Nikolei Vladimir Drevin

Nikolei Drevin is the main antagonist in Ark Angel, the sixth novel.

Ark Angel

Drevin is a Russian multibillionaire who owns a great number of hotels, businesses and even a soccer team, Stratford East. He gained his wealth through illegal deals with various criminal organizations, and the CIA claim that he is one of the 'biggest criminals in the world'. Drevin had also been building the Ark Angel Space Hotel for some time, which was to be the first ever hotel in space, but stopped after it became too expensive to support. He has a son called Paul who is the same age as Alex Rider, but Drevin seems very distant from Paul and thinks he is too soft. He is pleased when Paul becomes friends with Alex because Drevin finds him interesting and hopes that Alex will help Paul become tougher. When he is bored or agitated, Drevin usually twists or fiddles with the ring on his finger.

Alex first meets Drevin after he saves his son, Paul Drevin, from an eco-terrorist group called Force Three, who claimed to want to attack him to get revenge on Drevin because he exploits the natural world for his own personal gain. Drevin invites Alex to stay for two weeks with him on his island, Flamingo Bay, as thanks for what he had done. While Alex is staying with Drevin and Paul in Neverglade, Alex manages to beat Drevin in a go-kart race by cutting a corner, and Drevin becomes quite annoyed. Later on, he and Alex go to Stamford Bridge to watch Drevin's soccer team play Chelsea. After Drevin's star player, Adam Wright, loses the match during penalties, he is killed by Force Three and Drevin claims he has nothing to do with it. Meanwhile the CIA have been building evidence against Drevin concerning his past involvement with several criminal organizations, and they decide to ask Alex to investigate. Drevin finds out from his head of security, Magnus Payne, that Alex is a spy and so tries to kill him by drowning him in an underwater wreck named the Mary Belle. When that fails, Alex is captured by Drevin and his men while trying to escape with Tamara Knight, another undercover CIA agent. Drevin reveals to Alex that he was the one who created Force Three as a scapegoat and to make him seem like the victim, and he had them attack his son in order to steer any suspicions away from himself. Drevin even ordered them to cut off Paul's little finger before Alex stood in their way. Seeing as the CIA's evidence against him is being stored in the Pentagon in Washington, Drevin plans to blow up Ark Angel as it passes over Washington in order to destroy the Pentagon along with the evidence. As well as this, he would be able to claim the insurance on Ark Angel, which was already causing him debt. He then plans to pin the blame on Force Three, and he orders Magnus Payne to kill them in order to make authorities believe that they had planned an attack on his island, yet again making him seem like the victim. Alex is then locked in a cell along with Tamara Knight, but she helps him escape and Alex eventually contacts the CIA concerning Drevin's intentions. Later on, a number of agents, including Alex, travel back to Flamingo Bay to try and prevent the upcoming disaster. On the island, Alex is confronted by Drevin and he tries to shoot him, but accidentally shoots Paul instead, who happened to be right behind him. Luckily, the wound isn't fatal. A furious Drevin then tries to escape in a seaplane, but he doesn't know that Alex has tied two canoes to the floats. When he tries to fly away, the canoes become tangled in trees and the bottom of the plane is torn out. The rest of the plane crashes into a forest and Drevin is killed.

Description

Drevin is described as being in his mid-40s. He has watery grey eyes and fair hair that is also turning grey. He is of mid-weight too and has a rash under his chin. Alex claims that his appearance is plain and unimpressive, but he radiates power similar to General Alexei Sarov in Skeleton Key.