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Alex Rider
Alex Rider Undercover: four secret files
Go undercover into the secret world of teen super-spy Alex Rider in this explosive collection of adrenaline-fuelled adventures. See Alex take action against an imminent disaster, discover the truth behind the death of his parents and get inside the mind of his arch rival, Yassen Gregorovich
115 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2020
12 people are currently reading
539 people want to read
About the author
Anthony Horowitz
345 books20.9k followersAnthony Horowitz, OBE is ranked alongside Enid Blyton and Mark A. Cooper as "The most original and best spy-kids authors of the century." (New York Times). Anthony has been writing since the age of eight, and professionally since the age of twenty. In addition to the highly successful Alex Rider books, he is also the writer and creator of award winning detective series Foyle’s War, and more recently event drama Collision, among his other television works he has written episodes for Poirot, Murder in Mind, Midsomer Murders and Murder Most Horrid. Anthony became patron to East Anglia Children’s Hospices in 2009.
On 19 January 2011, the estate of Arthur Conan Doyle announced that Horowitz was to be the writer of a new Sherlock Holmes novel, the first such effort to receive an official endorsement from them and to be entitled the House of Silk.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/anthon...
On 19 January 2011, the estate of Arthur Conan Doyle announced that Horowitz was to be the writer of a new Sherlock Holmes novel, the first such effort to receive an official endorsement from them and to be entitled the House of Silk.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/anthon...
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
July 12, 2020
Full post: https://inkandplasma.wordpress.com/20...
World Book Day 2020 is happening on March 5th! It's the 23rd annual World Book Day, and the aim is to promote reading for pleasure in children and young people in the UK and Ireland and to give them a book of their own! Around 15 million National Book Tokens are sent out to under-18s, and they can swap those tokens for either one of fifteen exclusive World Book Day books or get £1 off a full price book or ebook. There's lots of information about World Book Day and ways to get involved at their website here: https://www.worldbookday.com/about-us...
When I saw that one of the World Book Day 2020 books was an Alex Rider book, I obviously had to have it. I had a ten minute panic thinking I wouldn't be able to get hold of it, before Waterstones saved the day. I ordered it for the absolute bargain of £1, and I definitely didn't shriek like an idiot when it showed up. Onto the review!
The Man with the Wrong Shoes
Set just after Point Blanc (my review here) The Man with the Wrong Shoes is a short story about Alex causing chaos at Brooklands (what else is new) when he sees someone behaving suspiciously at the construction site that used to be the science block before Alex accidentally blew it up. With a government official and a shady individual on site, it must be time for Alex to cause trouble and nearly die!
This was a really lovely short adventure. A bit of excitement, a bit of danger and a few death-defying stunts wrapped up in a small package. I can't believe Alex's teachers ever believed for one second that he was ill with the way he behaves. He's not even sorry! MI-6 don't even put effort into covering things up! These teachers do not have enough suspicious paranoia, I swear.
Double Agent
Double Agent is a prequel, and reading it the same day I finished Snakehead is giving me chills, seeing John and Helen Rider, and Ash all in the same place? It's too much. I never thought I'd actually see that fateful day with the plane 'crash' and I'm 110% sadder for it. It's interesting to see John Rider in the 'flesh' though. I've not read Russian Roulette yet (I have literally been avoiding it since 2013, don't @ me) and it's weird to see him as a whole developed character but interesting. Maybe I'll survive Russian Roulette after all.
Metal Head
Watch me get soft about Yassen Gregorovich, paid assassin and baby-El's first weird crush. I've been avoiding Russian Roulette for seven years (as tragically mentioned above) because I knew Yassen's background would wreck me. I was not expecting to find a short story about how Yassen became an assassin. I absolutely love this character, so this story was very welcome. It didn't hurt that there's a kill in this short story that is unbelievably cool, and only Yassen could ever have pulled that off.
The White Carnation
This short story side-swiped me, wow. This was beautiful and powerful. I was already on my 'Yassen as an anti-hero' high horse before. I'm not going to go into detail, because this short story was powerful because of its ending, but this story shows Yassen as a character more three-dimensional than the generic 'assassin' he could have been left to be. He has a genuine respect for life, and to him work really is just work. That was exceedingly clear in The White Carnation, and I can't believe I've had this story in the back of my copy of Russian Roulette for years and I've never bloody read it.
