Scorpia (novel)

Scorpia
Scorpia Cover
Author(s)	Anthony Horowitz
Illustrator	Jack Pare
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Series	Alex Rider series
Genre(s)	Adventure, Spy novel, thriller
Publisher	Walker Books (UK)
Publication date	1 April 2004
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	369 pg. (first edition, paperback) 388 pg. (second edition, paperback)
ISBN	ISBN 0-7445-8323-3 (first edition, paperback)
OCLC Number	54824099
LC Classification	PZ7.H7875 Sc 2004
Preceded by	Eagle Strike
Followed by	Ark Angel

Scorpia is the fifth book in the Alex Rider series written by British author Anthony Horowitz. The book was released in the United Kingdom on April 1, 2004 and in the United States on March 17, 2005. The story begins several weeks after the events of fourth book, Eagle Strike, and up to nine days before the sixth, Ark Angel.

Abbreviation

The letters SCORPIA stand for "Sabotage, CORruPtion, Intelligence and Assassination".

Plot

The plot regarding Scorpia unfurls in the opening chapters when it was revealed that during the end of the Cold War, various spies and assassins from a network of intelligence networks and criminal firms feared being out of services and constructed a criminal organization. In a secret meeting room of criminal organization Scorpia, Julia Rothman briefs her colleagues on their latest project, codenamed "Invisible Sword." It is a plan to murder children aged 12 - 14 in Great Britain and destroy the friendly relations between the United States and the United Kingdom. She later kills one of her colleagues by sneaking venoumous scorpions into his "departing gift" when he speaks of retiring.

Alex Rider is on a trip with his friend Tom Harris in Venice in search of Scorpia, the name that Yassen Gregorovich gave Alex before dying in the prior novel. When looking around Venice, Alex sees a boat that has a silver scorpion on the side. He follows it and finds a palace called Ca' Vedova. It was supposed to have a masked ball birthday party, and with Tom's help, Alex gets in. While investigating the party of Julia Rothman, Alex infiltrates her office. He overhears a conversation between Mrs. Rothman and Harold Liebermann, the executive of a pharmeceutical called Consanto. In her office he finds a brochure for Consanto. But before he can read more, a tiger, which appeared to have been a rug, comes to life and tries to attack. Suddenly, a man named Nile, enters and puts the tiger to sleep with a remote control. Alex is ready to escape, but Nile overpowers Alex and knocks him out and places him in a water chamber, leaving him to drown. Alex manages to swim out and the next day, he tells Tom his entire story on a train trip to visit Tom's brother Jerry. Jerry Harris, an experienced BASE jumper, agrees to help Alex enter Consanto Enterprises. Alex BASE jumps from a cliff onto the roof and enters the building from a fire exit. However, he is spotted by Dr. Liebermann, who is about to call security when Nile shows up. Nile tells Dr. Liebermann he will handle Alex. Nile takes out a sword and throws it across the hall, and to Alex's surprise, the sword hits Dr. Liebermann's neck, killing him. Nile sets a bomb to go off and takes Alex away to see Mrs. Rothman. Mrs. Rothman meets Alex for dinner, she offers to him join SCORPIA. Alex tells her he does not want to join SCORPIA, but would like to know the truth about his father. Julia Rothman shows him the video of his father's apparent death and tells Alex that his father was killed by MI6 under the instructions of deputy head of MI6 special Operations and the woman who sent Alex on three of his missions, Mrs. Jones. After hearing this, Alex decides he wants to join SCORPIA and begins his training at SCORPIA's "school" at Malagosto. He informs its principal he does not have the instinct to kill and he will be unable to be an assassin. Scorpia sends a letter to the Government informing them of the power of Invisible Sword. He then sneaks into Mrs Jones's apartment to kill her, but is unsuccessful and is captured by MI6.

Alan Blunt, the head of MI6, takes Alex to a COBRA meeting to figure out what Invisible Sword is and how to stop it. With Alex's help, they determine that Scorpia embedded gold-encased nanoshells into the soccer players' bloodstream. The nanoshells were hidden in vaccinations and contained cyanide, which were activated by satellite dishes, and when they were activated, the gold wore away and the cyanide was released into the bloodstream, killing every single one of the players instantly. Scorpia will then kill London's schoolchildren, including Alex, as they had all recently been vaccinated.

Alex agrees to help MI6 out and pretends to come back to Scorpia. He is given a homing device developed by Smithers which is a retainer. Mrs. Rothman takes him to an abandoned church; Scorpia planned to put a satellite in a hot air balloon. At a certain height, they will then activate the nanoshells. Alex activates the retainer in his mouth and the SAS invades the church. As the balloon begins to rise, Alex jumps on the balloon and damages the satellites, causing them to plunge to the ground. Rothman is killed by the falling satellite. In the final pages of the novel, Alex learns that his father was a double agent for MI6, and the bridge scene was staged. Scorpia learned that John Rider was still alive and took revenge by blowing up the plane that he and Alex's mother Helen were flying in. In the final scene, as Alex exits the MI6 headquarters, a Scorpia assassin shoots him in the chest.

Reception

The official review from Amazon Canada said, "Fans of the Alex Rider Adventures will not be disappointed by the slam-bang action in this fifth book in the spy thriller series, although the ending may leave them feeling a bit dismayed." ^[1]

Awards

First in children's fiction bestsellers list.

References

1. ^ http://www.amazon.ca/dp/0142405787

External links

• Official website of the books
• Scorpia at Walker Books