adventure yet, and while 'Ark Angel' reached no where near the caliber of intensity that can be found in 'Scorpia', it is still as fun as ever.

Yes people, he's back (you all thought he would be an angel ... shame), and Alex is madder than ever. After being shot by the unforgiving criminal orginization Scorpia, 'Ark Angel' picks up in a hospital where Alex is recuperating and ready once and for all to give up spywork and the heartless MI6. However, when Alex befriends the son of Russian millionaire Nikolei Drevin, Paul, in the hospital, everything changes as Alex is pulled along into another action-packed adventure after he saves Drevin's son from a high-stakes kidnapping plot. What follows are the always interesting tropical islands, rockets in space, and of course maniacal bad guys and trained killers.

As usual, this new adventure is full of Horowitz's trademark action sequences, humor, and unexpected plot turns that will keep the reader glued to their seats. Alex is still seething at MI6, but he is no where near as mad as he was in 'Scorpia'. As a character, Alex didn't do much growing, but how can he since he grew leaps and bounds in the last book? So no minus points there, but, the only problem this adventure suffers is the sometimes repetive action sequences. I know it's hard to recreate gun-shot escapes, but how many times can a bullet pass over your shoulder without taking a bit off? The essential political backdrop is there once again, and Horowitz makes it simple enough for any reader to understand. Some favorite characters make reappearences, while others don't. Mrs. Jones does not make an appearence and I hope that after her intense encounter with Alex in 'Scorpia', Horowitz has more planned for her character. While not the best in the series, readers will still love to plunge back into Alex's bond-like world and experience the reality and just plain coolness of being a teenage spy. I highly reccommend this adventure to all fans of the series and regular readers who want to know what it would really be like to be a teenage spy (no offense Carmen and Junie).

Courtesy of Teens Read Too
Before you read the review of ARK ANGEL, you need to take into account that this is the sixth book in the engaging, entertaining, action-packed adventure series starring Alex Rider. If you haven't read the first five books in the series, you'll probably want to do that before you pick up ARK ANGEL. Although it can stand on its own, you'll feel more in the loop by reading the previous books first.

ARK ANGEL picks up immediately where Scorpia (Alex Rider Adventure), book five, left off. At the end of that book, we saw Alex Rider on the ground, wounded by a sniper's bullet. For those who thought that Anthony Horowitz was planning to kill off our favorite young MI6 agent, please be assured that ARK ANGEL does not in any way imply dead. Alex is alive and relatively well, recuperating in an exclusive private hospital in London. The sniper's bullet missed his heart, instead bouncing off a rib and exiting out his arm. Now, as he's recovering in posh room nine of the hospital, he becomes friends with Paul. The same Paul that turns out to be the son of Nikolai Drevin, one of the richest men in the world.

When Alex saves Paul during a kidnapping attempt, Nikolai invites Alex to finish his recuperation at his estate. Alex soon wonders at the wisdom of being in Drevin's company, however, when he learns that an eco-terrorist group known as Force Three has threatened not only the Drevin family, but the safety of the entire world.

Nikolai Drevin's latest project, Ark Angel, is in full swing. Designed to become the first ultimate luxury hotel in outer space, it contains everything the world's richest people could want. It's also, at least according to Force Three, a threat to the environment of Earth as we know it. Now the members of the terrorist group are out to stop Ark Angel from ever opening, and they'll do anything--and everything--they can to see their mission come to completion. Even if it means hurtling the hotel back through the atmosphere and onto Earth's surface.

ARK ANGEL is another action-adventure read that will keep you turning pages right through to the end. Alex Rider has come a long way since the fourteen-year old boy roped into complying with MI6, but there's part of him that's still determined to leave the spy organization for good. Yet he knows that his skills are needed, and the unending action of ARK ANGEL show in detail why that is. You won't go wrong with any of the books in the Alex Rider series, and I can say that I'm excited about the opening of the movie Alex Rider - Operation Stormbreaker (Widescreen Edition), the first Alex Rider adventure, which is in development now.

Terrific
Oh the places you will go, Alex Rider!

Ark Angel is the latest chapter in the saga of Alex Rider. I do not want to give away too much in case you have not read the previous books but be warned, "spoilers" follow. If you have not read Alex Rider vols. 1-5 then hie yourself to a library and begin now.

Book 5 ended abruptly and very "Ian-Fleming-ly" with Alex on the ground, hit by a sniper's bullet. Ark Angel picks up soon afterwards with Alex recuperating in the hospital. There he befriends another patient, the lonely son of the multi-millionaire, Nikolei Drevin. Drevin is the developer of the Ark Angel space hotel project.

As usual, Alex is embroiled in the events that follow against his will. Only Alex, however, has the unique skills and talents to combat the evil plot and danger that unfolds.

Horowitz is at the top of his game in this sequel, the action is nonstop. The book actually contains several mini lessons in physics which make some of the predicaments almost believable. They are always fun.

While booktalking with some 5th graders, I mentioned that I had read this book and a young fan asked fearfully, "So, is Alex alright?" He cannot wait to get this book.