He discovers the basement is a jail, where he finds James, Michael J. They eventually decide to put a unit on standby, to take action the following day, whilst Alex searches the academy’s basement (which can only be accessed via a hidden lift whose ground floor entrance is hidden by a suit of armour in the library). Realising that he was telling the truth, Alex investigates further, discovering that the academy's top two floors are largely copies of the ground and first floors, before returning to his own room and contacting MI6 via the Discman distress beacon.īlunt and Mrs Jones argue over what to do when they receive Alex's signal. The next morning, James acts strangely, having seemingly become just like the others, and has abandoned his escape plan. Alex investigates over a number of days, and one night after sneaking out, sees James being dragged from his room by two guards led by Mrs Stellenbosch. James wants to escape, confiding in Alex about his plot to ski down the mountain and go to either his father in Düsseldorf, his mother in England or friends in Paris and Berlin if neither of his parents want him. James explains that something weird is happening in the academy the other five rebellious, disrespectful students each underwent a sudden overnight change and become the seemingly "perfect" pupils they seem to be now. He later strikes a friendship with James Sprintz, another pupil at the academy who is asked to show Alex around. Afterwards, his clothes are put back on him and he is returned to his room as though nothing happened.Īlex arrives at the academy the next day and meets the director, Dr Hugo Grief, who he instantly dislikes. That night, the Coke he drinks at dinner is drugged when he passes out in his room, he is transported via a giant lift to the hotel's basement, where plastic surgeon Dr Walter Baxter has Alex stripped completely naked, every inch of his body being meticulously photographed, measured and examined for unknown reasons at this point in the plot. He is picked up by assistant director Mrs Eva Stellenbosch, who takes him to the Du Monde hotel in Paris.
Alex later meets MI6 gadget-master Smithers, and receives a bulletproof ski suit, infrared ski goggles, an exploding earring, a diamond-edged buzzsaw and distress beacon disguised as a Sony Discman, and a hardback book with a tranquilizer dart that shoots out of the spine. Fiona does not take well to having Alex staying with them and arranges for her 'boyfriend' Rufus and his friends to kill Alex during a shooting party in the forest Alex gets his own back on Rufus, by frightening him and throwing his illegal gun into a pond. He stays with the family (Sir David, his wife Lady Caroline, and their snooty daughter Fiona) for a week in preparation for his infiltration of the academy. The only thing linking these deaths are that both men had rebellious sons attending the Point Blanc Academy in the French Alps.Īlex undergoes a dramatic physical change and takes the identity of Alex Friend, supposedly the rebellious son of supermarket billionaire Sir David Friend. After arranging for his release, MI6 chief Alan Blunt blackmails Alex into investigating the deaths of Roscoe and General Viktor Ivanov, head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, who died in a bizarre motorboat explosion, in exchange for all potential charges being dropped. Miraculously, no one is killed, although some people end up with major injuries, but Alex's real identity is revealed when he is arrested. The police arrest Skoda and his accomplice, Mike Beckett. He accidentally drops it in a police conference centre rather than a nearby car park, as he originally intended, thanks to the builders shutting down the crane's power. Alex follows him to his home, situated on a barge in Putney River, but is caught by the police after using a crane to lift the barge out of the water. Elsewhere, Alex Rider is at school and witnesses a man known as "Skoda" selling drugs to some of his classmates. Roscoe, in an elevator shaft in his New York City office, arranged by a reputable contract killer.
The book opens with the death of American electronics billionaire Michael J.
#Alex rider books series#
In 2007, it was adapted into a graphic novel, written by Antony Johnston and illustrated by Kanako Damerum and Yuzuru Takasaki, and in 2020 served as the basis of the first season of the Amazon Prime Video series Alex Rider, starring Otto Farrant as Rider. In 2003, the novel was listed on the BBC's survey The Big Read. The book was released in the United Kingdom on Septemand in North America on April 15, 2002, under the alternate title Point Blank. Point Blanc is the second book in the Alex Rider series, written by British author Anthony Horowitz.
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