Russian Roulette: The Story of an Assassin (Alex Rider Adventure)

Product Information

This is book number 10 in the Alex Rider series but in actuality it recounts events which happen before the series even begins. This is the story of one of the bad guys from Alex's adventures, his name is Yassen Gregorovitch. Everyone knows the story of Alex and how he was badgered into becoming a spy, but no one knows how Yassen ended up in his line of work - a hired killer - and their stories are not too far apart from one another.

The style is slightly different from the rest of the series as most of it is written in first person instead of third person, but it's still a really enjoyable read! Yes, Yassen does, as I just said, figure out his mentor, Hunter, John Rider, the father of Alex Rider, was sent to infiltrate Scoria. The betrayal scars Yassen, and actually becomes the final domino in his journey as a killer. Horowitz's writing style is perfect for teenagers (and even for elderly readers like me). He is never patronising. He resists the temptation to which so many other writers for children (and even adults) give in to lecture and educate. He just tells a story beautifully and grippingly. And what if that 14 year-old boy was Alex Rider, one of the best-loved heroes of children's literature?

Customer reviews

The character I fell the most sympathy for is also Yassen Gregorovich as his friend, parents and grandmother died when he was young. Also he worked as a slave in Russia, Moscow for around 3 years. The last thing I would like to say is a thank you to Anthony Horowitz for creating this character. Yassen Gregorovich is not perfect by any means, but he is intricate and complicated and compelling. This book was everything and more! I absolutely love the Alex Rider series and although I can't really say it's because it was 'my childhood series' (because I started reading them at 13 years old and finished at 15 last year) they are as close as it gets to that. Therefore I have such a strong attachment to this series and these characters and strangely as this is a companion novel following a very minor character from the Alex Rider series, who definitely is not a hero within that series, I found myself so emotionally invested in this book and in his story. All that sadness. All that anger. It is the smoke that gets into your eyes. If you do not blow it away, how can you hope to see?

I also really wish (and this is a spoiler for EAGLE STRIKE so if you haven't read that, then um... lol why did you read this one?) The tenth book in the Alex Rider series isn’t about Alex Rider at all. Instead, we follow a character introduced in the very first Alex Rider novel, Stormbreaker, a contract assassin by the name of Yassen Gregorovich. It’s an interesting choice for a protagonist as most readers will already know Yassen’s profession and fate before ever diving into this book. However, as expected, Anthony Horowitz pulls it off with great effect and actually turns what could have simply been a “spin-off” one-shot book into an important entry in the overall series. I don't like spoilers, so won't get too specific, but I assume the reader is familiar with Yassen from Stormbreaker, Eagle Strike, Scorpia, and Snakehead. In this book, Yassen and John Rider's relationship and their time with Scorpia simply isn't in sync with the other books, especially with Snakehead and the story Alex's godfather Ash tells about Malta. In fact, Malta is completely ignored in this book. I've made allowances in the past with the other books when a few small details don't match up between them, but this one I can't. Mdina is such an integral part of canon. Yassen and John are supposed to be partners, all the way until their assignment in Malta 'goes bad'. It's the motive behind Ash's actions in Snakehead, the motive in Eagle Strike for Yassen telling Alex about Scorpia in the first place. It makes the chapter 'Power Plus' in this book simply hard to accept.When Ian Rider died at the hands of the assassin Yassen Gregorovich, Alex, ready or not, was thrust into the world of international espionage—the world’s only teenage spy. Alex vowed revenge against Yassen and the two have battled ever since. Yet, years ago, it was none other than Alex’s own father who trained and mentored Yassen, turning him into the killer he would eventually become. So, what do you do with this new perspective on Alex Rider’s nemesis? Go and re-read the series from the beginning, obviously. And I loved every second of it! Seeing how Yassen grew up, his friends, how he came accross Scorpia.... Don't even gets me started on the actual 'Russian Roulette' game because I don't think I can talk about it. It was so awful.