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This is a big year for Alex Rider.

First of all, it’s the twentieth anniversary of ‘Stormbreaker’, the first book in the series. This is the book that introduced me to Alex and really changed my life.

Alex is also coming back to the screen. The 8-part adaptation of ‘Point Blanc’, with scripts by Guy Burt and starring Otto Farrant and Brenock O’Connor (who are both wonderful as Alex and as his best friend, Tom Harris) will be on TV soon. A big shout-out to Guy, by the way. He came into the Alex world and somehow made it better. I think you’ll love what he’s done with the characters.

There’s a small Alex Rider book out on World Book Day with four short stories, two of which were written specially for the occasion. ‘The Man With the Wrong Shoes’ takes place about a week after ‘Point Blanc’ ends and tells the story of an assassination attempt at Alex’s School. ‘Metal Head’ is also the story of an assassination and features Yassen Gregorovich, back in action. I loved writing both these short stories. The book is called ‘Undercover’.

But for me the most exciting event of all is the publication of ‘Nightshade’, my first full-length Alex Rider novel for three years. And at 442 pages, it’s the longest one so far!

Nightshade is the name of a new, lethal organisation that takes over where Scorpia left off. They have a plot to cause thousands of deaths in London and once again Alex is the only person who can stop them.

You must let me know what you think when you’ve read it – but I can’t tell you how excited I am about the new story. It’s quite tough, quite adult…but at the same time (I hope) an easy read. The idea is that it will hopefully appeal to new, young readers…but also to their big brothers and sisters who maybe read Alex fifteen years ago.

Anyway, to celebrate publication of the new book this April, here’s a special competition which will only appear on this website.

Quiz

There are seven questions. Take the first letter of every answer and then jumble them up. You will find the name of a character (two words) in an Alex Rider novel.

All you have to do is send the character name and the novel along with an email address were we can contact you. The first correct answer drawn out of a digital hat will receive a signed, hardback edition of ‘Nightshade’.

Click here to enter the competition!

The quiz closes on March 31st. Good luck to everyone who enters. And do keep reading…

Anthony Horowitz