Alex Rider is back again in another exciting installment of his adventures while trying to figure out his place in the world. In Anthony Horowitz’s latest novel, Never Say Die, the reader picks up with Alex right where the previous novel left off. However, Alex is anthing but settled and is determined to figure out what exactly went wrong. In his determination to figure it out, he sets off to travel half-way around the world in search for answers. Just as he thinks he’s on to something, he finds himself deeply involved in a much bigger, international mess.
This next installment in The Mission Files continues the exciting teenage James Bond-like, spy/adventure/thriller novel that Anthony Horowitz has become known for. It is action-packed and full of exciting, nail-biting moments that keep the reader engaged and wanting to know what happens next. If you are looking for an exciting spy novel, or know of a teenage boy who loves action and adventure, Never Say Die (as well as the entire Mission Files series) is a novel you should check out.
Review of an Advance Uncorrected Galley provided by the Publisher
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Content Analysis:
Profanity/Language: 1 religious exclamation; 3 mild obscenities.
Violence/Gore: Mention of someone having been in a drunken fight resulting in someone ending up in the hospital; person shoots 2 people with needles tipped with a deadly toxin instantly killing them; mention of character having a nightmare of an event from a previous novel where they are tied to a chair and forced to watch someone they care about get killed (no details given); character imagines using his martial arts skills to stand up to a school bully; character remembers seeing another person with a bloody nose because of school bullies; 2 bullies pick on a younger kid, hitting his hand and knocking his ice cream cone to the ground; bully comes at character with a knife, character defends himself and bully ends up cutting the other bully; bully tries to punch character but ends up hitting metal post and breaking his fingers; person told to rough someone up; haracter pushes car door into someone causing them to fall; character remembers being guarded by men pointing machine guns at him; character attacked by man with a knife; man hit in head with a cannon ball thrown by another person; man hit in head with an object; character picks another person knocking him out; person shot and killed; person attacks another person with a knife; mention of someone having killed their own father; character shot with a drug-tipped neeedle; character tackles another person; person tries to strangle another person; person hits another person over the head with a lamp and knocks them out; character sees another person get hit by gunfire; secondhand account of 2 children pushing their nanny out a 3 story window to her death; brief description of person being killed by wire going up their nose; character knocked unconscious by blow to the head; mention of 2 people almost being assassinated by machine gun; character has to listen to 2 people talk about how they are going to kill him; person threatens to shoot someone in the knee; person chained to something heavy and tossed into the ocean; person stabs another person with a nail in the neck; 48 children are kidnapped and threatened with death; person threatens to kill someone if they don’t answer questions; person is killed with cyanide poison; report of someone killing 4 people; person killed by explosion; bus full of children shot at by men with machine guns; character recalls hit in the head; person knocked out with metal tray; person tackles a person that has a gun; person is shot and killed (one paragraph description).
Sex/Nudity: None
Mature Subject Matter:
Death, murder, bullying.
Alcohol / Drug Use:
Mention of someone getting in a drunken fight; someone’s teeth described as being discolored by wine and cigarettes; 3 people said to be smoking cigarettes; man smokes cigar; person described as having drunk too much wine; person said to have been smoking a drug since they were 12 years old; person drugged another person by putting something in their tea.