This was a brilliant collection, and I'm so excited about having found it. Make sure to check out what your local bookstore is doing for World Book Day and get involved in the fun!
World Book Day 2020 is happening on March 5th! It's the 23rd annual World Book Day, and the aim is to promote reading for pleasure in children and young people in the UK and Ireland and to give them a book of their own! Around 15 million National Book Tokens are sent out to under-18s, and they can swap those tokens for either one of fifteen exclusive World Book Day books or get £1 off a full price book or ebook. There's lots of information about World Book Day and ways to get involved at their website here: https://www.worldbookday.com/about-us...
When I saw that one of the World Book Day 2020 books was an Alex Rider book, I obviously had to have it. I had a ten minute panic thinking I wouldn't be able to get hold of it, before Waterstones saved the day. I ordered it for the absolute bargain of £1, and I definitely didn't shriek like an idiot when it showed up. Onto the review!
The Man with the Wrong Shoes
Set just after Point Blanc (my review here) The Man with the Wrong Shoes is a short story about Alex causing chaos at Brooklands (what else is new) when he sees someone behaving suspiciously at the construction site that used to be the science block before Alex accidentally blew it up. With a government official and a shady individual on site, it must be time for Alex to cause trouble and nearly die!
This was a really lovely short adventure. A bit of excitement, a bit of danger and a few death-defying stunts wrapped up in a small package. I can't believe Alex's teachers ever believed for one second that he was ill with the way he behaves. He's not even sorry! MI-6 don't even put effort into covering things up! These teachers do not have enough suspicious paranoia, I swear.
Double Agent
Double Agent is a prequel, and reading it the same day I finished Snakehead is giving me chills, seeing John and Helen Rider, and Ash all in the same place? It's too much. I never thought I'd actually see that fateful day with the plane 'crash' and I'm 110% sadder for it. It's interesting to see John Rider in the 'flesh' though. I've not read Russian Roulette yet (I have literally been avoiding it since 2013, don't @ me) and it's weird to see him as a whole developed character but interesting. Maybe I'll survive Russian Roulette after all.
Metal Head
Watch me get soft about Yassen Gregorovich, paid assassin and baby-El's first weird crush. I've been avoiding Russian Roulette for seven years (as tragically mentioned above) because I knew Yassen's background would wreck me. I was not expecting to find a short story about how Yassen became an assassin. I absolutely love this character, so this story was very welcome. It didn't hurt that there's a kill in this short story that is unbelievably cool, and only Yassen could ever have pulled that off.
The White Carnation
This short story side-swiped me, wow. This was beautiful and powerful. I was already on my 'Yassen as an anti-hero' high horse before. I'm not going to go into detail, because this short story was powerful because of its ending, but this story shows Yassen as a character more three-dimensional than the generic 'assassin' he could have been left to be. He has a genuine respect for life, and to him work really is just work. That was exceedingly clear in The White Carnation, and I can't believe I've had this story in the back of my copy of Russian Roulette for years and I've never bloody read it.
This was a brilliant collection, and I'm so excited about having found it. Make sure to check out what your local bookstore is doing for World Book Day and get involved in the fun!
March 10, 2020
I enjoyed reading this book as I enjoy the Alex roder series.
March 25, 2020
The kind of short stories i like. Now i feel like re-reading the entire series, damn.
November 21, 2022
I’m a big fan of Alex rider (books, movies and the new tv show) and the series of books are a huge nostalgia trip for me. I’m still reading them into my adulthood and will always have a special place on my heart for this plucky young Special agent.
I’m also a sucker for short stories connected to books so these were a sure winner for me. It was great to have some more backstory to some of the events and characters that have been touched upon in the main set and I enjoyed them all.
We get a behind the scenes view of the fallout from Point Blanc after the events of the school explosion (poor headmaster!), a throwback to the tragedy on the plane with Alex Riders parents and two stories dedicated to our favourite love to hate Assassin gregorovitch, who I have to say, is such an interesting character with many hidden depths.
All in all it wasn’t too long too read, it was super entertaining and a must for any Alex Rider fan!
I’m also a sucker for short stories connected to books so these were a sure winner for me. It was great to have some more backstory to some of the events and characters that have been touched upon in the main set and I enjoyed them all.
We get a behind the scenes view of the fallout from Point Blanc after the events of the school explosion (poor headmaster!), a throwback to the tragedy on the plane with Alex Riders parents and two stories dedicated to our favourite love to hate Assassin gregorovitch, who I have to say, is such an interesting character with many hidden depths.
