In typical Horowitz fashion this book is an absolute ride from beginning to end. Possibly the most enjoyable Alex adventure yet! I remember reading Stormbreaker when I was 14 and adoring it then and I can’t get enough of Alex’s high octane missions even now!

Alex is back and, just as he returns to school and normal life, he's called back into action again by MI6. This time, he's heading undercover into the British high-security prison in Gibraltar in order to infiltrate a deadly group known as Nightshade; he needs to befriend a deadly teenage killer to save the fate of thousands back home.
It's been a while since I've read an Alex Rider book so it was great to be back with our reluctant hero again. This is a book that grips you from the start and is full of excitement, adventure and twists throughout. With a definite ))& influence, readers can enjoy Rider's cool and calm demeanour in the midst of extreme adversity (oh to be that cool!) and will find them racing through the book, driven by their own raised heart-beat and the excitement of the story (well I did, reading 440 pages in just under 2 days).
This is a brilliant book and the perfect escape.

Nightshade, book 12 in the Alex Rider series, is possibly the best of them yet. It follows Alex as he infiltrates a mercenary organisation made up of kidnapped children who have been brainwashed to become the perfect killers. Yes, so that probably requires a little more disbelief-suspense than the other plots (although, maybe not given that Alex got shot into space in one book), but it definitely provided more heart-stopping moments than usual. And the ending leaves it on a cliffhanger that will make you desperate for the next book (I mean, there will be one, right? Right??).

With Alex Rider you come to expect the unexpected. Nightshade, the twelfth in the series, is a fast-paced explosive read that delivers in so many ways.
Although he’s trying to get back to normal life, nothing is ever going to be straightforward for Alex. He is, once again, contacted by the new head of MI6 when one of their agents is attacked. The person responsible for the attack was a fifteen year old boy...and Alex may well be the best hope they have of learning more about the boy known as Freddy who killed five of Brazil’s most dangerous police force.
Having already been mistaken for Julius Grief, Alex is shipped out to the facility from which he is thought to have escaped. The psychologist there is the only one who knows the truth about Alex, and it’s up to Alex himself to find a way in to befriend Freddy.
What follows is an adventure beyond your wildest imaginings.
Once again Alex finds himself relying on his wits and his very special set of skills. This time round he’s up against the mysterious Nightshade group who are planning a lethal attack on London. Alex has to learn the truth and find a way to stop what could, potentially, be the most dangerous event in British history. Business as usual - except this time MI6 have been shut down, Alex is on his own and there’s a leak from within.
An audacious scheme, plenty of opportunities for it to go wrong and - at its heart - young Alex being pushed to his limits. There’s a depth to this that hasn’t always been in the Alex Rider novels with the personal revelation about Mrs Jones...and the most ominous ending suggesting that things are not over.

I was absolutely delighted to be granted this e-book in return for an honest review as I loved, loved, loved Alex Rider when I was a child - probably the only series that would stop me from reading fantasy/sci-fi for a long time.

It was so incredibly comforting (interesting I know) to fall back into the daring and thrilling world of Alex Rider where he was up against a new threat - Nightshade! I really enjoyed reading about familiar names, Jack Starbright, Mrs Jones, Crawley etc and this felt like every other one of the books. It was fast paced and a complete page turner. I particularly enjoyed Nightshade and getting to know more about this. The twist...well, let's just say that was incredibly unexpected! I am thrilled that it seems likely that there will be more Alex Rider books.

I have loved the Alex Rider books since I first read Stormbreaker with my son 8 years ago, and to think we're now at number 12!

Nightshade has all of the heart-stopping action, mind-blowing mystery and cool gadgets that we've come to know and love, with a particularly sinister undercurrent. 

Alex is looking forward to getting back to being a school boy with no more life or death missions to undertake, other than his GCSEs, but when duty calls, he finds it impossible to say no. Before he even undertakes the mission, we see his skills put to use to ward of unknown men waiting outside his school. From there, it's death defying stunts and jaw-dropping scenes in some truly remarkable settings that are vividly brought to life.  

We see Alex grow as a character in Nightshade - his compassion for other children, and ability to see beyond the crimes they commit. The fact that he is pretty much on his own, with no way out of the situations he finds himself in, but for his own resourcefulness, gives him time to reflect on how and his target got there. 

I think this is the most uncomfortable I've felt for Alex throughout the entire series. When faced with the Numbers, it's easy to draw parallels with the way he has been treated himself by MI6. 

This will sit very firmly on my Year 6 only shelf, and not as a class read, (if my son doesn't steal it first) due to the fact I think that there is a level of malice, violence and child abuse that just isn't suitable for the majority of children in Primary. Much like Harry Potter, Alex Rider has reached an age where his audience needs to be a little bit older too.

Great for fans of:

Big Game by Dan Smith
The Cherub Series by Robert Muchamore
Artemis Fowl by Eion Colfer

Huge thanks to Walker Books for sending me a copy for review.