When Beyond the Grave by Jude Watson came out, I was super excited. It was the fourth book in The 39 Clues, an exciting multi-author series in which two orphans, Dan and Amy Cahill, learn that they are members of the most powerful family in the world. The source of their families power is hidden throughout the world in the form of 39 clues (or chemicals). Whoever finds all the clues will become the most powerful person in human history.
Amy and Dan, of course, are not the only ones going after the clues. They have tons of competition in the form of their venomous relatives, who will stop at nothing to win the clue hunt. Literally. In the last book, The Sword Thief by Peter Lerangis, Amy, Dan, and their Uncle Alastair were nearly killed by their rich cousins, Ian and Natalie Kabra.
Up until this book, I had been reading this series together with my friends. None of my friends ended up actually reading the fourth book, however. A couple of them started, but then gave up. The reason for that I attribute to the poor writing in the previous book, which you can read about in my review here. It’s a shame, because Beyond the Grave is a rather good addition to the series.
Summary
At the end of The Sword Thief, Amy and Dan learned that the next clue was hidden in Egypt, so they fly out to Cairo. Unfortunately, Irina Spasky is already there, an ex-KGB agent who means business. She disguises herself as a vendor and tries to trap Amy and Dan, but they manage to outsmart her and get away.
Along the way they find a Sakhet that they think they might be looking for, but a tour guide named Theo convinces them that it’s merely a fake.
They find themselves at a fancy hotel. They originally don’t want to go there because of how expensive they know it’s going to be, and there is a sense someone is directing them to be there. When Dan accidentally says his last name is Oh, however, they get a huge discount and a suite that takes up an entire floor.
Things seem too good to be true, but Amy and Dan manage to sneak their way into a secret Ekaterina stronghold hidden inside the hotel. Dan is fascinated by all the inventions, but Amy is scared. To her the inventions of things like the nuclear bomb represent death and destruction.
Soon, however, there is a far worse threat to Amy and Dan than destructive inventions; Bae Oh is in the stronghold with them, and he traps them. Bae Oh is the uncle of their Uncle Alastair and is the ruthless leader of the Ekaterina branch. In The Sword Thief, we also learned that Bae Oh murdered Alastair’s father.
Although Bae Oh does a good job of trapping them, Amy and Dan are able to escape with the help of their Au Pair, Nellie. They book it out of the hotel and travel with a person named Hilary Vale, who apparently used to be good friends with Amy and Dan’s beloved grandmother, Grace Cahill. Grace was the one who started the whole clue hunt in motion, and Amy and Dan are still shocked at her death. The thought that Grace may still be helping them “beyond the grave” comforts both of them.
Hilary, acting according to Grace’s instructions, give Amy and Dan a letter and one of the Sakhet statues. A map is hidden inside the Sakhet statue, leading them to the tomb of Queen Nefertari. Theo, who ends up being Hilary’s grandson, is able to help them sneak in.
In the tomb, they are attacked by Irina and then trapped on a crocodile-filled island by their famous rap star cousin, Jonah Wizard. Dan and Amy have faced tough things before, but how they can defend themselves against a pack of hungry crocodiles? And are Hilary and Theo really acting on Grace’s behalf, or do they have a secret agenda? Worst of all, what if the mysterious Madrigals don’t want Amy and Dan to find the clue?
Review
Beyond the Grave was a fairly good addition to the series. I was glad while reading because it was, for me at least, a big improvement on The Sword Thief.
Beyond the Grave, however, is not written quite as skillfully as books one and two, or as the rest of the books of the series, for that matter. Book six, In Too Deep, by the same author was one of the best books of the series, with great character development. Parts of this book were hard to understand, however, especially towards the end.
As for the historical value, I remember some historical information in this book, but I don’t really think a lot was included. Besides some basic info about Egypt that everyone already knows, you’re not likely to learn much historically.
Besides that, though, this book is good. I view the main value of the book as being in ethical questions. Were the Ekats inventions good or bad? All the emotions that come with being betrayed by people claiming to act on behalf of a dead person who you trusted the most. A fake romance that ends up knocking Amy off guard. There is certainly a lot to think about after reading this book.
For dedicated readers of The 39 Clues, this is a must read. I’d recommend starting with the most current books and then, if the reader is really interested, starting with The Maze of Bones and then going through the series. Unless you or your kids are really prolific readers, you’re unlikely to read all the books, but they’ll definitely be an exciting series as you read them. I now consider them a major part of my childhood.
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