All in all it wasn’t too long too read, it was super entertaining and a must for any Alex Rider fan!
June 7, 2023
My Rating: 5/5⭐
Genre: Action, Thriller, Fiction
My Reading Dates: 6 June
Pace: Fast
My Thoughts
Overall, i really liked and enjoyed this book. I realized how much missed this series. It was a fun short read, and i love that we constantly learn more about Yassen Gegorovich. We really learn a lot about him from these short stories, and Russian Roulette. I really hope Anthony Horowitz writes more Alex Rider books. There really isn't much else to say.
It deserves 5 stars, just perfect.
Genre: Action, Thriller, Fiction
My Reading Dates: 6 June
Pace: Fast
My Thoughts
Overall, i really liked and enjoyed this book. I realized how much missed this series. It was a fun short read, and i love that we constantly learn more about Yassen Gegorovich. We really learn a lot about him from these short stories, and Russian Roulette. I really hope Anthony Horowitz writes more Alex Rider books. There really isn't much else to say.
It deserves 5 stars, just perfect.
August 20, 2021
I do not understand it if I'm being completely honest.
What I don't understand has nothing to do with the stories, more to the fact of how each Alex Rider book, including the small, mini and tiny ones, can be so good constantly. Like seriously, there is almost no dip in quality between each book.
Ok, so the book. It is good, like really good. The 1st story is, very good, but sad. It gives that bit of backstory we didn't know we needed but apparently do concerning Yassen Gregorovich's early life. We obviously have Russian Roulette, but this just adds a bit more. It just shows that Yassen Gregorovich isn't just an assassin, the bad guy, he actually has a pretty good character arc. 5/5 stars.
I'm pretty sure I'm getting the placement of each story mixed up, but here we go, onto the second story.
2nd story: So, it's good, but I cannot say as good as the 1st. Alex basically has to save a condescending idiot from being crushed at his school, which, although is good in theory, I think everyone who reads this secretly wants Alex to fail. But there we go.
As I said, I am like 99.9% sure I have got the placement of the stories mixed up, forgive me.
Other story, part of story 1: Yassen Gregorovich is back again, having to kill a man. And I'm pretty sure this is part of the 1st story, but anyway😂. Yassen must kill this man, and as he explains, he feels no personal connection to his victims, but he must kill this guy. But a horrible man from the 1st story is there as well, and he has to decide who he will shoot. He ends up doing something I think is impossible, but I won't spoil it, as it is pretty impressive.
3rd story: Ash, that guy who I basically forgot existed, is back for the tiny prequel of the ARS(Alex Rider Saga) about how Alex's parents died, but like exactly. It's quite sad, but it is very good, but read scorpia before this, it's probably a smart idea.
4th and final story: Well, here we are. To the last story. And don't get angry, but to my favourite story of the 4. It's just interesting and sad at the same time. I'm kinda spoiling this, so stop now if you don't want a spoiler: A woman asks Yassen to kill a woman, without telling him that secretly its her. Its very interesting, but it is truly amazing.
This book is great, I really recommend it, although it is short. 👍🏻👍🏻
What I don't understand has nothing to do with the stories, more to the fact of how each Alex Rider book, including the small, mini and tiny ones, can be so good constantly. Like seriously, there is almost no dip in quality between each book.
Ok, so the book. It is good, like really good. The 1st story is, very good, but sad. It gives that bit of backstory we didn't know we needed but apparently do concerning Yassen Gregorovich's early life. We obviously have Russian Roulette, but this just adds a bit more. It just shows that Yassen Gregorovich isn't just an assassin, the bad guy, he actually has a pretty good character arc. 5/5 stars.
I'm pretty sure I'm getting the placement of each story mixed up, but here we go, onto the second story.
2nd story: So, it's good, but I cannot say as good as the 1st. Alex basically has to save a condescending idiot from being crushed at his school, which, although is good in theory, I think everyone who reads this secretly wants Alex to fail. But there we go.
As I said, I am like 99.9% sure I have got the placement of the stories mixed up, forgive me.
Other story, part of story 1: Yassen Gregorovich is back again, having to kill a man. And I'm pretty sure this is part of the 1st story, but anyway😂. Yassen must kill this man, and as he explains, he feels no personal connection to his victims, but he must kill this guy. But a horrible man from the 1st story is there as well, and he has to decide who he will shoot. He ends up doing something I think is impossible, but I won't spoil it, as it is pretty impressive.
