Skeleton Key by Anthony Horowitz (Alex Rider #3)

After being sent to Wimbledon to check into a suspicious turn of events, Alex is put out on loan to the U.S. CIA for his protection and to provide cover for two CIA agents. Sent to Cuba to act as the son, Alex soon finds himself embroiled in the plans of a Russian general.

I am enjoying this series. Alex is a good kid and a terrific spy albeit a reluctant one. But he is so good at it that MI6 keeps using him and this time the CIA asks to "borrow" Alex to help get their agents onto an island with a lot of security. There is some contrivence with the Wimbledon tournament to get Alex into the position where he has to leave the country for a while but the main plot involves the Russian general.

I'm noticing that the villians tend to have a second in command that is hard for Alex to beat but eventually he outsmarts them and wins. In this book it is Conrad, an assassin whose been stitched together after being caught in a bomb detonation. I can't say there were any surprises with the ending but there was one surprise with the CIA agents so that made it more interesting. Also interesting is the addition of Alex's new friend, Sabina. She is a great character and I hope she shows up more in the series.

Alex Rider
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