This article is not part of the Alex Rider universe.
This article covers a subject that is part of the real world, and thus should not be taken as a part of the Alex Rider universe.

This article is about the book. For other uses, please see Scorpia (disambiguation).

Scorpia is the fifth book in the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz.

This edition currently not available in North America.

Summary Edit

After a revelation with Yassen Gregorovich, Alex sets off with his friend Tom Harris in Venice to track down the mysterious organisation known only to Alex as Scorpia. A chance encounter with one of the top agents of Scorpia reveals a sinister plot to change all of London. Now, Alex must return to his old life in MI6 and risk his life to save thousands of children. Will he stay with MI6, who have betrayed him, or join Scorpia and get his revenge

Plot Edit

Alex Rider is on a trip with his friend Tom Harris in Venice, still struggling to comprehend the massive revelation that Yassen Gregorovich told him, shortly before his death. Alex now thinks his father was an assassin for SCORPIA, one of the finest agents in the world and also saved Yassen's life.

With the help of Tom, Alex manages to sneak into Julia Rothman's party, infiltrating her office. He overhears a conversation between Mrs. Rothman and Harold Liebermann, the executive of a pharmeceutical called Consanto Enterprises. In her office he finds a brochure for Consanto. But before he can read more, a tiger, which appeared to have been a rug, comes to life and tries to attack.

Suddenly, a man named Nile, enters and puts the tiger to sleep with a remote control.

Alex is ready to escape, but Nile overpowers Alex and knocks him out and places him in a water chamber, leaving him to drown. Alex manages to swim out of a pipe where the water was coming from and surfaces in the Grand Canal and the next day, he tells Tom his entire story on a train trip to visit Tom's brother Jerry.

Jerry Harris, an experienced BASE jumper, agrees to help Alex enter Consanto Enterprises. Alex BASE jumps from a cliff onto the roof and enters the building from a fire exit.

However, he is spotted by Dr. Liebermann, who is about to call security when Nile shows up. Nile tells Dr. Liebermann he will handle Alex. Nile takes out a samurai sword and throws it across the hall, and to Alex's surprise, the sword hits Dr. Liebermann's neck, killing him.

Nile sets a bomb to go off and takes Alex away to see Mrs. Julia Rothman. Rothman meets Alex for dinner offers to have him join SCORPIA. Alex tells her he does not want to join SCORPIA, but would like to know the truth about his father.

Julia Rothman shows him the video of his father's apparent death and tells Alex that his father was killed by MI6 under the instructions of deputy head of MI6 special Operations and the woman who sent Alex on three of his missions, Mrs Jones. After hearing this, Alex decides he wants to join SCORPIA and begins his training at SCORPIA's "school" on Malagosto, and island near Venice. He informs its principal he does not have the instinct to kill and he will be unable to be an assassin.

To try to remedy the problem, Alex is sent on a mission to murder Mrs. Jones. He fails and is captured by MI6 who in turn convince him to work as a double agent within SCORPIA to pass along information on the Invisible Sword project. Alex agrees and MI6 sets up a fake escape for him. He rejoins Rothman who acts suspicious but accepts that he succeeded in the mission anyway.

Rothman thinks Alex should witness the conclusion of Invisible Sword, and takes him to an abandoned church which is thier base of operations. Alex sees the satellites MI6 was so feverishly looking for are in fact concealed in a hot-air balloon, and must be activated at a height of 1000 feet in order to work. Rothman seems proud of her work, Alex, however, is horrified, and accidentally lets slip "You can't kill children just to get rich!"

Rothman's suspicions grew, as she never mentioned children. She discovered the gadget in his mouth and labeled him a traitor. However, she refrained from killing him, planning on allowing him witness their work instead.

The SAS arrive, and Alex makes his escape, beginning to climb up the rope of the balloon, hoping to deactivate the sattilites in time. Rothman ordered Nile to follow him, but Nile hesitated, as his greatest fear and weakness is heights. He eventually pursued the young spy.

Alex and Nile reach the top of the balloon as it reaches 100 meters. Nile threw a sword at Alex, but missed due to the sun's glare. Nile is again hesitant, and Alex realizes the assassin is scared of heights. Alex psyches Nile out, and tears into a cable connected to the burner with the sword Nile threw at him while he's distracted. Nile threw his second sword causing a ball of fire is released, knocking Nile off the balloon and causing the assassin to fall to his death. At the same time, the satellites are damaged by the fire, saving the schoolchildren.

The satellites fall and hit Mrs. Rothman just as she is escaping from the SAS in disguise as a drunk lady who doesn't know whats she's doing, killing her instantly. Dr. Liebermann witnesses Mrs. Rothman's death, and comes over and asks Sayle Enterprises worker Svetlana Sonday who has also seen Rothman's death if she will join SCORPIA as the new Mrs. Rothman. Svetlana agrees immediatly, and then she joins SCORPIA as the new executive to Symphony #9 "Ode to Joy" by Beethoven. (Not mentioned in SCORPIA novel.) Alex is later debriefed by MI6 one week post mission, and he learns that his father was not an assassin, but was actually working deep cover for MI6. Some of the assassinations were faked, and he was secretly tipping MI6 off for years. MI6 gave John and Helen a vacation to France shortly afterwards, but Alex had an ear infection at the last second. However, Mrs. Rothman somehow found out John was with MI6 and was still alive, and arranged for a bomb to be placed on the plane and detonated.

Meanwhile, as Alex learns the truth, a Scorpia assassin waits across the street on a rooftop, ready to shoot Alex in the heart with a gun. When Alex steps out onto the street after the debriefing, he is shot in the chest.

The book ends on this cliff-hanger.

GalleryEdit

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Awards Edit

• Lincolnshire Young People's Book Award
• Grampian Children's Book Award
• Berkshire Book Award
• Gateshead Children's Book Award
• Galaxy British Book Awards: The Children's Book of the Year
• Doncaster Children's Book of the Year Award
• Redbridge Children's Book Award
• BAA and Expedia Book Awards
• Berkshire Book Award
• Lancashire Children's Book of the Year
• Salford Children's Book Award
• Staffordshire Young Teen Fiction Award
• Lancashire Fantastic Book Award

Useful links Edit

• Scorpia Mission - Alex Rider official website
• Scorpia - Walker Books (UK)
• Scorpia - Penguin Group (USA)

ReferencesEdit