Books Like Alex Rider

Swift and Hawk Series

This series is for our lovers of gaming, high-octane action and cutting-edge tech aged 8+. If you've always wanted to be a spy, this is the series for you. The books follow Swift and Hawk, two teen experts in AI and robotics whose families have mysteriously gone missing. They are both recruited by the top-secret Möbius Programme. The two friends will find themselves plunging head-first into danger, uncovering ruthless organisations and secret robotics companies, and going on dangerous undercover missions... all of course with the help of high-tech gadgets. This is a great alternative series to the Alex Rider books, and each title can be read as a standalone. All the Swift and Hawk books in order: Book 1: Cyberspies (2022) Book 2: Undercover (2023) Book 3: Supernova (2024)...

Ali Cross

Alex's son Ali is eager to follow in his father's footsteps as a detective, but when his best friend goes missing, what price will he have to pay to solve the mystery? LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON Alex Cross The brilliant DC detective who never gives up on a case. Ali Cross The tenacious kid who's determined to follow in his father's footsteps. The case that finally gives him a chance Ali knows Gabe Qualls better than anyone, so when his friend goes missing, Ali jumps right into action. Being Alex Cross's son has taught him the skills he needs to solve the mystery- intelligence, persistence, and logic. One thing he didn't inherit? Patience. Because Ali knows that with every day that passes without the police finding Gabe, the less likely it is that he'll ever be found. And being Alex Cross's son, he refuses to accept those odds.

Young Bond: SilverFin

Young Bond: SilverFin is the first explosive book in Charlie Higson's bestselling Young Bond series.

Before the name became a legend. Before the boy became a man. Meet Bond. James Bond.

There's something in the water at Loch Silverfin. Something deadly. Something that must be kept secret...

It's James Bond's first day at Eton, and he's already met his first enemy. This is the start of an adventure that will take him from the school playing fields to the remote shores of Loch Silverfin and a terrifying discovery that threatens to unleash a new breed of warfare.

'Good, gritty and funny . . . Very clever, Bond, very clever indeed' Daily Mail

'a page-turning adventure that will get the hairs standing up on the back of your neck' Sunday Express

***www.youngbond.com***

Artemis Fowl

Movie available from June 12th only on Disney+

Join the world of Artemis Fowl , the number one bestseller by Eoin Colfer.

AT JUST TWELVE YEARS OLD, ARTEMIS FOWL IS A CRIMINAL GENIUS.

No scheme is too dastardly, no plot too devious. And he's just discovered that fairies are real.

Poor fairies.

But these are not the cuddly creatures of bedtime stories. They are armed. They are dangerous. And when Artemis captures Captain Holly Short for her fairy gold, he messes with the wrong elf.

Holly isn't armed but she's incredibly dangerous, and pretty annoyed with all the kidnapping.

Artemis Fowl is about to find out that fairies fight back . . .

The Boy Behind The Wall

A page-turning thriller for 11+ readers set on either side of the Berlin Wall, perfect for fans of Alex Rider and CHERUB.

What would you risk for a friend you've never met . . . ?

In 1960s Berlin the Wall is everywhere. It cuts through streets, parks, even houses. Teenagers Harry and Jakob live either side of the divide.

In West Berlin, American Harry witnesses the brutal shooting of a boy trying to escape over the Wall into the West, and decides to emulate his comic book heroes and help those in the East however he can.

On the other side in East Berlin, Jakob is the adopted son of a high up Stasi officer, feeling suffocated by the rules of a strictly regimented society and desperate to find his real family.

When Jakob finds a message that Harry has sent over the Wall, he grasps the opportunity. The boys begin a secret friendship, evading the authorities using lemon juice as invisible ink to share hidden messages.

They soon realise that a bold plot to carve a tunnel under the wall is the only way out for Jakob - and it's time to put their friendship to the test. Just how much are they prepared to risk for each other - and for freedom?

H.I.V.E. (Higher Institute of Villainous Education)

H.I.V.E. (Higher Institute of Villainous Education) is a top-secret school of applied villainy where children with a precocious gift for wrongdoing are sent to develop their talents into criminal mastermind. After all, 'villains have the best lines and wear the best costumes'. One small catch is that the children cannot leave until training is complete, six years later. With villainy comes a certain freedom of thought, and every year one student in particular will show exceptional talent - after all, it takes the best to produce the worst. This year there are two students: Otto Malpense and his new friend Wing Fanchu are both exceptionally bad, and they are definitely not keen on being held against their will for six long years . . .

