Skeleton Key (novel) Totally Explained

Everything about Skeleton Key Novel totally explained

Skeleton Key is the third book in the Alex Rider series written by British author Anthony Horowitz. The book was released in the United Kingdom on July 8, 2002 and in the United States on April 28, 2003.

Plot introduction

Walker Books plot synopsis:

Plot

Fourteen-year-old Alex Rider is needed once again by MI6 .
   Coincidentally, MI6 have an assignment abroad. A Russian ex-general by the name of Alexei Sarov, a man who still lives in the old days of Communist Russia, is meeting with the Russian President in a few days' time on a Cuban island called Cayo Esqueleto (Spanish for "Skeleton Key"). MI6 wants Alex to investigate. Armed with gadgets from gadget-master Smithers, Alex heads off to Miami to begin his mission. There, he meets CIA agents Tom Turner (Glen Carver in U.S. version) and Belinda Troy. There, Alex discovers that there's more to the mission than just sneaking in. The two agents are looking for a nuclear bomb. Turner and Troy along with Alex are taken to an underwater cave called the "Devil's Chimney" by a man called Garcia and they plan to infiltrate Sarov's house through scuba diving in there. However, when they enter the cave, a mechanism of fake metal stalagmites and stalactites, designed to impale and crush everything that enters the cave, triggers and kills them both. When Turner and Troy don't return for an hour, Alex starts getting suspicious and goes underwater to search for them. Unfortunately, a Great white shark attacks Alex, drawn by blood from when Alex scratched his hand on a bit of metal when diving off the boat. When the shark goes to attack Alex a second time, the shark goes in to the underwater cave and is crushed. Alex returns to the boat and finds Garcia dead. Alex is then kidnapped by Conrad and is tied to a conveyer belt where grinding crushers await at the end of the conveyer belt. Alex is only a second away from getting crushed when General Sarov comes and saves Alex. Alex is then taken to the general's house. However, the last thing that Sarov wants is Alex to be dead. On the contrary, he sees his deceased son in Alex: loyal to his country, brave, resourceful. He wishes to adopt Alex as his own son.
   A few days later, the Russian President and his company left.
   In Murmansk, General Sarov's men plant the bomb on a nuclear submarine in the shipyard. Because Alex refused to accept Sarov as his father, with a feeling of sadness, Sarov leaves Alex to die in the explosion, leaving his henchman, Conrad, to make sure he doesn't get away. After overcoming and killing Conrad, Alex makes a mad dash to a nearby crane to remove the bomb from the submarine. A few moments later, a large fight breaks out between Sarov's men and a Russian Army force.
   After Alex's removes the detonation card from the bomb, Sarov arrives and calmly asks for him to put it back in. Alex doesn't oblige, throwing the detonation card into the ocean, and Sarov threatens to shoot Alex. Alex dares Sarov to go ahead and shoot him, Sarov instead shoots himself.
   Later, in a private meeting between Blunt and Mrs. Jones, we discover that the Russian army that fought back was informed of the situation after the security guard at Edinburgh airport was killed, since the phone hadn't been hung up. Mrs. Jones lashes out at Blunt for not being able to understand the pain Alex is feeling, a trait that would come into play later in the series.
   Alex, back in London, is feeling depressed, and decides to go for a walk. The girl he met at Wimbledon, Sabina Pleasure, catches up with him on a sidewalk. She invites him to go with her family to the South of France in a couple of weeks, and Alex's mood suddenly lifts.

Awards and nominations

Winner of the Red House Children's Book Award 2003.
Winner of the Hampshire Book Award 2003.
Winner of Wilbendon Prize 2008.

Further Information

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