Snakehead

Recently I finished Snakehead, so far the last book in the Alex Rider series. I liked these books because they were a different genre for me, with lots of adventure and interesting characters. This book however, bought a new development to the series. Alex, whose parents were killed in a plane crash caused by his dad's spy work, has a godfather named Ash. He did not know of this until then, and he was eager to meet him. However, Ash is not as ready to tell Alex his father's story as Alex is to hear it. Yet still, they work together to try to infiltrate the infamous snakehead, which is made up of some Scorpia members. Scorpia is Alex's foes grouped together. He thought he had heard the last of them, but suddenly-here hey are! Their plot, concocted by old, feeble Major Yu, is to create a tidal wave that will destroy the island, and the people on it, that is set aside to help solve world hunger and poverty. Eight famous people are on the island, working for good, and Scorpia intends to kill them all. Also, along the way, the tsunami will probably end up killing thousands more than just those eight- a minor number to the Scorpia group. Alex and Ash partner up against the, but Alex is captured. The in my mind personally disturbed Major Yu sends Alex to a hospital of sorts, to have his organs taken out one by one, including his eyes, while he is still alive, and given to others. Disgusting. The doctors there assure Alex there is no means of escape- which proves to be false, along with the help of a few gadgets. Will Alex get to the bomb intended to create the tsunami in time to stop it? He meets up with some friends from his past, and they join in the fray. However, in one final battle between Scorpia and Alex, Alex discovers that Ash is not who he says he is. And yes, he does stop the bomb and save lives. This surprising twist on Ash made a good situational irony in the story, which I thought was a well written page-turner.

The Phantom of the Opera

After someone recommended this book to me I finally decided to check it out. It was a very well written book, and aside from being a horror/romance classical book, I found it to be a page-turner. It was written by Gaston Leroux and inspired the musical "The Phantom of the Opera", which was a play that Champlin Park put on at one point in time. The book is about three main characters: The beautiful, gentle, lovable opera understudy Christine Daae who seems to have lost her musical talent after the death of her father, but still is the back-up for the opera singer Carlotta. Then, there is the young M de Changy, who is Raoul. He is 21 and was Christine's play date when they were younger, and now he has fallen in love with her. Christine loves Raoul, but there is one person, if he may be called that, who is preventing an eminent announcement of their engagement. This being is known as the "Phantom of the Opera". At first, most dancers and audience members believe him to be a ghost, because he wears a white mask and is "as thin as death". However, he has a captivating voice and speaks to Christine without letting her see him. She believes that he is the "Angel of Music" that has come to help her regain her talents. Despite all of these identities given to him, the "Opera Ghost" is really a human by the name of Eric. He wears the mask to conceal a horrible dis figuration from birth. He lives on a lake under the Opera House where he sings and plays his organ, composing. He is an amazing singer, but despite all of his musical talent, not even his mother really loved him because of his face deformation. He falls for Christine as well, and takes her down to his house and plays the organ as she sings, inspiring her to redevelop some of her evasive talents. Eric then arranges for Carlotta to be "sick" to let Christine sing. She does, receiving a thunderous encore for her incredible singing. She becomes an illustrious opera singer. Eric, however, is driven mad with jealousy that she loves Raoul and kidnaps her. She has already seen his face; she tore off his mask while he had captivated her with his music, and he wants her to love him. When Raoul and a mysterious Persian come to save her, they are locked in a torture chamber of sorts, with hallucinations in a deadly hot desert forest mirage. Also, when Raoul's brother comes to try to save them, he dies "accidentally". Eric, with his cunning mind, set up rigged scorpion and grasshopper figurines- the scorpion symbolizing yes, the grasshopper no, for whether or not Christine would marry him. If she turned the grasshopper, the Opera House, with them in it, would blow up. She turns the scorpion to save everyone. However, Eric falls into remorse, and lets Christine go to marry Raoul. Sobbing, Eric watches her go after she cried with him in pity for him. He had one request: that she would take his dead body and bury it by the Opera House; he would die of a broken heart. And he did, within weeks. I felt so sad for him, despite the murders he committed, because no one ever really loved him. I found that to be something that would drive a person mad, which probably explains most of his actions. Although it is an old read, it is extremely well written (better than I described it), and I have heard some of the songs from the play and they are pretty awesome as well! I would recommend this book to anyone who does not mind a more challenging, classical read...or sad endings.