Eagle Strike
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 First edition cover |
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| Author | Anthony Horowitz |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Alex Rider series |
| Genre(s) | Adventure, Spy novel |
| Publisher | Walker Books (UK) |
| Released | 4 September 2000 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 240 pp (first edition, paperback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-7445-5943-X (first edition, paperback) |
| Preceded by | Skeleton Key |
| Followed by | Scorpia |
Eagle Strike is a 2003 spy novel by Anthony Horowitz, based on the character Alex Rider, and is the fourth in the series in plot order. A film adaption has been mentioned, but no details have been announced.
[edit] Plot
Alex's adventure starts when he sees the Russian killer Yassen Gregorovich aboard a boat while vacationing in France. However, Yassen — working for villain Damian Cray — has been sent to blow up the house Sabina Pleasure's family is renting. Though her father was injured by the explosion he was not killed.Having seen Yassen Gregorovich earlier that day he figures out that it was him that did this. So he goes to a motorboat that he knows is Yassen's. He knocks out one of Yassen's hit men. He then enters the boat where he finds a gun and points it at Yassen. He is unable to pull the trigger and the accomplice that Alex Rider knocked out became conscious and was able to capture Alex. They then put him in a bullring with a matador's costume where he uses his training to outwit the bull and severely injure one of the accomplices. He escapes and luckily enough Yassen has already left in his motorboat. While in the boat he memorized a number on Yassen's phone. He dials the number and hears Damian Cray on the other end. He hangs up. Although MI6 refuses to support his evidence, Alex is now back into the spying game, although alone with a gift (a gadget enhanced bike) sent by Smithers, and he begins investigating Damian Cray. Some initial research yields that he is a multi-billionaire pop star that has spent thousands of dollars on his new video game console, the Gameslayer.
Alex goes to Paris to meet a photographer who worked with Edward Pleasure, and then to Amsterdam where the base of Cray Software Technologies is. Cray puts Alex into a life-size version of his first Gameslayer game, which is how he recorded his so-called 'pain synthesis'. Alex avoids booby traps such as electrical shocks and arrows shooting out of the walls. In the middle of the maze, Alex kills a snake. Seeing guards ahead, he puts the snake blood in his mouth and all over his body and fakes a spear through himself. He walks up to the guards pretending to die. Alex escapes because the guards left to get a clean-up crew.
When the guards realize that Alex has escaped, they chase him with their Smart Cars and Suzuki motorcycles. The gadgets on Alex's bike save him from the guards with machine guns. Alex runs all the cars and motorcycles into the river.
Alex returns to London with a flash drive, a vital piece of equipment for Cray's plan Eagle Strike, where he finds that Sabina Pleasure has been kidnapped and will be released for the ransom of the drive. Alex then goes to Cray's mansion with the flash drive. When he arrives, he reveals a nozzle of super glue on the end. Cray in turn reveals Sabina, who is bound and (to Alex's shock) gagged, and out-maneuvers Alex by threatening to cut off her fingers with scissors if he doesn't gives him the drive. Alex reluctanly agrees.
Cray and Gregorovich take Sabina and Alex to an English airport. Cray creates a decoy with a burning cargo plane about to crash land that is "full" of harmful nerve gas. During the confusion that arises, Cray, Yassen, Henryk (Cray's Dutch pilot), Sabina and Alex (unwillingly) take over Air Force One, since the US President is in England. Here, Cray reveals the full extent of his plans. He plans to launch nuclear weapons at several drug plantations in order to eradicate the drug trade. Cray plugs in the flash drive and launches the missiles at the world. (In real life, this would be impossible as the President can only order strikes- the US military must carry them out. The military do have the activation codes, and it would be highly improbable, although possible, that they have the codes on a USB drive.)
Once on board, Cray orders Yassen to kill Alex and Sabina. Yassen refuses, so Cray shoots him. Cray then shoots Alex, so Sabina attacks Cray, who overpowers her and prepares to kill her. Alex gets up (he was wearing the Kevlar bulletproof jersey Smithers gave him) and pushes Cray out the window, where the villain is sucked into one of the engines, forcing Air Force One to crash land. Henryk, the pilot, is so nervous that he crashes the plane and breaks his neck.
Before he dies, Yassen reveals to Alex that his father was a contract killer like himself, as well as a friend. He tells Alex to go to Venice to find Scorpia, where he is to find his destiny.
| “ | Go to Venice, find Scorpia, and you will find your destiny... | ” |
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- -Yassen Gregorovich
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At the end of the book Sabina Pleasure tells Alex that her father decided that their family and her has to move to San Francisco America and that they will leave soon. Sabina tells Alex that they can still keep in touch through things like E-Mail and she can visit London again, but Alex feels that he will never see Sabina again.
[edit] See Also
| Anthony Horowitz’s Alex Rider series |
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| Books |
| Stormbreaker - Point Blanc - Skeleton Key - Eagle Strike - Scorpia - Ark Angel - Snakehead |
| Other media |
| Stormbreaker (film) - Alex Rider: Stormbreaker (video game) |
