Returning
from Paris, (see A SECRET LIFE)
Sydney Bristow is on a high. Not only has she just undertaken her first
real mission, but she also got to snog Noah Hicks. Okay, so it was just
a way of hiding from their pursuers, but still...
But
while Syd thinks something might develop between her and Agent Hicks,
his attitude to her suggests otherwise and neither is he convinced that
she can handle a mission on her own.
Like
the TV series, the ALIAS prequel novels show
Syd balancing college life and her work for SD-6. Here that aspect of
the series involves a classmate trying to set her up with a potential
new guy and getting dragged along to a party by Francie.
These
strands soon come together after Syd is forced into doing a runner from
the party. At first, this section of the book seemed like padding until
the mission side of things kicked in, but there are a couple of neat continuity
references - the whole incident seems to be the one she tells Will about
in PARITY and a subsequent late-night film discussion ties in with
TRUTH
BE TOLD.
Unfortunately,
when we finally got round to the mission, it was easy to see why the first
third of the book had been devoted to Syd's other life.
Syd's
mission is to go undercover at a conference on a remote Scottish island
where various crime syndicates are discussing the political situation
in a Balkan state.
Yes,
you guessed it, it's the old TEN LITTLE INDIANS
idea, with an isolated setting and the death count rising steadily. The
problem with this sort of thing is that it invariably revolves around
a victim who's not really dead or an unseen accomplice to bump everyone
off.
When
written for the sort of age range that the ALIAS novels are (sadly) aimed at, this sort of plot rarely makes for a gripping
read, and the fact that we know that Syd has to survive (and also isn't
the killer) also reduces the number of potential victims and suspects.
So
in a way it's just as well that we had all the college life stuff beforehand,
as there's no way that this mission would have sustained the book on its
own.
Overall,
this is probably the most disappointing ALIAS
novel so far. It would be nice to see the publishers aiming for an older
age range, with longer and more complex novels, rather than the all-too
teen-friendly stuff we're getting at present. back to the top