3rd story: Ash, that guy who I basically forgot existed, is back for the tiny prequel of the ARS(Alex Rider Saga) about how Alex's parents died, but like exactly. It's quite sad, but it is very good, but read scorpia before this, it's probably a smart idea.
4th and final story: Well, here we are. To the last story. And don't get angry, but to my favourite story of the 4. It's just interesting and sad at the same time. I'm kinda spoiling this, so stop now if you don't want a spoiler: A woman asks Yassen to kill a woman, without telling him that secretly its her. Its very interesting, but it is truly amazing.
This book is great, I really recommend it, although it is short. 👍🏻👍🏻
September 30, 2022
This is a good mix of short stories. The best two are the ones about Yassen Gregorovich who became one of my favourites after reading ‘Russian Roulette’. The opening story staring Alex himself, ‘The Man with the Wrong Shoes’ was a bit on the weak side but did have a nice bit of action. We then got to see a flashback with Ash and Alex’s parents which was nice in ‘Double Agent’. The final two stories ‘Metal Head’ and ‘The White Carnation’ both feature Yassen and as I have mentioned before are my favourite. We get a great twist in both of them, and it was nice to see the wider world of the Alex Rider series.
I feel somewhat at a loss now I have finished the whole series but I believe another book is getting released next year. You can always rely on Horowitz to keep the books coming.
#SeptemberShorts
2022 Goals – Series up to date/completed
I feel somewhat at a loss now I have finished the whole series but I believe another book is getting released next year. You can always rely on Horowitz to keep the books coming.
#SeptemberShorts
2022 Goals – Series up to date/completed
September 29, 2023
Awesome Alex Rider short stories! Alex is only in one of them, saving a politician. Another gives us more insight on his parents' deaths. The Last two stories are about Yassen! Idk what I like Yassen so much but....for a villain he's just so intriguing and such a badass 🙈😂. I mean.....the kill he pulled off in Metal Head, epic lol
Had to get this little Treasure on ebay, since I don't live in the UK but TOTALLY worth it 😍
Had to get this little Treasure on ebay, since I don't live in the UK but TOTALLY worth it 😍
November 21, 2022
4 simple stories that just add to the world of Alex Rider for any fan of the series. In all honesty, the first story which is actually about Alex was probably my least favorite, but the two about Yassen were very good, as his character has always interested me, and the story about Ash and Alex's parents just helps fill in some gaps from the original series.
March 6, 2020
I’ve not previously read anything from this author and I was pleasantly surprised. There is a strong James Bond esq vice going on here and I really enjoyed it. This book contains four interesting and exciting short stories. I would be interested to read more from this author now.
March 27, 2020
Wow. We've never read Alex Rider novels before so this was an excellent taster. Packed with danger and excitement this book was worth a read. 4 short stories tat dip into the world of Alex Rider. Beautiful, concise writing.
January 1, 2024
Lovely little set of short stories, I've read it between secret weapon and nightshade but could be read earlier.
I particularly enjoyed the Yassen Gregorovitch short stories, hopefully a character who will be revisited again at some point in the future.
I particularly enjoyed the Yassen Gregorovitch short stories, hopefully a character who will be revisited again at some point in the future.
January 6, 2021
All these years thinking I wanted a little glimpse of Gregorovich’s humanity...
Get it away from me!
Get it away from me!
March 25, 2021
I have only just started my read on this book, However so far I am enjoying it. I would so far recommend this Book too anyone who wants too read something that is quite Action packed.
April 15, 2021
It was great to find out more of what happens between some of the books and and to get more into the head of the great (but terrible) Yassen Gregorovich.
Read
July 25, 2021It was good
October 1, 2022
4.5*
yassen carried tbh 🙌
yassen carried tbh 🙌
April 16, 2024
It's always fun to delve into Alex Rider or even to read about events from before the original books.
September 26, 2024
A short one but a good one in characters and words filled with action read complete.
August 17, 2020
I am so excited that this year we will be getting more Alex Rider and for kids who haven’t grown up with the boy spy this was an excellent route in. I love it and always will. 5*s
August 17, 2020
Very good. A brilliant book jam-packed with thrill and full of actionated detail.
August 1, 2020
Great quick read with 4 short stories.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews