| Title | : | Point Blank (Alex Rider, #2) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0142406120 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780142406120 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 274 |
| Publication | : | First published September 3, 2001 |
| Awards | : | Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award Grade 6-9 (2004), Askew's Children's Book Award |
Fourteen-year-old Alex is back at school trying to adapt to his new double life... and double homework. But MI6 have other plans for him.
Armed with a false ID and a new collection of brilliantly disguised gadgets, Alex must infiltrate the mysterious Point Blanc Academy and establish the truth about what is really happening there. Can he alert the world to what he finds before it is too late?
Point Blank (Alex Rider, #2) Reviews
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Point Blanc = Point Blank (Alex Rider, #2), Anthony Horowitz
Point Blanc is the second book in the Alex Rider series, written by British author Anthony Horowitz. The book was released in the United Kingdom on September 3, 2001.
The book opens with the death of American electronics billionaire Michael J. Roscoe in an elevator shaft in his New York City office, arranged by a reputable contract killer known only as The Gentleman. In London, Alex Rider ends up in trouble with the police for causing a large amount of damage to a new conference centre while trying to expose a drug dealer operating at Brookland School.
In exchange for any potential charges being dropped, Alex is assigned by MI6 to investigate the motive behind the mysterious deaths of Roscoe and another billionaire, former KGB agent and head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, General Viktor Ivanov, who died when his private yacht exploded on the Black Sea. The only apparent connection between the two men is that they both had a son attending Point Blanc, an academy for the problem sons of billionaires in the French Alps run by a South African scientist, Dr. Hugo Grief. ...
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز دوم ماه مارس سال2010میلادی
عنوان: نقطه سیاه، در آلپ مرگ منتظر الکس رایدر است؛ نویسنده: آنتونی هوروویتس؛ مترج: تینا فلاحتی نوین؛ نشر تهران، ایرانبان، سال1389، در250ص، جلد دوم از سری آلکس رایدر، شابک9789642980666؛ موضوع: داستانهای کودکان و نوجوانان از نویسندگان بریتانیا - سده21م
توانایی، و نفوذ رمان‌های جنایی را، نمی‌توان در دنیای ادبیات داستانی، نادیده گرفت؛ همان‌قدر که یک فیلم جنایی و معمایی، می‌تواند همچون طبل در گوشها صدا کند، یک رمان ژانر وحشت هم، می‌تواند برای خوانشگر خویش، جاذبه داشته و سرگرم کننده باشد؛ رویدادهای ناباورانه، ترس و هیجان، و پایان ناباورانه، از عناصری هستند، که در بیش‌تر داستانهای جنایی، وجود دارند و خواهند داشت، و همینها هستند که موجب دل انگیزی و رونق این ژانر، در ادبیات شده اند؛ «آنتونی هوروویتس»، در سری داستانهای «الکس رایدر»، از این عناصر سود برده اند؛ و اینبار در کتاب دوم از این سری، با عنوان «نقطه سیاه»، یک تجربه ی تکرار نشدنی برای خوانشگرانش برساخته است
نقل از متن: (از آنچه رخ داده بود، چنان حیرتزده بود، که به هیچ عنوان، نمیتوانست درک کند، چه روی داده است، که حتی فریاد هم نزد؛ فقط در تاریکی چاه آسانسور، سقوط کرد، دو بار به دیوارها خورد، و سپس، دویست متر پایینتر، با آسفالت سخت زیرزمین، برخورد کرد؛ آسانسور سر جایش ماند؛ محکم به نظر میرسید، اما در واقع، اصلا آنجا نبود؛ آنچه «روسکو» به داخلش گام گذاشته بود، یک هولوگرام نمایش داده شده در فضای خالیِ چاهِ آسانسور بود، جاییکه باید آسانسور واقعی، قرار داشته باشد؛ «جنتلمن» در را طوری برنامه ریزی کرده بود، تا وقتی «روسکو» دکمه را فشار دهد، باز شود، و بی سر و صدا گام گذاشتن او را به درون حفره ی مرگ، تماشا کرده بود؛ اگر میلیاردر تنها لحظه ای به بالا نگاه کرده بود، میتوانست پرژکتور نقره ای هولوگرام را ببیند، که چند متر بالای سرش، پرتو میافشاند؛ اما مردی که برای رفتن به ناهار، پای توی آسانسور میگذارد، به بالا نگاه نمیکند؛ «جنتلمن» این را میدانست، و او هرگز اشتباه نمیکرد.)؛ پایان نقل
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 30/02/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ 26/12/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی -
This was a great story, I really love the Alex Rider and Jason Steed series.
