Skeleton Key by Anthony Horowitz

Reluctant teenage-spy Alex Rider, on a routine mission at the Wimbledon tennis championships, gets caught up in Chinese gangs, illegal nuclear weapons, and the suspect plans of his Russian host, General Sarov.

More fun than I expected

I picked up this series because a teen friend recommended me this. I never thought I will be hooked up. Great story, good emotions and shows all how? cruel the politics and spy business are!

Not as good as book 2 but still incredibly consistent

People love the Alex Rider books because they give you James Bond but written in a very relatable way. I'm 26 and he's 14, so it may not be THAT relatable. But it's definitely more relatable than some 40-something highly-trained spy.

The stories are constantly tense and this one doesn't deny us that feeling. I always feel like the villains are a little weak, but I guess the age this book is written for aren't worried about a convincing villain with an understandable motive. 4/5 would be about eight from me.

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader as part of a quick takes post to catch up–emphasizing pithiness, not thoroughness.
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So for two books now, we get this outline: Alex does something gusty and dangerous, which transitions into him taking on a case for MI-6 that's as risky as you could want.

This time he runs afoul of a Chinese criminal organization at Wimbledon before he's loaned out to the CIA who really needs a teen to sell a couple of agents as a family unit, out for vacation near the Caribbean. They're actually hunting for a nuclear weapon and some ex-Soviets wishing for a comeback for the USSR.

I honestly found his antics around Wimbledon and that more interesting than the main story, but it wasn't bad. Silly fun stuff that undoubtedly works better for the target audience (MG readers of a decade ago) than me, but it's good enough for me to keep going.