Image you're 14 years old and you just lost your uncle in a car crash (your folks died when you were a baby). As you process the grief and shock of this newest death, you discover that everything you ever knew about your uncle was a lie.

Instead of being a banker, he was a MI-6 spy.

And his boss wants you, Alex, to complete your uncles mission as you can go where other agents can't – being 14 and all.

If you can image this, welcome to the world of Alex Rider.

I first stumbled upon this series by Anthony Horowitz (there are seven books with an eighth on the way) when Em brought home an auto CD (#4) from the library. Seeing that Em has a gift in picking good books, I decided to listen to it with her as we drove back and forth to the Valley.

It was captivating. Alex is a young James Bond – with lots of emotions, depth, and cool gadgets.

Digging in the series a bit more, we discovered that someone made a movie about the first book (Stormbreaker) – and, as luck held, our library owned a copy.

In a statement: it was sweet! A tad short for my taste (93 mins) – but, overall, very well done.

My advice would be to grab a book, an auto CD or a DVD of Alex Rider. It's good stuff.