If you want to escape read a teen spy novel. Anthony Horowitz is a brilliant author.
This book we see Alex go to Switzerland, where the worlds richest kids or kids or rich and important parents go to school but are brainwashed. -
Synopsis: After completing his first mission with MI6, teenage spy Alex Rider is sent on another quest: to discover the truth about Point Blank, a school for troubled youth. Posing as the son of a wealthy businessman, Alex goes to the school, only to be weirded out by what he sees. What secret could the director of Point Blank be hiding?
The Good: Anthony Horowitz's writing is great, as usual, and there was a real sense of menace and suspense throughout the novel.
The Bad: It could have used a little more action.
Content Concerns:
Sex: Alex leers at a teenage girl in a bikini, but only in a "PG" way; a brief reference to a man and woman who aren't married being in bed together.
Nudity: A teenage girl is said to be wearing a bikini more than once.
Language: Three or four uses of the h-word; one use of "bloody".
Violence: Two or three chapters of intense, but non-graphic, action; a gruesome operation is described.
Drugs: Smoking is referenced; Alex brings down a known drug dealer.
Frightening/Intense Scenes: Creepy villain; more than one character almost dies; emotional intensity. -
I came back to Point Blank after just watching the new TV series of Alex Rider staring Otto Farrant. The series starts off on book 2, Point Blanc its as if book 1, Stormbreaker never happened. If you get one that the TV series is good.
Point Blanc is a well constructed book, lots of action as our teen spy Alex Rider in the style of his rival Jason Steed gets to work uncovering a plot at an exclusive private school in the Alps.
I have read all 12 Alex Rider Books and the 7 Jason Steed books, both series are still up on my favourite lists, action, get away readable and real pager turners.
I would recommend Alex Rider Point Blanc for anyone 11 and older. -
The worst time to feel alone is when you're in a crowd.
I really enjoyed the second book in this series much more than i did the first one, it just stepped itself up from the first one. I now have more of an understanding of this world and the main character Alex Rider.
Plot: this book picks up a couple of months after the first book ended and Alex is trying to live a normal life and attend school, however this doesn't last long when MI6 needs his help and he is soon going undercover in a private school. This story went in a total different direction than i was expecting it to go in and i was honestly surprised. Anthony really knows how to write crazy good villains and it shows with the two main villains in this book because they are both all sorts of crazy and i would not like to face them myself.
The characters were more funnier, the plot was action packed and evolved for me since the first book and i'm thankful that happened. All the settings and and scenes went into more depth that i was wanting this story to have and man did the author deliver because it was brilliantly done.
I would love for Alex to have maybe two friends to help him with his adventures because its still one thing for me thats missing from this series and i hope in book three i get to see another person help Alex on his adventure.
I enjoyed this book, the ending of this book was crazy good and i know i didn't enjoy stormbreaker but this second book point blank really saved it for me and i will definitely continue on with this series after this strong second book. -
Liked this better than Stormbreaker, because the involvement of a 14-year old spy seemed more credible, but perhaps it just took a second book? Alex Rider is coerced to masquerade as a hell child of a magnate to enter a prestigious school, where miscreants are re-educated. When two parents die under unusual circumstances, MI6 decides something is wrong there. Alex is sent to a mountaintop in Switzerland, where he is basically on his own to discover what is rotten there and uncovers a devious plot by a sociopath. Addendum: Great murder at the beginning involving a holographic projection of an elevator in an empty shaft!!
