The Threat (novel)
| File:Animorphs 21 The Threat.jpg Jake morphing into a golden retriever | |
| Author | K. A. Applegate |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | David B. Mattingly |
| Language | English |
| Series | Animorphs #21 |
| Genre | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Scholastic |
Publication date | August 1998 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 158 |
| ISBN | 0-590-76254-0 |
| Preceded by | The Discovery |
| Followed by | The Solution |
The Threat is the twenty-first book in the Animorphs series, written by K.A. Applegate. It is narrated by Jake. It is the second book in the David trilogy.
Plot Summary
After falling from the Blade ship, the Animorphs are snagged from mid-air by Rachel and Tobias, in their respective eagle and hawk morphs. They land on the beach, needing a plan to infiltrate the Marriott resort. Jake becomes aware of the tensions between David and Marco, and is disturbed by David's unnecessary excesses. The team morphs to seagulls, and spy out the compound, crawling with security agents armed to the teeth and accompanied by dogs. They're zapped by a man wearing sunglasses with weak Dracon beam emitters built into them. Jake directs them to leave.
Upon his return home, his parents tell Jake and his brother Tom that their obnoxious cousin, Saddler, was gravely injured in a car accident, and that they were leaving town to spend time with the crippled child's parents. Jake is presented with the opportunity to advance his plans. Unfortunately, that night, David disappears from Cassie's barn. Jake morphs his dog, Homer, and tracks David's scent to an inn. David had morphed his golden eagle, smashed the window with a rock and entered without paying. Jake warns him of the implications of this action. David doesn't hide his contempt, but leaves with Jake, anyway.
Cassie formulates a plan to infiltrate the resort. Jake morphs a dragonfly, while the other Animorphs, with the exception of Tobias, morph fleas and latch onto Jake's body. Tobias guides them to the hotel. Inside, Jake tries to find the banquet hall where the speeches and infestations will take place. Inside an air vent, he is caught in a spider web. A terrified David demorphs, and the others follow suit. Cassie is badly wounded when David's demorphing creates a human artery that forces more blood into her flea body than it is prepared to hold. He releases them, and they begin demorphing. Marco is stuck mid-morph, as a giant flea. They begin to despair, but Cassie guides Marco and enables him to demorph.
Jake inspects the banquet room, and notices the number of holograms in place. Here they discover how the Yeerks plan to infest each world leader. They return to the barn, and Cassie explains why the Visser is in personal command of the operation. Now the Animorphs need a plan to thwart it. They return to the resort, knock out the guards, morph them, and reenter the banquet. Soon they realise they'd been deceived, and had fallen into Visser Three's trap. David is frightened and turns against the Animorphs in order to preserve his own life. It isn't long, though, before they discover that the Hork-Bajir surrounding them were just holograms. They take the Visser hostage, and withdraw. The Animorphs, now disgusted with David, try to plan their next move.
But during the night, David returns to his old home in eagle morph. Jake and Ax pursue him, only to find that David had apparently killed Tobias. David explains that the Animorphs weren't treating him as an equal, and that he'd have to take matters into his own hands. Enraged, Jake engages David, only to be ambushed by Hork-Bajir. Ax rescues Jake, and escape. David then leads Jake to the mall, and they each morph their battle morphs, lion and tiger respectively. After a brief duel, David severs Jake's carotid artery, leaving him to bleed to death...
Morphs
| Morpher | Morphs Acquired | Morphs Used |
|---|---|---|
| Jake | Dragonfly, Human (random Controller) | Cockroach, Seagull, Peregrine Falcon, Brown Bat, Golden Retriever ("Homer"), Dragonfly, Human (random Controller), Siberian Tiger |
| Rachel | Flea | Bald Eagle, Seagull, Flea, Grizzly Bear |
| Tobias | Seagull | Seagull |
| Cassie | Cockroach, Seagull, Osprey, Flea, Great Horned Owl, Wolf | |
| Marco | Flea | Cockroach, Seagull, Osprey, Flea, Cobra |
| Ax | Flea, Human (random Controller) | Cockroach, Seagull, Northern Harrier, Flea, Human (random Controller) |
| David | Seagull, Flea, Human (random Controller) | Cockroach, Seagull, Lion, Golden Eagle, Flea, Human (random Controller) |
| Visser Three | Human (Tony, the White House Chief of Protocol), Unknown Lizard-fleshed Alien |
Trivia
- This was the first book in the series to feature the "Watch Animorphs TV on Nickelodeon" logo on the front cover. The logo was never printed on #24 The Suspicion, but returned on #30 The Reunion as "Watch Animorphs TV", and appeared on every cover until #53 The Answer
- This is the fifth book to feature a cover morph that was not acquired in the book. Jake acquired his golden retriever, and first ever morph in the first book, The Invasion.
- The front cover quote is, "The newest Animorphs has a secret. And it's not good...."
- The inside front cover quote is, "Jake's really gone to the dogs...."