Scorpia Rising -

Anthony Horowitz

Walker Books

2011

400 páginas

13h 20m

ISBN-1: 0

The book starts with Zeljan Kurst, leader of Scorpia, being asked by Yannis Ariston Xenopolos to return the Elgin Marbles back to Greece. He assigns the mission to new Scorpia member, Abdul-Aziz Al-Rahim, known as Razim, who suggests blackmail, attemping to almost ruin the British reputation with the rest of the world. Razim is studying the issue of pain, with the aim to come up with a unit of pain, naming it after himself, by torturing all kinds of members of society, with a teenager being the top of his wish list for a new subject. The plan requires Scorpia to build up a file, codenamed Horseman, on the subject of Alex being used as a spy by the British government, threatening to expose it, hence ruining the British reputation, unless the Elgin Marbles are returned to Greece. In a secret prison in Gibraltar, Scorpia manages to free Alex's look-alike from Point Blanc, Julius Grief, one of Hugo Grief's clones, who is hellbent on revenge over Alex for what he did in Point Blanc. Scorpia also decide that the best way to start the ball rolling would be for a body leading MI6 to Cairo, where the main action will happen, to be found, and Kurst decides this is Levi Kroll, who opposed the plan initially. In Britain, MI6 scientists use the clues found with Kroll, who was found floating in the River Thames, to suspect an attack at the Cairo International College of Arts and Education in Cairo, Egypt.

At Alex's school, Alex is attacked by a sniper, which give Mr. Blunt a chance to send Alex on a mission to Cairo to investigate the new head of security Erik Gunter, believing he might have somethings to do with Scorpia. Unlike in most other missions, Jack, Alex's friend and guardian, decide to come along to keep an eye on him, as well as Mr Smithers being sent from MI6 to co-ordinate the mission. The action ultimately leads Alex to a floating market, the House of Gold, which is blown up whilst he is on it. He is then kidnapped by a mysterious group, who take him to a room known as the Bell Room, where he is waterboarded for information. However, this is quickly stopped by Joe Byrne, revealing that the mysterious group are the CIA, who have recognised Alex as an MI6 spy and believe he is there as an assassin. They explain that they are in Cairo to protect the American Secretary of State, who is planning to make a speech announcing Britain to be less influential as a world power – they are well aware of the furore that will be caused by the speech (mentioning that even the President tried to stop it) and, though not happy, are forced to provide security. Scorpia then begin to target Mr Smithers, who is found to have booby trapped his entire house in Cairo, from itching powder to a doormat which leads to the Cairo sewers. Alex then finds out what Smithers' last gadget is – a fat suit which he has been wearing since the moment Alex met him and Alex disocvers that Mr Smithers is really an small, wiry Irishman. This way, Scorpia can never find him, as they don't know what they're looking for. As the book progresses, both Alex and Jack are taken to Razim's fort in the Sahara Desert, where Alex is taken to be Razim's next subject. However, for the plan to work out, they cannot physically cause him pain or mark his body in any way. So Razim instead decides to use the opportunity to subject him to emotional pain. To do this, he pretends to allow Jack to escape from her cell, knock out a guard and drive off in an old Land Rover. Unbeknownst to her, the Land Rover has a bomb rigged to it and, with Alex watching live on a camera, Julius Grief detonates the bomb, killing her instantly. Alex's grief is too much for him to handle and he faints.

Alex is then taken to Cairo, where he is told what will face him by Gunter – when the American Secretary of State gives her anti-British speech, Julius (posing as Alex) will assassinate her, and in the furore that follows, Alex's body will be found dead nearby. Days later, Scorpia will begin their blackmail, threatening to expose their file on MI6's use of a schoolboy as an assassin unless the Elgin Marbles will be returned. As a last request, Alex asks for a cigarette, and as Gunter opens the packet, an irate scorpion inside the packet stings him. Alex had stolen Razim's cigarette packet when at the fort and carefully coaxed a scorpion inside it when in his cell and smuggled it into the van in which they were sitting. This immobilises Gunter enough for Alex to steal his gun and break his nose, killing him from the trauma. Alex then rushes inside, just at the time when Julius was sneaking away in order to go to his hidden sniper rifle and kill the Secretary of State. However, Alex distracts Julius just in the nick of time, so a shot is fired, alerting everyone to the presence of a sniper, but no-one is killed. This organises the frenzy required, but Julius slips away into the crowd, leaving Alex to need to give chase or lose him again.

Alex chases Julius through the streets of Cairo, culminating in a grassy verge by the side of a road, where Julius has slipped. He claims that Alex wouldn't dare kill him, but as Alex turns away, Julius goes for his gun, and is shot in turn by Alex. He then meets up with the CIA, who are forming a joint taskforce with the Egyptians to take out Razim in the desert. However, they need Alex to come with them to be able to properly locate him, and so as to avoid suspicion when landing. They torture the pilot into finding out the code word so they won't get shot down whilst approaching the fort, which works out, and Alex poses as Julius when arriving. However, Razim sees through this, and a shootout begins, whilst Alex and Razim fight it out once and for all. It all ends on the drawbridge between the two halves of the fort, where Razim ends up falling off when it splits, and going into the salt pile below, which acts like quicksand, and slowly crushes him to death. Alex then returns to the burnt-out remains of the van Jack was trying to escape in to mourn for her before going back to London on his own.

The book concludes with a chapter called "Departures", where we see Mrs Jones taking over from Mr Blunt as head of MI6, and it is revealed that it was Blunt who orchestrated the sniper, in order to convince Alex to go on another mission. He then retires for a life of relaxation. It is also revealed that Scorpia is finished and several senior members, including Zeljan Kurst, have been arrested. Alex then boards a flight to America, when Sabina Pleasure's parents have been made his legal guardians, and where he can live a quiet life and grow up normally.

Resenhas (1)

5 (Perfeito)

O livro Scorpia Rising caiu nas minhas mão por acaso. Se trata do livro final da série sobre o adolescente espião Alex Rider, e eu o li não tanto pela história, mas pelo idioma; isso porque o livro não foi traduzido no Brasil, e minha tia avó me deu depois que minha prima se mudou e o deixou para trás. Como eu não queria deixar o inglês enferrujar na minha cabeça, tratei de lê-lo, e acabei me surpreendendo com uma boa história de espionagem, embora direcionada para adolescentes.
Na história, um organização criminosa internacional fundada por ex-espiões de vários países, Scorpia (acrônimo em inglês para os lemas da organização: Sabotagem, Corrupção, Inteligência e Assassinato), é contatada por um milionário grego padecendo de câncer terminal para restituir à Grécia uma escultura que teria sido roubada duzentos anos antes e era mantida no Museus Britânico, a despeito dos incessantes pedidos gregos de devolução.
Os chefões da Scorpia decidem cumprir a tarefa de modo a se vingar no percurso do jovem espião Alex Rider, um menino que acaba de completar 15 anos e já derrotou a organização por duas vezes.
Para isso eles montam um esquema para por fim à vida de Alex, satisfazer o milionário moribundo e ainda envergonhar, humilhar e desacreditar o governo e o povo britânico. A ferramenta escolhida para a missão é o jovem Julius Grief, um clone humano treinado abater Alex, tendo inclusive passado por cirurgias plásticas para se parecer exatamente como seu alvo.