A review by transitionaljoint
Eagle Strike by Anthony Horowitz

Enjoyable nostalgia read. Like if an Ian Fleming novel, starring an adolescent spy, and the antagonist had a similar evil plan to the bad guy in Halloween III: Season of the Witch. In case it’s unclear, this is a good thing.

Horowitz is mediocre at writing action (or perhaps is limited by his target audience), and there are some eyebrow raising decisions. The villain is a queeny pop star who went solo after a brief stint with a group called Slam (get it?). At one point he literally says, “can I be mother?”. And if playful homophobia weren’t enough, I gagged at the insinuation in the audiobook narrator’s voice when he said the sunbathing, teenage love interest, “traded toys for boys at an early age”.

It’s not a huge deal. That gross/weird stuff didn’t stop me from getting what I needed here. But it might stop me from returning to this well when I need a reminder of simpler times.