Events in the "Alex Rider" novels Quiz

Answer: Scorpia

Max Grendel has decided that he no longer wants any part in SCORPIA's (Sabotage, CORruPtion, Intelligence, Assassination) criminal activites. The current project leader, Julia Rothman, accepts this. As Grendel is departing in a gondola (we're in Venice), Julia gives him a briefcase with his initials - MUG - on it.

As he sails away, Grendel opens the case. And SCORPIA's signature creatures swarm over him, killing him painfully.

Answer: Point Blanc

At the start of "Point Blanc", Alex follows the drug dealer Skoda to his barge in the river Thames. Wondering what the best way to alert the police is, Alex gets very creative; he commandeers a crane from a nearby constuction site. He then proceeds to "hook" the barge and drops it in front of the police station.

Answer: Ark Angel

The match is Stratford East versus Chelsea. Nikolei Drevin, who later turns out to be the bad guy, owns Stratford East, and so wants them to win. Alex, as we already know, is a Chelsea fan. Ultimately, Alex's team wins, due to a horrendous mistake made by Adam Wright, Stratford's captain. He is then murdered by Drevin as punishment.

Answer: Skeleton Key

Alex has to pretend he is General Alexei Sarov's son while held prisoner in the Casa de Oro. All the government agencies are a little concerned that Sarov has built a nuclear bomb. The Russian President is part of Sarov's plan. Sarov secretly films Kiriyenko getting drunk and fooling around with scantily-clad women.

The idea is, once the nuclear bomb has detonated in Murmansk, Sarov will release the video. He hopes Kiriyenko will be swept out of power, allowing him to take control of Russia.

Answer: Eagle Strike

The unfortunate person in question is Charlie Roper, ex-NSA agent. He stole a flash drive from them. This flash drive can access the computer mainframe onboard Air Force One. He delivers it to Damian Cray, in exchange for two million dollars. Cray pays him - in quarters. Roper is killed by the sheer weight of them.

Answer: Eagle Strike

Yassen doesn't want to kill Alex, but his henchman, Franco, does. Finally, Yassen arranges a compromise - Alex will act as a matador in the bull ring for a set period of time. If he survives that long, he will be set free. Unfortunately, Franco betrays him - he doesn't leave. Alex manages to confuse the bull and throw a spear at Franco, allowing him to escape.

Answer: Ark Angel

Alex's only option to escape a burning tower black is to walk along the banner that stretches to the next building. However, he is several hundred feet up from the ground. He was left to die by Force Three. As he later realises, however, he was meant to survive.

Answer: Stormbreaker

Nadia Vole's plan to kill Alex is to deposit him in the huge tank along with Sayle's Portguese Man O'War. However, she reckoned without Smithers - Alex's equivalent of James Bond's Q. Alex uses the zit cream to burn through the side of the tank. The tank bursts, and when Alex next looks, the jellyfish has hit Vole in the face. This is one of the most painful ways to die.

Answer: Skeleton Key

George Prescott enjoys bossing Alex around, not realising that if Alex doesn't call someone in time, Sarov will detonate a nuclear bomb in Murmansk. Alex is too late - Sarov and Conrad appear, and take him away. It isn't until Prescott (who has been shot by Conrad) is found that alarm bells are raised. By this stage, Sarov, Alex and the bomb are landing in Murmansk.

Answer: Eagle Strike

The Pleasure Dome was built in Hyde Park for the sole purpose of promoting Damian Cray's new games console - the Gameslayer. Alex sneaks in by pickpocketing a guest's ticket. Once inside, Alex meets Damian Cray for the first time. He also gets to be the first boy in the world to try the Gameslayer.

In fact, he's the only one. The Gameslayer was just a front for Cray's real goal - contructing a flash drive to control Air Force One.

Answer: Point Blanc

While Alex is trying to act as Alex Friend, son of millionaire Sir David Friend, Sir David's daughter Fiona takes Alex horse-riding. Alex quickly decides it is not a sport he enjoys. Fiona leads him to a dark train tunnel, and before he can stop her, she leads the horses inside. Alex comes out the other side, but Fiona doesn't.

He goes back to save her. At that moment, a train enters the tunnel. Alex and the horse desperately try to outrun it, and only just make it.

Answer: Scorpia

The unseen force is Invisible Sword - SCORPIA's deadly weapon. They first inject the unsuspecting person with nanoshells, containing cyanide. This injection would be a normal jab if you are travelling to a foreign country (like the football team) or as a vaccine (in the case of SCORPIA's true target - school children).

They then use terahertz beams to break up the nanoshells, releasing the poison.

Answer: Stormbreaker

Sayle doesn't realise how good a snooker player Alex is until after Alex has beaten him. Sayle is too short to play properly, so his butler, Mr Grin, follows him around the table with a stool.

Answer: Point Blanc

The sadistic headmaster of the Point Blanc Academy, Dr Hugo Grief, has a particularly nasty death planned for Alex. He will allow his students (who are, in reality, clones of himself) to dissect him during Biology. Once again, Alex is saved by Smithers.

He manages to blow a hole in the lock of his door by using an exploding earring. This allows him to attempt an escape from the heelish school.

Answer: Ark Angel

Caesium is an element that explodes when it comes into contact with water. It is hidden inside a wax medallion that Force Three present to Adam Wright, the footballer who lost the match for Drevin. Drevin decides to kill him. The football star takes a shower. The hot water melts the wax, and the Caesium explodes, killing Adam Wright.

Answer: Eagle Strike

Cray's plan is to use the flash drive to access the mainframe. This will give him control of two and a half thousand nuclear warheads. These are aimed at various targets around the world - areas that produce drugs, Cray's lifelong nemesis.

Answer: Point Blanc

Dr Grief cloned himself sixteen times. MI6 caught fifteen of them, but the last one - the one that was surgically altered to look like Alex - returns for revenge. This leads to a battle on top of Alex's school, from where the clone falls to the ground far below.

Answer: Scorpia

Nile suffers from a terrible disease - vitiligo. This means he has a lack of pigments. He was born black, but he is slowly turning white. He's trying to stop Alex shutting down the terahertz beams on SCORPIA's balloon. Alex manages to use Nile's samurai sword to cut through the pipe containing the fuel.

The fuel sprays through the burner, igniting it. This sends a fireball straight into Nile, who falls to his death.

Answer: Stormbreaker

Yassen appears twice in the "Alex Rider" series. He is seen a few times in "Stormbreaker", ultimately saving Alex's life. He has a much larger role as Damian Cray's main henchman in "Eagle Strike".

Answer: Skeleton Key

A carcharodon carcharias is a Great White Shark. Alex encounters it when he's trying to swim to the Devil's Chimney, which will take him into the Casa de Oro. Unknown to him, the entrance is booby-trapped. This is how the CIA agents Turner and Troy died. Fortunately, the shark triggers it instead, and is killed.