Skulduggery Pleasant

Meet the great Skulduggery Pleasant: wise-cracking detective, powerful magician, master of dirty tricks and burglary (in the name of the greater good, of course).

Oh yeah. And dead.

Then there's his sidekick, Stephanie. She's... well, she's a twelve-year-old girl. With a pair like this on the case, evil had better watch out...

"So you won't keep anything from me again?"
He put his hand to his chest. "Cross my heart and hope to die."
"Okay then. Though you don't actually have a heart," she said.
"I know."
"And technically, you've already died."
"I know that too."
"Just so we're clear."

Stephanie's uncle Gordon is a writer of horror fiction. But when he dies and leaves her his estate, Stephanie learns that while he may have written horror, it certainly wasn't fiction.

Pursued by evil forces intent on recovering a mysterious key, Stephanie finds help from an unusual source - the wisecracking skeleton of a dead wizard.

When all hell breaks loose, it's lucky for Skulduggery that he's already dead. Though he's about to discover that being a skeleton doesn't stop you from being tortured, if the torturer is determined enough. And if there's anything Skulduggery hates, it's torture... Will evil win the day? Will Stephanie and Skulduggery stop bickering long enough to stop it? One thing's for sure: evil won't know what's hit it.

The Way of the Warrior (Young Samurai, Book 1)

August 1611. Jack Fletcher is shipwrecked off the coast of Japan - his beloved father and the crew lie slaughtered by ninja pirates.

Rescued by the legendary sword master Masamoto Takeshi, Jack's only hope is to become a samurai warrior. And so his training begins.

But life at the samurai school is a constant fight for survival. Even with his friend Akiko by his side, Jack is singled out by bullies and treated as an outcast.

With courage in his heart and his sword held high, can Jack prove himself and face his deadliest rival yet?

Bodyguard: Hostage (Book 1)

In a dangerous world, everyone needs protection.

Bodyguard: Hostage is the new thriller from Chris Bradford, bestselling author of Young Samurai. Bodyguard is a bulletproof action-adventure series that fans of Cherub and Alex Rider will love. This is Lee Child for younger readers - Jason Bourne for the next generation.

With the rise of teen stars, the intense media focus on celeb families and a new wave of billionaires, adults are no longer the only target for hostage-taking, blackmail and assassination - kids are too.

That's why they need a young bodyguard like Connor Reeves to protect them.

Recruited into the ranks of a covert young bodyguard squad, 14-year-old Connor Reeves embarks on a rigorous close protection course. Training in surveillance, anti-ambush exercises, hostage survival and unarmed combat, he's put through his paces and wonders if he will actually survive the course.

But when the US President summons Connor to protect his impulsive teenage daughter, Connor's training is put to the ultimate test. For Connor discovers that the First Daughter, Alicia, doesn't want to be guarded. She just wants to have fun. And with no clue Connor is her bodyguard, Alicia tries to elude her Secret Service agents and lead Connor astray. But unknown to her, a terrorist sleeper cell has been activated.

Its mission: to take the president's daughter HOSTAGE...

And don't miss Bodyguard: Ransom coming soon.

CHERUB: The Recruit: Book 1

The first title in the number one bestselling CHERUB series! James hits rock bottom before he's offered a new start in an intriguing organisation ...

A terrorist doesn't let strangers in her flat because they might be undercover police or intelligence agents, but her children bring their mates home and they run all over the place. The terrorist doesn't know that one of these kids has bugged every room in her house, made copies of all her computer files and stolen her address book. The kid works for CHERUB.

CHERUB agents are aged between ten and seventeen. They live in the real world, slipping under adult radar and getting information that sends criminals and terrorists to jail.

For official purposes, these children do not exist.

Secrets of the Tombs: The Phoenix Code: Book 1

When Ryan Flint accompanies his journalist mother to an archaeological expedition in Egypt's Valley of the Kings, he isn't expecting life-threatening danger and a 3,000-year-old murder mystery - but that's exactly what he finds! Before he knows it, he has joined forces with Cleo McNeil, an archaeologist's daughter, to solve secret codes, discover an ancient treasure and outwit a strange cult intent on gaining possession of the relic.