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আলহামদুলিল্লাহ দুর্দান্ত একটা টানটান উত্তেজনার অ্যাকশনপ্যাকড রোমাঞ্চকর, গা ছমছমে রহস্যময়তায় মোড়া টিনেজ স্পাই থ্রিলার উপন্যাস দিয়ে ২০২২ সালের বই পড়ার খাতা খোলা হলো। সুলেখক অ্যান্থনি হরোউইৎযের 'অ্যালেক্স রাইডার' নামে কিশোরবয়স্ক ইয়াং অ্যাডাল্ট সিরিজ হলেও কাজের দিক থেকে যেকোন পরিণতমনস্ক অ্যাকশন থ্রিলার স্পাই সিরিজের থেকে কোনো অংশে কম না... অন্তত প্রথম দুটি উপন্যাস টানের উপর পড়ে ফেলে যা মনে হচ্ছে। 'স্টর্মব্রেকার' বেশ ভাল লেগেছিল, এবার 'পয়েন্ট ব্লাঙ্ক' আরো বেশি ভাল লাগলো। দ্বিতীয় উপন্যাসটি প্রথমটির চেয়ে অনেকদিক থেকেই ইমপ্রুভমেন্ট।
কেবল সার্বক্ষণিক অতিমাত্রার সিরিয়াস টোন কিছুটা কমিয়ে যদি মাঝেমধ্যে হালকা হিউমার আনা সম্ভব হতো! কিশোরকেন্দ্রিক সিরিজ এতোটা শুষ্কগম্ভীর হলে সুলিখিত উপন্যাস পড়তেও মাঝে মাঝে হাঁফ ধরে যায়। -
This is the book that got me hooked on the Alex Rider series. Anthony Horrowitz was so clever in making up this story. How he made it sound realistic but I also think it was a bit science fiction-ish but I liked that about it. When a crazy scientist makes clones of himself and replaces sons of multimillionaires with them it sounds impossible right? But not for Anthony Horrowitz.
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টিনেজ উইজার্ড, ডেমিগড, ভ্যাম্পায়ার এসব এর কাহিনী পড়তে পড়তে আসলেও একটু বোরিং বোরিং লাগছিল। একটু রিয়েলিস্টিক কিছু পড়তে ইচ্ছে করছিল। তখন ই মনে হল পয়েন্ট ব্ল্যাংক এর কথা। আমাদের টিনেজ জেমস বন্ড। :)
এবং নিরাশ হতে হয়নি। বরং সিরিজটার প্রতি আগ্রহ আরো বহুগুণে বেড়ে গেল। বই এর শুরু থেকে শেষ -পুরোটা মনোযোগ ধরে রাখ���ে বাধ্য। আদর্শ স্পাই থ্রিলার। শুরুতে প্লট টা হয়ত তেমন কিছু মনে হবে না, কিন্তু একটু পরেই একদম মাথা ঘুরিয়ে দেয়ার মত প্লট বের হয়ে আসবে। ��েখক আসলেই অনেক ভাল লেখেন।
একশন, স্পাই গ্যাজেট, ধাওয়া-ধাওয়ি মিলিয়ে পারফেক্ট একটা বই। -
Roughly 2.25 to 2.5 stars
We are again with Alex Rider - teenage spy, but now he's equipped with annoying quips. Very reminiscent of Bond.
Alex is sent in to another scenario only he can do. We meet some very annoying and spoilt teenagers prior to Alex being deployed. If you can call it that.
This book had slightly better descriptions, no character growth, and yet again side characters are just there to fill the gaps. There was a slower pace and the villain was very predictable.
The ending left a big question unanswered. All of Alex's intel is stumbled on and convenient. I also don't like the "fat shaming"; it's not needed or pertinent to the story nor did I enjoy the comparison of a female character to "a man in drag".
Again, I'm not the intended audience but I can see why kids would enjoy them. Not over complicated and a quick read. You need to suspend your disbelief a lot. -
3.5 Stars
This one was never a favourite of mine in the series. Yay for being down 2 out of 13 books. -
3.5 Kick ass stars
I read this book a long time ago and enjoyed it a lot especially because the main character is a fourteen years old male devoid of the usual teenage angst. This book is the second in the Alex Rider series where Alex is a spy in training for MI6. During the course of his training Alex learns more about the world and uncovers a potentially deadly secret which leads our hero into a daring adventure. This was a fun and entertaining book with likeable characters and fantastic action. -
I loved this one even more than the first. Alexonce again is thrown into a dangerous situation by the increasingly nasty and hateful Alan Blunt. This time he is sent undercover to a school in the French mountains.
