“Ravi Chandra was going to be a rich man.”

From Anthony Horowitz’s Alex Rider: Crocodile Tears.

In an attempt to relax after another life-threatening mission, teen spy Alex Rider joins his friend Sabina and her parents to attend a New Year’s Eve party in Scotland; the night is enjoyable as Alex is able to meet some big names in the charity world (mainly party host, Desmond McCain), but a near-fatal car crash on the way home leaves him on edge.  All Alex wants is to return to a normal life and schedule, but others seem to have different plans for the boy, especially a journalist named Harry Bulman who shows up to his house with knowledge of Alex’s previous, classified missions.  Fearing for his safety as an unknown spy, Alex reaches out to MI6, and the organization sends him on a new mission to gather information on a man named Leonard Straik while they deal with the reporter.  The more that Alex looks into Straik, the more confusing the situation becomes as Alex finds a sample that doesn’t make sense to MI6’s scientists, an alliance that could jeopardize Alex’s life, and a secret plan that will place an entire continent in danger.  As the espionage organizations of the world try to figure out what’s going on, Alex finds himself in the middle of it all… and the only one able to stop it.

The eighth book in the Alex Rider series is action-packed, to say the least.  Horowitz does an amazing job of giving Alex’s character life, depth, and a wide range of emotion; instead of just throwing the same main character into a new mystery, he writes a character that has been changed by the events of the preceding books.  Horowitz’s writing style is also enjoyable for readers that like a quick-paced, but strongly developed plot.  Crocodile Tears is a crazy, fun read from start to finish and not to be skipped.