My Life In Books: Beth Kirkbride

Point Blanc – Anthony Horowitz

If I didn’t want to write for a living, I’d probably consider a career with MI5. However, given my track record for keeping secrets – as well as this article – I think that aspiration is probably dead in the water.

I hungrily consumed Anthony Horowitz’s Alex Rider series towards the end of primary school. Alongside Charlie Higson’s Young Bondseries, I was a little bit besotted by everything espionage. My parents can blame Horowitz for the majority of my grumpy episodes; I stayed up far too frequently, turning pages under my duvet, as I attempted to finish the book by torchlight.

Alex Rider was a badass, and I wanted to be him. His escapades in the French Alps and defeat of the villainous Doctor Hugo Grief were gripping; his countless evasions of death a miracle. Horowitz instilled in me a love of the daring; he was the prelude to my adventures with Ian Fleming’s Bond and the reason I picked up John le Carré’s ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’.

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