Alex Rider #7: Snakehead by Anthony Horowitz

My name is Alex Rider, and I've once again been sucked into another life-threatening mission. This time, it's the Australian version of MI6, and they've given me the chance to find out about my parents. I'll be meeting my godfather for the first time, and we'll work together to bring down a human trafficking ring run by the Snakehead. All I have to do is pretend to be his son. Simple. My missions are never simple, and this one becomes more than expected, again. Things are not adding up, beginning with me fighting for my life in a caged fighting ring. It's like someone's always one step ahead of us, knowing exactly what we plan to do next. Even my secret gadgets aren't all working the way they're supposed to. How was I to know that Scorpia would reenter my life, determined to get revenge by killing me?

This book actually has Alex kind of working with a partner for the first time. I say kind of, because his godfather disappears for a good amount of time, leaving Alex to figure out how to escape the dire situations. The human trafficking takes up much of the plot, but the prologue lets you know the real conflict involves a giant bomb. The Snakehead, a powerful, worldwide criminal organization, plans to destroy an island where some influential personalities are going to meet. Alex stopped Scorpia in book five, and the Snakehead leaders have a personal vendetta against him. Just like stereotypical villain movies, the bad guys don't want to kill the protagonist right away which allows him to stop the evil plot. You will learn a little about Alex's parents, as the godfather slowly relates stories of their marriage and deaths. He's cryptic about some details, but that information will be revealed in the end. The timing and heroic feats are hard to believe, but Alex chalks those up to the luck of his bloodline. Overall, the story is entertaining and contains a lot of action. Alex spends less time sneaking around a more time actually fighting bad guys. You'll enjoy this book and the whole series if you can tolerate a teenager outthinking and outfighting mercenaries, professional assassins, and demented criminals.