Stormbreaker

The First Alex Rider Adventure

By: Anthony Horowitz

Narrated by: Nathaniel Parker

Length: 4 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

They said his uncle Ian died in a car accident. Alex Rider knows that's a lie, and the bullet holes in his uncle's car confirm the truth. But nothing can prepare him for the news that the uncle he always thought he knew was really a spy for Britain's top-secret intelligence agency.

Enlisted to find his uncle's killers and complete Ian's final mission, Alex suddenly finds himself caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse, with no way out.

The original novel that started the worldwide phenomenon is now a major motion picture!

Take another thrill ride with Alex Rider.

©2006 Anthony Horowitz (P)2009 Listening Library

Critic reviews

 "Slam-bang action, spying and high-tech gadgets...a non-stop thriller!" (Kirkus)

Okay action story held up by an great narrator

What made the experience of listening to Stormbreaker the most enjoyable?

It's hard to care about Alex Rider. As a character, he's simply too perfect. Athletic, intelligent, brave, and rather emotionless except when he's in danger. The plot, as far as I'm concerned, is just another spy adventure. The descriptions in the action scenes were well written, but otherwise, the whole thing fell flat for me. The plot didn't even try to be unpredictable. Even though Alex's young age is supposed to make him an underdog, it never feels that way. Like I said, he's just too much of a clear-cut perfect hero.

Nathaniel Parker's performance did much to bring the story to life. If I'd been reading a paper book, I'm sure I would have skipped over large sections of "blah blah explosion blah blah karate move blah blah cliche monologue" (which would have meant skipping over half the book). Somehow, he manages to infuse even this dry story with excitement, giving Alex a touch of humanity.

nostalgic

I read this series a million times as a kid, it's wonderful to experience it again with a brilliant narrator.

This is not the same Horowitz you know

If you liked Moriarty, then loved House of Silk, be warned that this book is NOT ANYTHING LIKE THOSE BOOKS.

This is a young adult novel. It’s like a James Bond book with a teenager as the protagonist. The plot is simple, no twists or turns.

Which isn’t to say it isn’t masterful — but it’s a masterful book in the young adult genre— that isn’t at all like the other Horowitz books I’ve loved.

And why the first like of the audible description doesn’t point that it’s a YA novel seems very bait-and-switch-y

Getting me excited about books again!

We live in a horridly busy world these days. I haven't sat down and read a book in years, and when asked what I used to read as a schoolboy, I remembered this series by Anthony Horowitz. I do quite a bit of driving and figured, "why not. I used to love these books". Was not dissapointed. The scenes were so much more vivid than I remember and having a talented voice actor as the one heard here really helped to paint the image. Thank you for getting me excited about books again!

Great Story - Challenging Listen

My 8 year old and my 12 year old listened to this book. The book is way to advanced for an 8 year old, although when I paused it a few times to explain a word or phrase, usually becuase it was of UK orgin, the story line was easy enough to follow. Both my boys lost interest quickly mainly because it was hard to listen and follow the accent of the narrator. Action scenes were easy to get through but the more important How, What and Where background information was hard to stay focused on sometimes. I enjoyed the book, as I enjoyed reading (actually reading) the Skeleton Key. I would suggest kids 12 and up for this series and interested in spy/mystery type books.

Review of Stormbreaker: the first book in the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz

Good story, but it was not well written and it lacked detail. The speaker’s voice was strange.

Stellar

I read this book as a young teen even now as an adult it's still an amazing book!

Great book!😀

I would rate it 5 stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

The book has a lot of action so this is a book for people who like action

Awful

Ridiculous and terrible. Not for adults as absolutely nothing in the story is remotely plausible. A modern day and awful "Hardy Boys"

The fantastic start of a new adventure series

I love books that entertain. I love action and adventure. However, because of ADD, my attention span is quite short.
I didn't have that problem with this book. In fact, I had a hard time turning off the car.

This book was well written, not too long, wasn't fluffed up with a bunch of unnecessary vocabulary designed to promote the writer's intellect, and this was an excellent introduction to the Alex Rider series.

It's so hard to find a good adventure author. I can't wait to listen to them all.