Despite all his flaws, Yassen was a very honourable man and an extremely brave individual. He had a keen sense of valour and independence and considered himself in debt to John Rider through protecting his son, Alex. Although Alex did not share this friendship and made no effort in concealing his contempt towards the Russian. After Yassen's death, Alex found that he owed the latter more than he knew and was inescapably indebted to the man. In his youth, Yassen was enthusiastic, brave, sly, selfless and naive. He was ferociously loyal to John Rider and became something of a partner to him. He was very inquisitive in his young ages and was infrequently asking advice from his mentor and role model, John Rider. He was also selfless and retained a high degree of intelligence and deduction skills. Yassen is very idealistic about his later work as an assassin. He displays reluctance to be a killer, but in the end, he is left with no choice. Later, after several successful missions, Yassen and John Rider were sent to Malta for an assassination, which turned out to be an MI6 stakeout. In the ensuing gun battle, Yassen shot several agents and wounded Ash. But he failed to kill Ash in his escape. During this skirmish, Yassen displays that, after all these years, he had mastered the techniques that he had struggled with when he first arrived at Malagosto, including surprising stealth, proficiency of hand-to-hand combat, expert marksmanship and incredible self-control. He shows that he is an extremely skilled tactician and is cut out to be one of the world's greatest assassins. Yassen, to keep his conditions intact and to assist him in his upcoming missions, individually practices marksmanship, works out in the gym or goes for a run. He does this at night and only sleeps for at most four hours. He also practices various languages. Additionally, he is shown to have mastered various skills and talents such as expertise of martial arts, aviation (Helicopters, he received his license 5 years before the Sormbreaker accident), vehicular warfare, meditation, combat with various weapons and stealth.

Russian Roulette: The Story of an Assassin: 10 (Alex Rider)

The actor who plays him in the film, Damian Lewis, coincidentally shares his first name with the character who eventually kills Yassen, Damian Cray. He became known as Yassen instead of Yasha when an injury to his face made it sound like he was saying Yassen when introducing himself. His high level of self-control is further evidenced in his ability to kill without showing any emotion or remorse for the life he is about to extinguish, though his declaration that he does not kill children as well as his expressed affection for both John and Alex Rider serve to indicate that he does indeed have a softer side. At first, though, he found it difficult to kill someone he has never met. Fans of the Alex Rider series are eager for the arrival of this book, Yassen Gregorovich becoming and remaining one of the most popular characters in the series since his first appearance in Stormbreaker.From Cornwall to Cuba, Venice to France, Alex Rider has travelled far and wide as a spy for MI6, facing danger and death at every turn. Yassen Gregorovitch • Vladimir Sharkovsky • Ivan Sharkovsky • Julia Charlotte Glenys Rothman • John Rider As Yassen considers his mission, he remembers a secret from the past that connects him to the fourteen-year-old spy. YASSEN. That’s not the title – I’m still working on it. But I hope to head off to Russia later this year to research Alex 8." -- In a general blog post Fourteen-year-old Alex Rider finds his life turned upside down on discovering that his late uncle wasn't a mild-mannered banker, but instead a field agent for MI6.

Russian Roulette Quotes by Anthony Horowitz - Goodreads Russian Roulette Quotes by Anthony Horowitz - Goodreads

before finally falling into the hands of Scorpia, who train him to become a skilled assassin. But in spite of everything that has happened to him, Yassen resists actually becoming a killer - until an encounter with someone very close to Alex Rider changes everything for good. He created the television series Foyle's War, Murder in Mind, Midsomer Murders, Crime Traveller and Menace, and has written episodes for many more, including Agatha Christie's Poirot, Murder Most Horrid and Robin of Sherwood. He has also written a horror film, The Gathering, starring Christina Ricci.Eventually, Horowitz decided to write the final Alex Rider novel Scorpia Rising first, and decided to write "Yassen" sometime after that. What makes us choose evil? Why did one boy choose to kill while another chose to risk his life to save others? In some ways, Alex Rider and Yassen Gregorovich are mirror images of each other. Yet the paths they traveled turned them into mortal enemies. This is Yassen’s story. A journey down a darkened path. Yassen spends the next four months at Scorpia's training facility on the island of Malagosto before being given his first contract. When the time comes, Yassen is unable to take the target's life, and she is subsequently killed by another Scorpia agent. Though disappointed with him, Scorpia decide to give Yassen a second chance, and pair him up with John Rider, Alex Rider's father.

Russian Roulette: The Story of an Assassin (Alex Rider) Russian Roulette: The Story of an Assassin (Alex Rider)

Never Say Die is the 11th book in the Alex Rider series by British author Anthony Horowitz. The book was an unexpected release, as Horowitz stated that Russian Roulette was going to be the final Alex Rider book. Yassen (born 'Yasha' Gregorovich) was born in the village of Estrov, in Russia. His father was a researcher of chemical properties and a biologist; engaged in research at the University of Moscow. He always kept the true nature of his job a secret from Yassen.

It serves as a prequel or spin-off to the Alex Rider series, but it mainly focuses on the childhood of the assassin that appears in many of the books, Yassen Gregorovich. Yassen finds out that John Rider worked for MI6, as he found a special Power Plus radio transmitter in his bag. Yassen comes to the decision to kill Sharkovsky, and he travelled to the ' dacha'. He confronts the man in his study alone, and discovers he is now in a wheelchair and a very weaken state. Yassen reveals his heritage from Estrov and blames Sharkovsky for the death of his family and friends and the life that he lead, to which Sharkovsky shows no remorse. He then plays a reversed game of Russian Roulette (5 bullets and one empty chamber) on himself infront of Sharkovsky as a last chance to avoid his future life as a killer. Miraculously, Yassen survives and believes that fate has chosen this life for him. He then proceeds to vengefully kills Sharkovsky by shooting him between the eyes. He then kills Ivan (who walked immediately in the study room after he heard the shot) by shooting him once in the head and twice in the heart. Emotionlessly praising his revenge, and that he had killed for the first and second times in his life, he leaves Silver Forest.