James Adair:Father is Sir Graham Adair. James is bearded, with brown curly hair beginning to grey. Senior lecturer at Imperial College, London. Married with two children; named eldest child after John Rider.

Jane Bedfordshire:Unmarried Brookland School secretary; attractive, in her twenties with soft spot for Alex.

Ed Savitt:Taxi driver. Alex reads about him in a newspaper article given to him by Julia Rothman.

Michael Cook:Not actually an active character in any of the missions. He is the leader of a gang of bullies who beat up Tom Harris at Brookland School, about two years before Alex Rider's missions were recorded. Alex sorted out Mike Cook and two of his friends behind the bike shed; a short meeting, but Cook never bothered anyone else again, and for the following week he apparently limped and spoke with high-pitched voice.

Mr Charlie Grey:Teaches humanities at Brookland and is hired by Jack to tutor Alex for rest of the summer holidays. Young and easy-going.

Edmund Hill-Smith:Captain of the England reserve football squad returning from Nigeria, dark-haired and well built.

Jackson Burke:England reserves goalie, black.

Dr Rachel Stephenson:About thirty years old, slim and pale, black hair. Specialist in the field of nanotechnology, and a writer and researcher.