Can Ryan and Cleo unravel the mystery and solve the Phoenix Code before it's too late?

Indiana Jones meets THE DA VINCI CODE in this exciting new series for readers of 9+.

Itch

'A great debut. You'll be itching to read more.' Anthony Horowitz

Meet Itch - an accidental, accident-prone hero. Science is his weapon. Elements are his gadgets. All-action adventure perfect for fans of Alex Rider and Young Bond.

Itchingham Lofte - known as Itch - is fourteen, and loves science, especially chemistry. He's also an element-hunter: he's collecting all the elements in the periodic table. Which has some interesting and rather destructive results in his bedroom.

Then, Itch makes a discovery. A new element, never seen before. At first no one believes him - but soon someone hears about the strange new rock and wants it for himself. And Itch and his family are catapulted into a breathless adventure with terrifyingly high stakes . . .

The debut novel from BBC radio presenter Simon Mayo.

The Shapeshifter: Finding the Fox

Adventure, conspiracy and shapeshifting - X-Men meets Alex Rider. Dax Jones is an ordinary schoolboy . . . until something extraordinary happens. Whilst frightened for his life, he inexplicably changes into a fox! He is offered a place at a secret government school where he can develop, and learn to control, his powers. But if Dax accepts, on no account can he tell anybody. Dax jumps at the chance of getting away from his unhappy home. But before long he begins to wonder who exactly is behind the school, and what they want from the pupils there. Suddenly Dax's fox senses are on high alert . . .

Lockwood & Co: The Screaming Staircase: Book 1

When the dead come back to haunt the living, Lockwood & Co. step in . . .

For more than fifty years, the country has been affected by a horrifying epidemic of ghosts. A number of Psychic Investigations Agencies have sprung up to destroy the dangerous apparitions.

Lucy Carlyle, a talented young agent, arrives in London hoping for a notable career. Instead she finds herself joining the smallest most ramshackle agency in the city, run by the charismatic Anthony Lockwood. When one of their cases goes horribly wrong, Lockwood & Co. have one last chance of redemption. Unfortunately this involves spending the night in one of the most haunted houses in England, and trying to escape alive.

Set in a city stalked by spectres, The Screaming Staircase is the first in a chilling new series full of suspense, humour and truly terrifying ghosts. Your nights will never be the same again . . .

Theodore Boone: Theodore Boone 1

Half the man, twice the lawyer.

In the small city of Strattenburg, there are many lawyers, and though he's only thirteen years old, Theo Boone thinks he's one of them. Theo knows every judge, policeman, court clerk - and a lot about the law. He dreams of being a great trial lawyer, of a life in the courtroom. But Theo finds himself in court much sooner than he expected. Because he knows so much - maybe too much - he is suddenly dragged into the middle of a sensational murder trial. A cold-blooded killer is about to go free, and only Theo knows the truth. The stakes are high, but Theo won't stop until justice is served.

Agent 21: Book 1

Some authors just write about it. Chris Ryan has been there, done it, and lived to tell the tale. Agent 21 is the first in the action-packed adventure series by the real-life SAS hero.

When Zak Darke's parents die in an unexplained mass murder he's left alone in the world. That is until he's sought out by a mysterious man: 'I work for a government agency,' the man tells him. 'You don't need to know which one. Not yet. All you need to know is that we've had our eye on you. There's a possibility you could help us in certain . . . operational situations.'

Zak becomes Agent 21. What happened to the 20 agents before him he'll never know. What he does know is that his life is about to change for ever . . .

Swarm Rising

For fans of Alex Rider, Young Bond and Cherub, this exciting action-adventure is the first children's book by astronaut Tim Peake and bestselling author Steve Cole, and it's based on space-age science and technology.
When Danny is kidnapped by Adi - who can run through brick walls and make cars drive on water - he realises that all humans are in danger. Adi is part of a super-advanced hive mind, the Swarm, which intends to protect the Earth from the environmental catastrophe caused by the human race.

Adi - Alien Digital Intelligence in the form of a girl - can bend the laws of physics and control digital data, but as a digital being she wants to know what it's like to be human. Which is where Danny comes in.

But what exactly is the 'help' the secretive Swarm is offering? Can Danny and his friend Jamila help Adi stop the Swarm Agents and give humanity a second chance?