Horowitz, a clunky, uninspiring prose stylist, is most effective when attempting to recreate the violent ambience in the James Bond books, even introducing a recurring gadget-mad scientist who is clearly a clone of Fleming's Q. But unlike "Blood Fever," "Ark Angel" has zero intellectual content: it is merely a ripping yarn, one that resembles yarns we have read before... Readers of Horowitz's mechanical page-turners are expected to believe that the oddly bland, humorless Alex Rider will eventually morph into a tough hombre like James Bond. Sorry, Alex. We knew 007. 007 was a friend of ours. And you, sonny, are no 007.