Stormbreaker.... By: Anthony Horowitz

     What a great book! I have now learned why they say you can't judge a book by it's cover. When I first picked this book up I thought, nah this is going to be some weird space alien book.... Um, totally not a space alien book! I am so excited to read all the other books in this series! Anthony Horowitz is an amazing author. He really knows how to pull in his readers and keep the suspense going!
      This book is about a boy named Alex Rider. He lives with his Uncle... Well, did live with his uncle. Due to a tragedy that occurred, his uncle died. From what Alex had always known, his uncle was a bank manager. After his uncle dies, Alex finds that he is nothing close to a bank manager. The next thing Alex knows, he is at a training camp for spies. He is supposed to go out and deal with a man named Herod Sayle. He has decided to be a "great man" and donate new computers known as the Stormbreakers to every schoolhouse. Whether this turns out to be a good or bad thing, Alex puts himself in danger and Sayle thinks it's all just a game and that he will win because Alex is just a boy. What will happen? Find out! Sit down, relax and open the pages of this wonderful book!!
     This book has a really good moral in it. I got out of it that even though kids may be less mature and not as smart as adults, they still can do just as much! For the most part, when kids set their minds to things, it will happen and they will achieve it! Us kids have just as much potential to do something and achieve it as adults do!
   In the end, this book was really good! I enjoyed it and at some points it was really hard to put down! I would highly recommend it to everybody! If you are interested in a great suspenseful read, then this is the book for you!

Catching Fire

         Firstly, I would just like to say that this is by far my favorite book ever. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins is definitely a science fiction book. The main-theme of this awesome book is its controlling government. There are some things that you need to know before you read it, though. Number one is that in the first book of this series, The Hunger Games, Peeta Mellark, and Katniss Everdeen have won the games. Number two, they have made the government angry. And when I say angry, I mean creating uprisings left and right angry. Those are the two most important points that you will need to know.

       Panem is celebrating their 75th anniversary. And, every 25 years, there is The Quarter Quell. The Quarter Quell is when the winners of every year, for the past 25 years fight to the death- literally. So against all odds, Peeta and Katniss get to go back into the arena with their mentor, Haymitch. As they fight in the arena, they find things out about the arena, and the government that will change the game for everyone.
     
       Before you read this book, you should probably read the first book. I promise, it will make a lot more sense if you do. After you read this book, there is another one called, Mockingjay. But, that's a whole different story. Out of all of the books in the series, this one is by far my favorite.

       Suzanne Collins creates a world in which it is impossible to escape. You will never want to put it down. It's that good. I think that the biggest issue this book brings up is government. If the government is good, then the rest of the society will be good, and vise versa. I loved this book so much and I could read it over and over again without getting bored. Its words captivate you into its pages without you even realizing it. This book is amazing. I give this book and A+.

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!

        The Final Hour by Andrew Klavan is the fourth and final book in the Homelanders series. In the first book the main character Charlie West goes to sleep in his bed one night and then wakes up strapped to a chair with bad guys trying to kill him. Somehow he manages to escape and call the police. The police are no help; when they come they arrest him for killing his best friend. The rest of the books up to the Final Hour are about Charlie running from the police and the bad guys and trying to get his memory back.

        In the Final Hour Charlie has managed to get most of his memory back. He now knows that he was an undercover agent for the U.S. and that the bad guys are a terrorist group called the Homelanders. The Homelanders are trying to bring down the U.S. Charlie's mission is to get into the group and bring them down from the inside. Charlie also remembers their big plan to attack America and he has one chance to stop them. If he can't, millions of innocent people will die.


        This book was great. It had tons of action and suspense. There were hardly any boring parts in this book it was just go go go. Another thing I really enjoyed about this book was that at the end of every chapter was a mini cliff hanger that kept the reader interested in the story. A large reason this book was so entertaining was that you as the reader didn't know how anything started and you have to find out so you keep turning the pages. So for these reasons I'm giving it an A.

        I do need to mention that this series and book was very violent. There were multiple scenes where people were shot or beat up. Charlie is being chased by trained killers so it's kind of expected. So if violence and blood bothers you I wouldn't suggest reading this.