Skeleton Key (novel)
Skeleton Key is the third book in the Alex Rider series written by British author Anthony Horowitz. The book was released in the United Kingdom on July 8, 2002, and in the United States on April 28, 2003.
Summary
On the fictional island of Skeleton Key, off the coast of Cuba, three men meet and supply General Alexei Sarov with uranium and attempt to blackmail him into giving them $1 million more or they will go to the American authorities. Taking this as a threat, General Sarov switches off the runway lights when the plane is about to take off, causing them to fall into crocodile-infested waters.Meanwhile, after the events of Point Blanc, it is revealed that the real Alex Rider survived the fight with his clone. John Crawley approaches Alex at school and offers him tickets to Wimbledon where he goes undercover as a ball boy to investigate a break-in. While managing to foil the Chinese Triad gang Big Circle's attempt for match-fixing, Alex is targeted by the triad gang. After a second attempt on his life is made while surfing on vacation with Sabina Pleasure, whom he befriended at Wimbledon, both MI6 and the CIA arrange to send him away for his own safety. He will be partnered with CIA agents Tom Turner and Belinda Troy to Skeleton Key to investigate General Sarov. The CIA is concerned about the actions of Sarov and his meeting with the Russian president Boris Kiriyenko in a few days' time. En route to Skeleton Key, the 'family' of Alex, Turner, and Troy stop in Miami. Much to Alex's frustration, the two CIA agents are openly unhappy about bringing Alex and they attempt to keep as much information from Alex as possible, clearly discrediting him. Turner meets a criminal known as 'the Salesman' on a boat, the Mayfair Lady, suspecting that the Salesman was involved in a deal with Sarov, who did indeed give Sarov his uranium. The Salesman, however, is aware of Turner's true identity and plans to kill and dump him in the sea. Alex sneaks aboard the boat, knocks out a guard by using a drugged dart in a mobile phone, and sets fire to it, causing a distraction. While both Alex and Turner escape by jumping into the sea, the Mayfair Lady suddenly explodes, killing everyone on board. Turner blames Alex for causing the explosion, who insists he wasn't responsible.
In Skeleton Key, Alex notices a Geiger counter in a Game Boy Advance console he was given by his 'parents' that is designed to pick up nuclear radiation, deducing that Turner and Troy were, in fact, sent to the island to search for a nuclear bomb. The two CIA agents then reluctantly revealed that they suspect Sarov of constructing a nuclear bomb using the uranium bought from the Salesman and tell their plan to infiltrate Sarov's residence – the Casa de Oro, by scuba diving into a cave underneath the house. Alex goes with them but stays on the boat while Turner and Troy go underwater. When they do not return after a while, Alex dives in and, after a close encounter with a shark, discovers a mechanical spear trap that impaled Turner and Troy, which kills the shark as well. When he resurfaces, Garcia, the boat driver, has been killed and Alex is captured by Conrad, Sarov's deformed right-hand man, who drugs him. Although Alex unwillingly tells the truth when interrogated by Conrad, he decides to kill him anyway by having him fed into a sugar-making machine. Sarov stops him at the last second and Alex passes out.
Alex wakes up in the Casa de Oro and meets with Sarov, who says he had known all about the cave, and he promises to tell Alex what he plans to do with him. He also revealed that Conrad planted an explosive on the Mayfair Lady, worried that he will carry out his threat after not receiving any further payment and the death of the three couriers. The next day, Sarov tells Alex about his son Vladamir who was killed in the war in Afghanistan. He plans to adopt Alex as he shares many traits with Vladamir, due to their similar physical appearance and common traits, such as patriotism. He then has Alex moved to the slave house when President Kiriyenko arrives. Alex attempts to escape the mansion by hiding in the boot of a car, but is caught by Sarov using a heartbeat detector. The general spares Alex's life yet again but punishes him through psychological torture. At dinner later that evening, Sarov drugs Kiriyenko and his guests and moves them to the slave house. With the finished nuclear bomb loaded onto Kiriyenko's private Presidential jet, whose pilots serve Sarov, Sarov himself, Alex, Conrad and a small security team takes off and heads to Murmansk, Russia, which Sarov says contains a shipyard of nuclear submarines.
During the flight, Sarov revealed that he plans to detonate the bomb there which will cause a massive explosion and a nuclear fallout. Russia will be blamed and they will turn to their President. Sarov will then release edited footage from an interview which will disgrace Kiriyenko, ousting him from power while reverting Russia back to communism under Sarov, while others in northern Europe die from the nuclear fallout. Sarov will then instigate wars all over the planet until the entire world is united under a communist government, with himself at the helm, and plans for Alex to take over Sarov in the future. When the plane makes a fuel stop in Edinburgh, Alex uses a stun grenade disguised as a Michael Owen keyring, again given by Smithers, to escape from the plane, incapacitating Sarov and Conrad temporarily. Alex attempts to call the police but is stopped by a security guard named George Prescott. Despite Alex's efforts to convince Prescott of the situation, Sarov recaptures Alex and Prescott is killed by Conrad.
At Murmansk, Conrad plants the bomb on a submarine, while Alex is handcuffed to a handrail close to the submarines. An apologetic Sarov approaches him and says although he is reluctant, he has to kill him due to Alex's betrayal earlier, before leaving for Moscow by himself, with soldiers who fought under him in Afghanistan and are fanatically loyal to him. Alex sets himself free by stuffing rapidly-expanding chewing gum, the last gadget which Smithers provided, into the handcuff lock and fights with Conrad, while the Russian army and navy arrive and initiate a firefight against Sarov's men. Although Conrad outmatches Alex, Conrad is caught by the crane's electromagnet passing overhead, lifting him into the air and killing him in the process. Alex takes control of the crane, dropping Conrad's body into the sea and removing the nuclear bomb from the submarine. He then removes the detonation card, only to be told to put it back at gunpoint by a reappearing, injured Sarov, who threatens to override the bomb, killing themselves and everyone else at the shipyard but still setting the plan in motion. Alex instead throws the card into the ocean and rejects becoming Sarov's son. Unable to live with himself anymore, and to avoid being put on trial, Sarov shoots himself, committing suicide in front of Alex.
In the final chapter of the novel, it is revealed that when Alex explained his predicament to Prescott, his office heard their conversation through Prescott's radio, which was still turned on. They immediately notified MI6, who in turn warned the Russians. Alex is depressed after everything he has been through, but Sabina approaches him and invites him on holiday with her family in France for a couple of weeks, which cheers Alex up.