Alex Rider is not an average 14-year-old at an ordinary West London school. There's something Alex can't tell any of his classmates: he has recently been recruited and trained as a special agent by MI6, the British secret service. When two mysterious deaths are linked to an ultra-private school where the rich and powerful send their uncontrollable, rebellious sons, MI6 sends Alex to uncover what is really going on there. What he finds in the mountaintop fortress of the campus are a crazy head master and enough armed guards to repel an invasion—or keep the students locked in as prisoners. Alex also discovers his new classmates have become eerie copies of each other in their compliant attitudes and actions. Accomplished stage and television writer Anthony Horowitz spins a fast paced yarn that delivers technological wizardry and James Bond-like action. "With secret rooms, sullen sentries, mysterious disappearances, and wild rides galore, this is a great choice for reluctant readers."—Booklist