Alpha Force Books

The Alpha Force Books written by Chris Ryan are adventure stories aimed at teenagers and at the end of each book are the top ten SAS tips from Chris Ryan on surviving the situation that Alpha Force just faced (e.g. surviving in a desert). Alpha Force are a group of teenagers with unique talents and personalities who were shipwrecked together in the first book (Survival)and after a few struggles learned to survive untill help came while becoming great friends. Every school holiday they meet up to complete different challenges that test all of their skills but somehow always manage to get sucked into fighting wrongdoing because of their talents and inability to let injustice go unpunished.

Characters

 Alpha Force (from the first letters of their names, as well as the Greek, meaning beginning) are a group of teenagers each with special skills, interests and weaknesses:

• Alex is a survival expert, from Northumbria, England. He was taught a lot about surviving in different situations from his father who works in the SAS. Hardly ever gets wound up and always carries his lifesaving survival kit and knife. He's calm in a crisis and very dependable and caring - but he can sometimes be a bit too serious. He's quite a private person making it hard for readers to notice his feelings.
• Li is half chinese and the climbing, martial arts and nature expert (her parents are naturalists). She's the smallest in the group, and sometimes gets help from the wrong people getting herself into trouble. She has a fiery temper when she wants it and is quick to want to fight injustice; she also likes to live her life in the fast lane - often making her to hurried to spot potential dangers. She is also unlikely to give up when there is too much danger to.
• Paolo (Paulo) is the laid back Argentinian who's the medical expert and has great mechanical skills. Although he's seems to be quite lazy a new mission, engine to fix or Li can always get him moving. A big flirt and quite vain, but everyone loves him. Frequently known to curse in Spanish he can get violent when he's worried about Li.
• Hex is an ace hacker from East London who is brilliant at code breaking, bypassing most security systems. Prefers his own company and often spends too much time on his palmtop - he can get a bit aggressive when it's taken from him. He is very caring and will fight injustice readily but logically. He seems to have a thing for Amber.
• A>mber is the rich girl from the USA - she's a navigational expert having spent years on her parents yacht and is a great linguist. She's a diabetic and, after her parents were killed on a secret mission, couldn't find the will to live - Alpha Force geve her new motivation. She used to be snobbish but as the books progress she gets better. She develops a genuine affection and interest in Hex.

Amber's Uncle John Middleton is a recurring character; providing a base, new challenges and resources for the team.

Relationships

Amber & Hex

Amber seems to take an interest in Hex, as evidenced in Hostage, first when Chris Ryan tells us Alpha Force, and Hex in particular, are the people she loved most, and when she kissed him a little later, despite disliking him in Survival. She risks her life to save him by going to find medical supplies on a hijacked boat. In Desert Pusuit Khalid teases her about her obvious attraction to Hex, when she gives him an affectionate (but discreet, seeing as she loves to make people think she hates him) smile and she is upset with Hex when he goes back to save one of the children in the Unimog. Hex replies that he'll never act as a hero again. They also seem to be good friends outside their Alpha Force adventures as Amber mentions that Hex stayed with her in New York during their holidays.

Hex seems to prefer his Palmtop and loves tormenting her. However, Hex shows his interest in Amber when he gives her his food in Survival and when she stops acting so stuck up. He figures out why she wears the Omega necklace around her neck. In Desert Pursuit, Hex has a new Palmtop equipped with technology from Amber's parents' company, ending his grudge against her for throwing his last one into the sea and he shows how much he cares for her in Hostage by saving her from a polar bear. He makes the team stop when Amber found the mountain conditions in Rat Catcher very difficult and always reminds her to check her circulation and blood sugar level. He protects her in Desert Pursuit by covering her while being shot at in the Unimog. In Blood Money, Li asks Hex if he has feelings for Amber. Hex, embarrassed, refused to answer unless Li balanced on a bed spring for a while, but she didn't succeed, so Hex never answered her question. In Fault Line, Hex writes something to Amber on his Palmtop, near death, but he deletes it before Amber or the reader can see. The only evidence it was to Amber was when Chris Ryan tells us the first two words in the "e-mail" were "dear Amber." In Untouchable, when Hex is trying to find music on his palmtop to calm Alex down, we see that one of the albums there is named Amber, which seems to be another small indication he is interested in Amber.

