Snakehead, Anthony Horowitz

Splashdown.
Alex Rider would never forget the moment of impact, the first shock as the parachute opened and the second - more jolting still - as the module that had carried him back from outer space crashed into the sea.

This most recent volume in Horowitz's Alex Rider series is set in Australia. It starts with Alex splashing down from outer space and hurtles through people smuggling rackets, stolen bombs, the return of Scorpia and more. There is a horrifying and totally creepy sequence where Alex is captured for organ harvesting at secret location near Kakadu. Horowitz has used the Australian locations imaginatively, avoiding the clichés, and gets the local geo-political scene spot on. There’s not much of Sabina Pleasure and there’s back story about his parents’ deaths. And then there’s the relentless action. Do the grown-ups know how good these books are?
You don't have to have read any of the other Alex Rider books to enjoy Snakehead.

Snakehead is longlisted for the Silver Inky.