I've been waitin for this book since like....2008! or something like that, ever since Anthony mentioned it. I’ve always been a pretty big fan of Anthony Horowitz. This started with his Alex Rider series, of course, and so naturally, I couldn’t help myself when I found out that he’d written a short story about one of his side characters. I didn’t really have a lot of expectations for this, of course, since it has firstly been a great deal of time since I read the series but also because the character this story is about was never one that I was particularly attached to. Still, I was curious enough to feel that it was worth reading.

Horowitz's writing style is perfect for teenagers (and even for elderly readers like me). He is never patronising. He resists the temptation to which so many other writers for children (and even adults) give in to lecture and educate. He just tells a story beautifully and grippingly. Adults don't become spies because they're manipulated into it. So John must have had a heart for helping people, yes? Then it makes sense that he meets Yassen, hears about his history, and tries to give him a way out. Don't even gets me started on the actual 'Russian Roulette' game because I don't think I can talk about it. It was so awful.The novel Alex Rider,' Russian Roulette' by Anthony Horowitz is about a boy called Yassen Gregorovich who lives in Russia and his life story. It tells the reader about his hard childhood and how he then later on became an infamous assassin and attempts to kill Alex Rider The final book in the #1 bestselling Alex Rider series with over 6 million copies sold in the U.S. alone! When Ian Rider died at the hands of the assassin Yassen Gregorovich, Alex, ready or not, was thrust into the world of international espionage—the world’s only teenage spy. Alex vowed revenge against Yassen and the two have battled ever since.Yet, years ago, it was none other than Alex’s own father who trained and mentored Yassen, turning him into the killer he would eventually become. When Ian Rider died at the hands of the assassin Yassen Gregorovich, Alex, ready or not, was thrust into the world of international espionage--the world's only teenage spy. Alex vowed revenge against Yassen and the two have battled ever since. Yet, years ago, it was none other than Alex's own father who trained and mentored Yassen, turning him into the killer he would eventually become.

We are told the story of his life and how he became the assassin we first meet in Stormbreaker. Starting from his small town life in Russia, through various places around the world we see how different, yet how similar his life was/is to Alex's. And the title. Russian Roulette. It's perfect. It makes me think as much as the complex moral and philosophical questions this book raised. And what if that 14 year-old boy was Alex Rider, one of the best-loved heroes of children’s literature? I don't like spoilers, so won't get too specific, but I assume the reader is familiar with Yassen from Stormbreaker, Eagle Strike, Scorpia, and Snakehead. In this book, Yassen and John Rider's relationship and their time with Scorpia simply isn't in sync with the other books, especially with Snakehead and the story Alex's godfather Ash tells about Malta.What’s impressive about Anthony Horowitz’s new book, ‘Russian Roulette’, is that, for me, the answer to all those questions is yes. Horowitz has created a powerful and original story in which the bad guy is not only the ‘hero’, but also someone you wish you could save. I know this is rambly but I just need to talk about John for a minute. John is a spy, deep undercover in Scorpia as an agent. He gets teamed up with a new recruit and realises that this kid does not have the heart for killing people. Yes, part of him is surely like 'undermine Scorpia by ruining their new recruit's confidence'. BUT DO NOT EVEN TRY TO TELL ME that a big part of it is not just John trying to help out Yassen. In fact, Malta is completely ignored in this book. I've made allowances in the past with the other books when a few small details don't match up between them, but this one I can't. Mdina is such an integral part of canon. Yassen and John are supposed to be partners, all the way until their assignment in Malta 'goes bad'. It's the motive behind Ash's actions in Snakehead, the motive in Eagle Strike for Yassen telling Alex about Scorpia in the first place. It makes the chapter 'Power Plus' in this book simply hard to accept.

Yes, Yassen does, as I just said, figure out his mentor, Hunter, John Rider, the father of Alex Rider, was sent to infiltrate Scoria. The betrayal scars Yassen, and actually becomes the final domino in his journey as a killer. And he meets John Rider. And John, or Hunter, is like "you're not cut out for this life. You should use your new skills to hide from Scorpia and start a new life". Yassen very nearly does this. YASSEN ALMOST IS NOT AN ASSASSIN. The style is slightly different from the rest of the series as most of it is written in first person instead of third person, but it's still a really enjoyable read!If you have already read through Alex Rider series then, chances are that you have finished this too, if not then remedy that and then just keep on reading. The story of Yassen begins in Russia and his life is fairly regular to start off. He has a mother and father, lives in a small town, and he has friends he spends his days with. He's a rather unremarkable young boy, but suddenly one day things change for him, and everything that he thought was his life is severely tested. He's thrown into a whirlwind of events that are out of his control, and it's not hard to see why he ended up as he did. I think this recap is just what the series needed, and it's an excellent companion story for the Rider books. But that begs a new question, even as I correct my false claim. When Yassen dies in "Eagle Strike," why does he encourage Alex to work for Scorpia? Why does he did he seem to have such respect for Alex's father? "He was a killer like me..." What? Now Yassen is proud of himself? Of course, I was excited for the other Alex books, but I was still waiting and waiting for this, and it's finally here! The main character in this novel is Yassen Gregorovich. He is characterized physically as a very active, adventurous and fit type of person, however he can be very caring about others. For example he did not want himself to take an antidote (the only one) to a biochemical weapon and instead wanted his parents to take it. His dialogue portrays him as very independent person.