Li & Paulo

They both seem to have taken a fancy to each other. Paulo trying to catch Li off guard in Survival, Li very desperate to find Paulo in Rat-Catcher and Paulo gets very angry and starts to beat Alex up when Li is missing in Desert Pursuit. Li has hugged Paulo a lot and he has tried to help her with her fear of heights in Hunted. More evidence of their relationship appears in Blood Money when Li tried to get Hex to admit his fancy towards Amber, by saying "you wish probably Amber was here instead of me," but Hex retorted with "you probably wish Paulo was here instead of me." In Desert Pursuit, Chris Ryan tells us that Paulo was more fond of Li than he cared to admit and he has been known to give her a fond smile. They haven't been alone long enough to kiss though, though in Rat-Catcher, we are told that Paulo whispered something into his transmitter and kissed it, so it may be him admitting his fancy to Li and kissing the medallion to kiss her. After the kiss they were banned to see each other.

Alex?

Alex doesn't seem to have any girlfriend in any of the books, considering there are only two girls in the entire group, both of which are romantically interested in the other two boys. He seemed to take an interest in Amber in Survival, trying to help her get over the fact she didn't get enough food, and kissing her when she came back with Hex's medicine. But the matter of the food may have been because of her diabetes, as she needs to get enough otherwise she will go into a hypo, and when he kissed Amber, it is probably because she had to swim in shark-infested waters to get antibiotics, to save Hex, and she both survived (as they thought she had been killed by the sharks) and had retrieved the medicine.

Books

(N.B. In the first five books (Survival-Red Centre) one character is somehow unable to take part in the mission because they have either been captured or injured badly. Each description of the titles below have the name of the character and what happened to them. In Untouchable, every character comes close to dying(except possibly Alex).

Survival (2002)

The first in the series. The characters are marooned on a desert island where they must survive komodo dragons, sharks and modern day pirates, among others. Character injured/captured: Hex (poisoned by a Komodo Dragon)

Rat-catcher (2002)

The characters go to South America to take part in a covert SAS operation to catch an evil drugs rat. They begin with the street kids but their adventure takes them high into the isolated mountains. Character injured/captured: Paulo (Captured by Main Villain)

Desert Pursuit (2003)

Undercover in the Sahara desert, the characters gather evidence of young landmine victims. But they are end up racing across the desert when they discover something worse - a gang of child slavers operating in the area. Character injured/captured: Li (Captured by Main Villain)

Hostage (2003)

Flying to Alaska to investigate reports of illegal dumping of toxic waste, they must dive into an icy river, cross the harsh landscape on snowmobiles and use their caving skills to complete their mission. But most of all, they need courage and determination when they come face-to-face with a man who is ready to kill to stop them. Character/s injured/captured: Amber (Taken hostage by the man who killed her parents. Nearly gets killed by her diabetes), Alex (Falls through ice,dislocates his shoulder and suffers a little from hypothermia).

Red Centre (2004)

Alpha Force are in Australia, helping with a TV reality show. But when Paulo spots a dangerous [...] hiding out in a nearby town, events lead them into adventure as the [...] seizes hostages and flies off into the bush. Supporting the Australian SAS, Alpha Force have to take action - even if it means flying into the midst of a scary bushfire. Character injured/captured: Alex (Taken Hostage by Main villain along with other hostages. Only character to be gagged)

Hunted (2004)

Alpha Force head to Zambia to compete in an extreme sports contest. When they discover a horrifying threat to the local wildlife, they take action, only to find themselves facing a flight across the African plains, pursued by a group who are prepared to shoot to kill.

Blood Money (2005)

When Amber, Li, Paulo, Hex and Alex visit India, they discover an abuse of human rights - the deliberate theft of human organs for transplant surgery. When a young girl is taken, Alpha Force must utilize all their skills to locate her before she is used.

Fault Line (2005)

Alpha Force are in Belize for jungle survival training, but when they are caught in an earthquake tremor and must help a victim to safety, they find themselves at the epicentre of a massive quake. As buildings crumble, trapping people underground, and surface structures buckle, Alpha Force need all their courage and skills to help as many as possible survive. Character captured/injured: Hex,who is trapped in a dinosaur skeleton.

Black Gold (2005)

Alpha Force are in the Caribbean, diving, when a sudden oil spill draws them into a new mission. All their skills - powerboating, scuba-diving and jetskiing - are needed when an underwater bomb explodes. An assassin's strike thickens the plot and worsens the situation.

Untouchable (2005)

In the Scottish highlands, Alpha Force are helping out on a survival outdoors adventure holiday programme for problem youngsters when they stumble across evidence of an illegal drugs laboratory, hidden high on the moors on the laird's land. High-speed chases with quad bikes and 4X4 vehicles across country along with survival skills like rafting, abseiling and hiking ensue, before the plot focuses on designer drugs and their manufacture. Character injured/captured: Everyone except Alex because he is cool(Hex nearly shot and left to die in a gas-filled chamber, Li nearly gassed to death, Amber nearly drowned by a drugged and insensible Hex and Paulo shot in the arm).