Scorpia Rising
First edition cover
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| Author | Anthony Horowitz |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Alex Rider series |
| Genre | Adventure, spy novel |
| Publisher | Walker Books |
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Publication date
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31 March 2011 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 402 |
| ISBN | |
| Preceded by | Crocodile Tears |
| Followed by | Russian Roulette |
Scorpia Rising is the ninth novel in the Alex Rider series written by British author Anthony Horowitz. It was released on 31 March 2011.
Zeljan Kurst, the leader of the international terrorist organization Scorpia, arrives at the British Museum to meet with Yannis Ariston Xenopolos, a Greek billionaire terminally ill with cancer. Ariston explains that he wants somebody to steal a set of sculptures called the Elgin Marbles and return them to Greece; and offers to pay Scorpia $40 million if they will do so. Kurst recruits the emotionless Abdul Aziz Al-Rahim, also known as Razim, a former member of the Mukhabarat and a one time operative for Al-Qaeda, to be head of the operation. Razim lives in a fort located in the middle of the Sahara Desert, where he attempts to create a measurable unit of pain through torture experiments, which he will name after himself. At a Scorpia meeting, Razim suggests to blackmail the British government into letting them return the Elgin Marbles. He also reveals that he will involve Alex Rider, the reluctant teenage spy who defeated Scorpia twice, in his plan. Levi Kroll, a longtime member of Scorpia, disagrees with Razim's plan, fearing that Alex might defeat them again, and is killed while attempting to leave the organization.
At a secret prison in Gibraltar, Julius Grief, the clone of Hugo Grief who was given plastic surgery to resemble Alex, is being held captive. Julius is now hellbent on killing Alex Rider for the death of his so-called "father". One day, Julius finds a note under his bed that tells him to go to the prison library. There, he finds a hidden gun in a book. Julius uses the gun to hold his psychiatrist hostage, forcing the prison warden to open the prison gates. Julius flees and finds an abandoned Suzuki Jimny which he uses to evade the pursuing guards. Scorpia, who engineered Julius's escape, manages to retrieve him and escape by faking his death, using another Suzuki Jimny with a decoy of Julius to run over a cliff and crash. Scorpia begins its operation by arranging for Kroll's body to be found in the River Thames. Using evidence stored in Kroll's body, MI6 suspects an upcoming attack by Scorpia at the Cairo International College of Arts and Education in Cairo, Egypt.
At school, Alex Rider is nearly shot by a sniper, who wounds his best friend Tom Harris during his second shot. Alex manages to incapacitate the sniper by crashing his helicopter, in which he attempts to escape in, into the ocean. Alan Blunt and Mrs. Jones visit Alex in his house in Chelsea and suggests that, because of the attack, they arrange for Alex to take a vacation to Cairo, at the same time investigating the Cairo International College of Arts and Education undercover as a student. They want Alex to investigate Erik Gunter, the school's head of security whom they believe might have something to do with Scorpia. Jack Starbright, Alex's guardian, demands to come with him to keep an eye on him. Mrs. Jones also allows Smithers to go with Alex to co-ordinate Alex with the mission.
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