Many a parent will find that getting a boy interested in reading can be a HUGE challenge. My son was definitely an “anti-reader” the past few years so I can completely relate. We’d tried a number of books and series but it all “clicked” when he began reading “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”. I realized that while there’s alot of great books out there to keep girls engaged, finding books for boys was far tougher.

So when I was asked to review “Alex Rider: Crocodile Tears” by Anthony Horowitz, I was excited.  Alex Rider is a teenaged spy, a James Bond-type for the younger set. What boy could resist a character who keeps his cool in the stickiest of story lines?

I knew the books are for boys a few years older than my son, but I was still eager to read – by the time my boy is ready for the books, hopefully Horowitz would have created a few more.

I haven’t read any of the other books within the series, so I don’t have a frame of reference here. But Crocodile Tears is filled with action. And I can see why boys in the age range of 11-15 wound find this an exciting read. (I’m pretty sure that someday I’ll be wrapping a few of these books up and setting them under the tree.) 

From what I understand “Snankehead” is the book to read before this one. “Crocodile Tears” picks up shortly after that adventure. Our young man is 14 years old and is thinking he’s hung up the spyware. But then of course, trouble brews. There’s an explosion in an Indian nuclear power station. His help is needed.

Alex is indeed a guy of international intrigue — this book also has him traveling to Scotland and London. There is more to the story but I don’t want to ruin it for you.

I was surprised by the complexity of the book. And if you’re wondering if you son is “ready” for this kind of book, you might want to do a read through first. I know my son isn’t.  There’s a lot of violence. There’s alot of gruesome deaths. Alex causes a few deaths out of self defense and witnesses a few others. But he doesn’t seem to be bothered by any of it. Alex also finds himself trapped in a car at the bottom of a lake at one point and in a burning building in another scenario. He’s also dangled over hungry crocodiles. Again, he’s not all that emotional which I found to be disappointing. Boys seem to have a difficult enough time expressing their emotions at that age, so why not set a few scenes where he deals with these feelings or talks about it with an adult he trusts?  

 Aside from those issues, Alex doesn’t curse and unlike James Bond, Alex doesn’t concern himself with romance. At one point in the story he is offered alcohol but he refuses. So that’s a plus. 

The book can be found on Amazon, Barnes and Nobel or Borders.