Originally published as A Taste of Death, now included in the Secret Weapon short story collection with the title, The Man with Eleven Fingers. It's set after Stormbreaker. Alex has a dentist appointment but on the way he's distracted by a crime. Alex grabs a sample chocolate from a guy off the street and finds it odd that Cadburys is spelt wrong. Then he recognises one of the drivers as a former Sayle Enterprises employee - one who threatened to kill him. Sykes turned to Alex. “Did MI6 send you after us?” he demanded. “No.” There was no point lying. “I saw your driver. I recognized him. He led me to you.” He paused. “Also, you don’t know how to spell Cadbury.”

Horowitz, Anthony. Secret Weapon (Alex Rider) . Walker Books. Kindle Edition. Lol. Loved that. Alex follows and uncovers a plot to break out a prisoner who stole a hundred million pounds (for charity so you know - not so bad). And finally there was Sir Frederick Meadows in his expensive suit, blinking behind his glasses, still holding the gun. “Did you really take it?” Alex asked. “The money?” “Yes, I did. A hundred and twenty million pounds! More money than you can begin to imagine.” “What were you going to do with it?” “Well, you probably won’t believe me, but I wanted to give it all to charity.” “Really?” Alex was amazed. “Absolutely. The fun of it was actually stealing it, doing it under everyone’s noses without getting caught. I didn’t particularly want it for myself.”

Horowitz, Anthony. Secret Weapon (Alex Rider) . Walker Books. Kindle Edition.

This was longer than most of the other short stories and before I'd read Alex in Afghanistan was my favourite Alex Rider short story so far. I enjoyed Alex's thought processes and his quick thinking to get the upper hand. And I loved the ending. “You’re Alex Rider?” “Yes.” The policeman shook his head in disbelief. “We were told you might be on board. We’re to take you back downriver. You have an urgent meeting.” “With MI6?” “No. With a dentist.” So there was to be no escape after all.

Horowitz, Anthony. Secret Weapon (Alex Rider) . Walker Books. Kindle Edition. 3 stars. ( )