The tenth Alex Rider novel, published in 2013. It is a Prequel starring Yasha "Yassen" Gregorovich.
Tropes include:
- Bathe Her and Bring Her to Me: A rare male example, Sharkovsky orders his men to make sure the captured young Yassen has washed himself thoroughly before being in his presence as Yassen was living on the streets at the time.
- Broken Pedestal: John Rider becomes this for Yassen Gregorovich after Yassen finds an MI6 gadget in John's luggage, revealing that John was a British spy who had intentionally tried to get Yassen to quit being an assassin.
- Covers Always Lie: The reprinted cover prominently includes the massive new Alex Rider logo, and the cover illustration is of the one and only scene in the book where Alex actually appears.
- Doomed Hometown: Yassen's home of Estrov, wiped out by a chemical weapon accident and its people killed by soldiers covering the incident up.
- "Not Making This Up" Disclaimer: Yassen gives one of these in Russian Roulette when he talks about how people who couldn't afford vodka would use shoe polish as a drug.
- Once More, with Clarity: The final scene of Russian Roulette is the ending of Stormbreaker, but from Yassen's point of view instead of Alex.