The story is exciting and I think that both adults as well as kids will love it. I like the character of Alex, so resourceful and thinking fast on his feet. I've already got book 3 on its way. -
Very good, the storyline is not at all what I was expecting
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I’ve grown up with these books, the movie (and now the new tv show!) and I love this world of a young teenage spy! I always find the authors writing, plots and overall story absolutely amazing and this book was no exception. It made for effortless reading, edge of the seat stuff and I’m so glad I picked up these books again. The adventures of Alex Rider, kickass teenage spy working for MI6, cool gadgets and exciting missions. Couldn’t ask for more!
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These are addicting. I think I am gonna read the third one before I go to bed.
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4.5 Stars. Part young Bond, part MacGyver and totally awesome! I love Alex's dry wit, and his reluctance to be a super spy. It sets the series a part and makes it so fun. This one was a tiny bit predictable, so not quite a 5 star read for me. But this is probably the 5th or so time I've read this book since I was a teenager, and I love it every time.
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Such as fast-paced suspense-filled book! I loved every page of this book!! Alex is such a funny and witty character and, this is such an interesting series that I think I will never get bored of. Can't wait to read the next book!
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anthony horowitz LOVES telling us the exact make and model of every single piece of machinery in his books and I love to not care
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On one hand I liked this book more than the first one, on the other hand I found it way more creepy. Although that's probably just me.
So this is the second book in the Alex rider series and again, the characters are pretty cool, the adventure is awesome, and well the gadgets speak for themselves.
This book is about a mission in the french Alps, because there seems to be something fishy about a finishing school built inside a mental asylum.
***** SPOILERS *****
Ok first of all, how creepy was that ending?? It's probably just me, because cloning and all things futuristic just tend to really freak me out but like, I did NOT like how we don't really know if that was the real Alex that walked away from that school!! I mean obviously it has to be because there are like 8 more books.. (And I may or may not have checked the beginning of the next one) But still!! That was creepy...
I was hoping to see more of that Russian assassin in this one.. But he wasn't there.. Oh well.
I've realised that I got kinda attached to Wolf so I hope there's more of him too. I think that's just because I read the graphic novel though, because I just have this very clear image of him and that always helps with liking a character..
Which leads me to a problem I had with the description of Mrs Stellenbosch. I did not manage to picture what she looked like. Basically all I could see was this huge bodybuilder person with a high pitched voice, but I could NOT picture her wearing any of those evening dresses! I mean really, how would that even look on her... There's only so much my imagination can make up..
Anyway... That's the end of rant I guess. -
A novel for children. There isn't an element which can capture the heart of a adult or young adult. But I am sure that the children will be captivated.
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I think its saying something when a book u read as a teenager still manage to hook u as an adult.
I only have a vague memory of this book but its still very enjoyable and also a bit creepy with the Professor cloning himself and give his clones plastic surgery to pass off as children of rich and influential parents.
I totally didn't see that ending coming. Mr Horowitz did gives some clues that one clones escape but damn still wouldn't have guess it -
That was amazing! I loved the second installment in the series, and I loved that it was set in a school. It was full of action and kept me guessing as to what would happen next. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
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Overall Rating : B+
"Anyway, wasn't this what he had been asking for only the day before? Another adventure. Another chance to save the world."
Alex Rider back at it again, saving the world, delivering sass, and kicking ass. With a surprise twist at the end to keep you reading more (definitely worked on tween me 😆).
This series is like drinking a warm cup of hot cocoa in front of a fireplace while snowing outside. My comfort place. I'm so glad I'm rereading them. -
I enjoyed this 2nd book far more than the first!! I will say the first season of the tv series is about the 2nd book and I LOVED IT so a bit biased. I find the action in this one much more engaging and has some super sick moments!
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That ending was badass. I'm just saying.
Point Blanc stepped up one notch from Stormbreaker. Where in Stormbreaker Alex Rider started out being innocent and just a normal school boy, and ended up as a boy interested in spy work, in Point Blanc he changes so much more. I won't say how because it will spoil everything, but it is visible, and it I am looking very much forward to see how he will change over the course of the books.
