Skeleton Key by Anthony Horowitz

      Alex Rider returns in the third installment of the Alex Rider series. For those of you who don't know the story so far, let me get you up to speed.
      Alex Rider lives in Great Britain in the modern age. He lived with his uncle, Ian Rider, due to his parents' death, and their housekeeper, Jack Starbright. Well, he used to. He still lives in Great Britain, but things have changed. Ian Rider was shot and killed, and up until his death, Alex had no idea that Ian worked for MI6, Britain's Intelligence agency. That explained the long trips that Ian always took. Ian had raised Alex teaching him skills he needed for spy work. Now, Alex works with MI6, though he despises doing it. He has definitely proved himself useful after saving the world - twice - from madmen.
      Now he must do it again. General Alexei Sarov, a Russian general, purchased uranium for a nuclear weapon, though no one knows for sure what he will use it for - or if he even HAS a nuclear weapon. Working with two CIA agents, Alex must pose with the agents as a family to enter Skeleton Key, a Cuban island where Sarov resides. Time is running thin as Sarov's plans with the nuclear weapon draw nearer to a conclusion...
      Stormbreaker, book 1, and Point Blank, book 2, were both far from a disappointment. Book 3 was better than both of them. Horowitz was able to quickly draw me into the story with a gripping introduction to the book. All the way through the book, every chapter except for the first 3, maybe, tensed, forcing me to keep reading. With some action packed in every chapter, how can you not continue? Horowitz's skill to build rising action is phenomenal. It very gradually built higher and higher until the book ended with a huge bang. The penultimate chapter ends leaving the reader hanging on a cliff, but brings them back up, so to speak, in the conclusion.
      There was one major flaw in the book, though. For the third time in a row, Horowitz has focused the theme on one person basically wanting to rule the world. Stormbreaker - it was a man who wanted revenge, and to be able to rule the world. Point Blank - Dr. Grief, doing something quite strange, in order to take over all of the large corporations of the world. And now, Skeleton Key, with Sarov ALSO wanting revenge on an entire country and the ability to rule the world. I sure hope that Eagle Strike, book 4, isn't like that...
      Despite its one flaw in the theme, the benefit, like previous Alex Rider book, far outweighs the negative. I'd give this book an A-, due to the repetetive theme. Otherwise, this book was fantastic, and I highly reccommend it to eager readers and not-so-eager readers alike. A job well done yet again. Nice, Horowitz!