Crocodile Tears
Anthony Horowitz
Genetically changed crops are the next stage in feeding the world. But of course, they can also be the source of a plague. Alex Rider is pitted against someone that isn’t even the obvious threat. It’ll take his wits (as usual) to get out of it…
This novel gets off to a roaring start with a party and a road accident. Things seem to go back to normal then, but of course, Alex is in the middle of something before he even notices. Alex never learns. He just can’t help himself, and so he gets into trouble, and he doesn’t know if he’ll survive. But he just has to do it! MI6 chose the right person for the job.
I find myself frustrated by the usual formula of needing to use every gadget you are given! It means that I knew how things would work out. But then again, I love gadgets, and I would have been happy to see a bunch more of them! Gadgets are way more exciting than guns.
The blurb says that this is ‘his most dangerous adversary yet’, but I don’t think it is. All of the villains get a bit same-y eventually. Their motives are usually power, or money. And they all feel the need to brag about their plans! And pretend that it’s cool that it’s a 14 year old in front of them, a bright one, but still too young to make any sort of sense of most of the stuff.
It had been a while since I read the other novels in this series, but it honestly didn’t matter. This book is a stand-alone, any extra information you might need is briefed by one of the other characters. 3-4 stars from me, simply because it wasn’t that absorbing. I got it as a talking book to listen to while I worked, and it made a lovely distraction.
