Here it is. The end. One way or another.
Amy and Dan have been fighting against the evil Vespers for some time, but it wasn’t until the end of the last book that they realized the truth: Vesper One is trying to create a doomsday device to destroy the world.
For those of you who don’t know, Cahills vs Vespers is the second arc in the exciting series The 39 Clues. In the first arc Amy and Dan learn they are members of the most powerful family in human history. They embark on a quest around the world, fighting their vicious relatives to be the first to discover the secret of their families’ power.
In Cahills vs Vespers, Amy and Dan and the rest of the group face off against a rival family named the Vespers who want to rule the world for themselves (or destroy it).
Click here to learn more about The 39 Clues
Day of Doom is the last book of the series. All the secrets are revealed, all questions are answered, and the fate of the world hangs in the balance.
Summary
At the end of the previous book Atticus discovers the Vespers master plan: To recreate a doomsday device designed by Archimedes. The ingredients necessary to activate the device were given by Dan and Amy to Vespers as ransom to keep the hostages alive.
Now the Vespers have all of pieces and are about to activate it. Already there are natural disasters happening all over the place.
Dan freaked out at the end of the last book and took the serum he had been assembling. However, Amy realized what he was trying to do and switched the serum with a harmless concoction.
Amy also became very upset and ran out of the room when she learned of the Vespers true intentions. How could she have been stupid to trade the lives of the hostages for the whole world?
The Cahill team have been doing some digging and learn that Isabel was not Vesper One, as they had thought, but Vesper Two. They also have ascertained that she is heading to Washington D.C.
They also try to chase after Isabel, but fall into her trap. Luckily, they are able to escape, but Isabel gets her hands on the serum. Dan also learns that Isabel has been posing as his dad and sending him messages.
The hostages (now including Evan, Ian, Jonah, and Hamilton) are being transported to the Rocky Mountains, but manage to escape and meet up with Amy and Dan. They arrive at the doomsday device at the same time as the Vespers, in time for a colossal fight.
Here is the moment that matters. The moment that the Cahills will trimuph over the Vespers once and for all or the world will be destroyed forever. Who is Vesper One? Will he destroy the world? How many will die? Will an old enemy end up saving the world?
Review
After enjoying this book, I was surprised to learn that it has received absolutely terrible reviews on Amazon. The current star rating is only 3.2/5, by far the lowest of any book in The 39 Clues series.
Although I understand the criticism, I have to disagree. I thought this book wrapped up everything very nicely. It did do everything quite rushed, but there was no way around it because of all the events that took place in the book.
Some people complained about the characters being very different than in the other books. I didn’t notice this, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true. However, I felt the characters were fine.
The action at the end is very exciting. It is not dealt with as delicately as we would all like, but what do you want when an evil maniac is about to activate a doomsday machine? I was glued to my seat reading about who would triumph.
Probably the worst thing this series does in wrapping up compared to the first one is that it gives absolutely no lead in to the next one. I was kind of looking forward to this being the last 39 clues book, and then at the back it said there is a new series.
I was like, “Really, come on.” However, I’ve been reading the series since it’s start all the way back in September of 2008, so this book came out about four and a half years later. That’s a long time to be reading a series.
As far as this series, though, I think this is a good wrap up. Is it as good as Into the Gauntlet? No, the emotional connection Margaret Peterson Haddix was able to make in that book was truly special. For everyone who has been involved in the fight against the Vespers, however, it is an exciting book that ties the series up in spectacular fashion.