This collection contains seven new and old short stories including;

Alex in Afghanistan (brand new, set after Point Blanc)
The Man with Eleven Fingers (previously published as A Taste of Death, set after Stormbreaker)
High Tension (previously published as Quite a Ride and/or Incident in Nice. Set after Point Blanc)
Secret Weapon (previously published with same title, now updated and expanded. Set after Eagle Strike)
Tea with Smithers (brand new, set after Point Blanc)
Spy Trap (brand new, set after Skeleton Key)

Overall it was a good collection. There was lots of action and daring stunts. Two of the three new stories were strong (Tea with Smithers was a bit weak due to length) and the old stories were enjoyable to reread (particularly The Man with Eleven Fingers). Hopefully there'll be more Alex Rider in the future. 3 stars. Individual ratings, thoughts below.

ALEX IN AFGHANISTAN (Alex Rider, #2.25) ****

Okay this is easily my favourite Alex Rider short story - it's set after Point Blanc and must be sometime before Quite a Ride/Incident in Nice/High Tension. Alex in Afghanistan sees Alex sent to find proof of a nuclear weapon being made in Falcon's Edge - a former Russian occupied citadel taken over by aspiring terrorist, Darcus Drake. Except while Alex think he's just getting proof, the real mission is to leave the camera in the hands of the former photographer. It has a homing beacon for nuclear missiles. As per usual, Alex gets the short end of the stick. I really liked his stunt with the horse and the parachute - like omfg. It was crazy. 4 stars.

THE MAN WITH ELEVEN FINGERS (Alex Rider, #1.5) ***

Originally published as A Taste of Death, now included in the Secret Weapon short story collection with the title, The Man with Eleven Fingers. It's set after Stormbreaker. Alex has a dentist appointment but on the way he's distracted by a crime. Alex grabs a sample chocolate from a guy off the street and finds it odd that Cadburys is spelt wrong. Then he recognises one of the drivers as a former Sayle Enterprises employee - one who threatened to kill him. Sykes turned to Alex. “Did MI6 send you after us?” he demanded. “No.” There was no point lying. “I saw your driver. I recognized him. He led me to you.” He paused. “Also, you don’t know how to spell Cadbury.”

Horowitz, Anthony. Secret Weapon (Alex Rider) . Walker Books. Kindle Edition. Lol. Loved that. Alex follows and uncovers a plot to break out a prisoner who stole a hundred million pounds (for charity so you know - not so bad). And finally there was Sir Frederick Meadows in his expensive suit, blinking behind his glasses, still holding the gun. “Did you really take it?” Alex asked. “The money?” “Yes, I did. A hundred and twenty million pounds! More money than you can begin to imagine.” “What were you going to do with it?” “Well, you probably won’t believe me, but I wanted to give it all to charity.” “Really?” Alex was amazed. “Absolutely. The fun of it was actually stealing it, doing it under everyone’s noses without getting caught. I didn’t particularly want it for myself.”

Horowitz, Anthony. Secret Weapon (Alex Rider) . Walker Books. Kindle Edition.

This was longer than most of the other short stories and before I'd read Alex in Afghanistan was my favourite Alex Rider short story so far. I enjoyed Alex's thought processes and his quick thinking to get the upper hand. And I loved the ending. “You’re Alex Rider?” “Yes.” The policeman shook his head in disbelief. “We were told you might be on board. We’re to take you back downriver. You have an urgent meeting.” “With MI6?” “No. With a dentist.” So there was to be no escape after all.

Horowitz, Anthony. Secret Weapon (Alex Rider) . Walker Books. Kindle Edition. 3 stars.

HIGH TENSION (Alex Rider, #2.5) **

Originally published as Quite a Ride and Incident in Nice and now titled, High Tension. The basic premise is the same but the names of the family Alex stays with are changed. This short story is set after Point Blanc and before Skeleton Key.

Alex is holidaying in France with his friend, Wilfred Sutton and the Sutton family. When Wilfred and his parents go to visit some old friends, they leave Alex in the care of their neighbor/housekeeper person and suggest that she take him parasailing. While parasailing, the boat driver has a heart attack and the boat starts to head for the busy shoreline. Alex uses all his skill to prevent injuries. This isn't my favourite Alex Rider short story, but it's not bad - mainly just a slice of life interlude rather than a real tale. 2 stars.

SECRET WEAPON (Alex Rider, #4.5) **

This story was previously published with the same name and set between Skeleton Key and Eagle Strike. In this newly published version, this is set after Eagle Strike, there are name changes and the plot has been expanded.

Skoda, the drug dealer Alex put away in Chapter 2-4 of Point Blanc is back and he's looking for revenge. He orchestrates a prison breakout so he can personally kill Alex Rider. Alex is enjoying a school trip to the museum when Skoda manages to find him. This was alright, pretty straightforward revenge plot being carried out. Thought it was pretty typical of M16 to plant the new teacher, Miss Maxwell, but not bother to tell Alex that Skoda has broken out and was he was in danger. It kind of felt a bit random though. Although I did think the advice to look at the person in a uniform, not just the uniform was good advice. Alex realized he was in danger before he understood why. Suddenly he remembered the man he had seen standing outside the school and knew that this was the same man, that he had been held back on purpose. He was angry with himself. It was something he should have learned by now. Just because someone is wearing a uniform – a policeman, a fireman, a nurse – it doesn’t mean that’s what they are. He’d seen the clothes. He hadn’t examined the person inside them.

Horowitz, Anthony. Secret Weapon (Alex Rider) . Walker Books. Kindle Edition. An enjoyable little interlude, set after Eagle Strike. 2 stars.

TEA WITH SMITHERS (Alex Rider, #2.10) **

Okay that was odd. Alex has tea with Smithers and is challenged to find his latest invention. It's a hologram Smithers. Plus we get to learn more about why Smithers joined M16 - he's grandfather was a Special Operations Executive creating gadgets and weapons for WWII. This was a very short interlude told in first person and like most of the rest of the collection, set after Point Blanc. It was pretty random but interesting I guess. 2 stars.

CHRISTMAS AT GUNPOINT (Alex Rider, #0.5) **

Short story told in first person. Christmas at Gunpoint is set before Stormbreaker and Alex reminisces about a Christmas he spent with his uncle, Ian Rider, and almost discovered his secret spy life. This story is now available as part of the short story collection; Secret Weapon.

I didn't feel this was as good as the later novels or short stories. Alex is kind of dim. I mean jeez how many hints can you get? And fair enough if he just decided not to ask but he didn't even seem to realise something was up with his uncle. 2 stars.

SPY TRAP (Alex Rider, #3.5) ***

This story is set directly after Skeleton Key. Alex and John Crawley are on their way home from the airport when they have a car accident. Alex wakes up in a hospital with no memory and struggles to put things together. Yep - it wasn't a car accident. They were ambushed. Honestly, I thought I was going to find out what happened to the clone when they started talking about not being able to remember stuff. Alex is a real trooper, pulling himself together, stopping the drugs, working hard to remember what actually happened. My biggest problem with this story is you never really find out why. The reasons given seem kind of weak. 3 stars. ( )

Probably my least favorite Alex Rider (teen MI-6 spy) book. Not a big fan of short stories. I also think it would have been helpful for the stories to be arranged in chronological order or at least annotated as to when they took place in the sequence of novels. The best story was about Alex's infiltrating a terrorist hideout in Afghanistan, with a number of twists where it was a challenge to tell the good guys from the bad guys and a very daring, but somewhat unrealistic, escape. ( )