Alex started out as the same boy we left - interested in being a spy and not really able to forget what he has been through. He was having a hard time concentrating in school because really, when having been through the adventure he has, it must be hard to go back to school. So when M16 calls for him again he ends up saying yes, even though the assignment sounds boring and they must use a little blackmail. In the end he probably wouldn't have been able to say no - he was practically calling for a new adventure, and boy do he get one.
He has to pretend to be David Friend, a man with a lot of money's son, and go to the prestigious finishing school for rich and famous people's delinquent sons. But something is wrong there, and Alex senses it from day one, starting with that there are way too many guards with guns for a school with only seven students, and that two of the four floors are totally closed for the boys. Also the fact that the supposed drug taking, stealing boys all behave like angels except for one.
It was quite easy to guess what was going on, and that is also why I'm only giving it four stars. There was a chapter where Alex wasn't awake, but we heard about what happened, and it gave away too much. But even though, the plot advanced nicely and there really wasn't any time to be bored. Alex really had an adventure this time, and there was action all the time I personally was hooked from page one. Of course there wasn't that much happening in the beginning because the book and Alex as a person had to be introduced, but after just a few pages the action suddenly stars and it just doesn't stop again. There are few moments where you as a reader can relax, and that was just so nice. I like action-packed books if they are written nicely and the pace is well-done and this one excelled at just that.
The prose was great. I never found anything awkward. It is clear that it's written for teenagers but that was to be expected, so nothing bad to say about that.
Overall, I really liked this book and am looking very much forward to reading Skeleton Key! -
I read '
Stormbreaker' the first Alex Rider book, a year ago and had a great time. It was everything I'd thought it would be except that the people Alex works for, the 'good guys' were really rather unpleasant.I'd meant to get back to Alex sooner but... so many books, so many good intentions, so little time, yada yada yada. Anyway, I included the second book in my Cold Comfort Reads challenge because much of it is set at the top of the French Alps in winter.
I enjoyed the fact that the book didn't plunge Alex straight into a conflict with an eccentric super-villain in his Alpine Aerie (although we definitely got there in the end, right down to the disposable guards and the 'Before-I-kill-let-me-share-the-details-of-my-evil-plan-for-world-domination monologuing from the uber-villain).
The scene is set with a high tech, very elaborate assassination. Then we move to Alex, who is back in his civilian life but who has found it no longer fits him well We watch as he extracts a spectacular if ill-conceived revenge on the guy selling drugs at the gates of his school. Then we meet MI6, who are just as unpleasant as they were last time, and they set Alex up with a whole new identity, part of which puts him at a billionaire's home for a few days, pretending to be his son. I quite enjoyed watching Alex deal with the posh-boy wannabe toughs. I thought he let them get off lightly. The scene with the horse I could have lived without but it was still fun.
Then Alex is in the mountains, undercover, trying to figure out what the evil genius is up to. What the evil genius was up to was no more absurd than the average Bond villain and a lot more original but it still turned my suspension of disbelief into a bungee jump.
The action scenes on the mountain were joyously over the top. Hurtling down a black run in the dark while being chased by guys on snowmobiles equipped with machine-guns. Wonderful stuff.
The ending was a little odd but was still fun.
I'm hoping not to leave it a year until my next visit with Alex. He's the perfect distraction from a miserable world.
My enjoyment was greatly enhanced by listening to the audiobook version, narrated with verve and energy by Oliver Chris.
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Woah, talk about suspense! This book was packed with nonstop action and I loved every single minute of it. The scenes are perfectly set up, giving insight from various perspectives to really establish the events. It was ingenious! I could really imagine everything that was going on - it was as if I was watching a movie. The whole plot was brilliant and keeps you guessing throughout. How Anthony Horowitz comes up with these original conspiracies and ideas, I just don't know. What I do know is that I'll definitely keep reading this series!
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This is the second Alex Rider book that I've read and been completely surprised by how much I like it.
Alex's initial stunt to get him back in everyone's radar shocked me! What was he thinking.
But from there, although I had reservations about how his assignment was possible to pull off, I think the story did a great job of pulling us through.
The end wasn't a huge surprise but it was action packed and full of adventure. I look forward to reading more of the series.
