and i am just a new invention

i think Horowitz does a good job of making the reader forget that the main character is a child and would normally never be capable of spy activities, but I also think he does a good job of sprinkling in Alex's youth, like when he's undercover as a ball boy in Wimbledon and he witnesses a guard acting very suspiciously but forgets about it entirely because the tennis games are so entertaining

also it's really fucked up at a teacher at Brookland saw Alex talking to a strange man and walked away.

something i find occasionally frustrating in the show is that they really downplay MI6's cruelty. in Stormbreaker, Blunt makes it very clear he doesn't care whether Alex lives or dies as long as his goals are met. in Skeleton Key, Crawley approaches Alex at an after-school football game to recruit him as undercover security- something which is less conspicuous but honestly more appalling considering Crawley brought his dog along so that any adults would assume Alex is just talking to some guy about his dog, and worse, Crawley did this because he's going to ask a child to do an adult's job.

alright i've started rereading Skeleton Key. first thing that caught my eye: