Scorpia Rising

Scorpia Rising

First edition cover
Author	Anthony Horowitz
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Series	Alex Rider series
Genre	Adventure, spy novel
Publisher	Walker Books
Publication date	31 March 2011[1]
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	402
ISBN	9780142419854
Preceded by	Crocodile Tears
Followed by	Russian Roulette

Scorpia Rising is the ninth novel in the Alex Rider series, written by British author Anthony Horowitz. It was published on 31 March 2011.

Plot

Zeljan Kurst, chief executive of the criminal organization known as Scorpia, is asked by Yannis Ariston Xenopolos, a Greek billionaire suffering from terminal cancer, to return the Elgin Marbles to Greece. A tip-off leads MI6 to organise an operation to try to capture him at the British Museum, but Kurst escapes amidst an intense firefight between the SAS personnel and his own security detail. Scorpia's executive board meet up on a river boat in Paris, where Razim, who is selected to be in charge of returning the Elgin Marbles back to Greece, discusses his plan involving Alex Rider (an old enemy of Scorpia's). Despite many members of the executive board expressing general amusement with Razim's plan, Levi Kroll hotly protests and threatens to kill Zeljan Kurst if Scorpia does not let him leave. Kroll is shot by a sniper Kurst set up (for this exact purpose) and Kurst then makes use of his body as part of Razim's plan. Meanwhile, Scorpia then manages to help Julius Grief (a clone of Dr. Hugo Grief) escape from a top-secret prison in Gibraltar, while at the same time faking his death. Scorpia begins its operation by arranging for Levi Kroll's body to be found in the River Thames. Using evidence stored in Kroll's body, MI6 suspects an upcoming attack by Scorpia at the Cairo International College of Arts and Education (CICAE) in Cairo, Egypt. Alan Blunt, head of MI6, plans to recruit Alex on the mission, which his deputy, Mrs Jones, refuses.

At Brookland Comprehensive, Alex Rider's school, Alex is attacked by a sniper in Mathematics class. Alex takes revenge on the sniper by following him to a helicopter in which he plans to escape in, and causing the helicopter to crash into the Thames. Later that evening, Alan Blunt and Mrs. Jones visit Alex in his house in Chelsea and suggest that, because of the attack, they should arrange for Alex to take a vacation to Cairo, the guise being to investigate the CICAE undercover as a student. They want Alex to, specifically, investigate Erik Gunter, the school's head of security whom they believe might have something to do with an upcoming assault on the school. Jack Starbright, Alex's guardian, demands to come with him to keep an eye on him. Smithers, the gadget master, was also sent to aid Alex in his mission.

Alex's investigation of Gunter leads him to the House of Gold, a floating armaments workshop. There, Gunter commissions the purchase of a sniper rifle and kills the salesperson known as Habib. Gunter then blows up the House of Gold, causing Alex to be swept into the Nile River. Alex is then captured by an unknown organization who waterboards him for information at their headquarters. The group turns out to be the CIA, and the head of the CIA Joe Byrne angrily dismisses the interrogators and tells Alex that they are here in Cairo to protect the American Secretary of State, who is due to give a speech in Cairo denouncing Britain's status as a world power. Alex tells Byrne about Gunter's involvement in Habib's murder, and Byrne agrees to keep an eye on Gunter. Thus, Alex decides to return to England, presuming that the CIA can handle the mission, and visits Smithers's house to inform him about his decision. However, Scorpia operatives assault Smithers' house, and he and Smithers barely manage to escape the attackers. Smithers reveals after the assault that he has actually worn a fat suit since Alex first met him, which he removes to escape the attempt on his life by hiding.

Returning home, Alex finds that Jack has been kidnapped by Scorpia, and is instructed in a note to go to a cemetery called the City of the Dead alone, where he is confronted by Julius and Gunter. The duo gives him the sniper rifle Gunter acquired from the House of Gold and takes several pictures of Alex holding it. Alex is taken to Razim's fort, where he reunites with Jack and spends a day with in the fort heavily supervised. Jack reveals she has an escape plan and plans to break out that night. That night, Alex is taken to Razim's laboratory, where Razim reveals that he anticipated her escape and that the Land Rover Jack is driving on is filled with explosives. Despite Alex's protests, Julius blows up the Land Rover, killing Jack. Overwhelmed with grief, Alex passes out.

The following night, Alex is taken back to Cairo. While waiting in a van, Gunter reveals Scorpia's plan (the Horseman file) to Alex, which is full of fabricated evidence alleging that the MI6 used a teenage boy to kill the American Secretary of State. Scorpia will then threaten the British government to reveal the file to the public, which will frame Alex and destroy the reputation of the British government, forcing them to return the Elgin Marbles. However, Alex later manages to overpower and kill Gunter after Gunter is stung by a scorpion. He seizes the pistol and pursues Julius. He manages to stop Julius' attempt to shoot the American Secretary of State, and Julius tries to flee the scene. In the ensuing pursuit, Julius is hit by a car and injured. He gloats that Alex will never kill him, before attempting to shoot him, forcing Alex to return fire in self-defense, killing Julius.

Alex then returns to the CIA, who have formed a joint task force with the Egyptian secret service to take out Razim in the desert, taking Alex with them to help. When he arrives at Razim's fort, Alex, masquerading as Julius, manages to deactivate the fort's defense system before the CIA and the Egyptians attack the fort. Alex confronts Razim on a bridge; Razim attempts to shoot him, but a CIA operative (Blake Lewinsky) destroys the bridge, causing Razim to fall into a pile of salt underneath. Razim dies as he gets sucked into the salt and suffocates, and the task force manages to overpower Razim's men.

In the aftermath, the remaining Scorpia members are arrested or executed, including Kurst, causing Scorpia to disband as their reputation is destroyed. Back in England, Blunt retires and leaves his job to Mrs. Jones, who reveals that she knows Blunt ordered the sniper to fire at Alex's school. Because the killing of Julius, Razim's gruesome death, and the killing of Jack has left him broken, Mrs. Jones vows never to use Alex as an agent ever again. Meanwhile, Alex, now the ward of Sabina Pleasure's father Edward, is preparing to leave for America, where he may go on to lead a normal life.

Characters

References