As usual, I was really excited to read the fifth book in The 39 Clues series, The Black Circle by Patrick Carman. After a wayward third book, the fourth book had been relatively strong and the fifth book was looking to be exciting by all indications. There were some promos and sneak peaks for it during the summer that were pretty well done, and I’m happy to say the book didn’t disappoint.
The 39 Clues, for those who don’t know, is a multi-author series about two kids named Dan and Amy Cahill. Amy and Dan learn that they are members of the most powerful family in human history when their grandmother, Grace, dies. The source of their families power is in thirty-nine chemical elements, and whoever assembles them all will become the most powerful person ever.
Of course, Amy and Dan are not the only people looking after the clues. Their conniving relatives are also after them, and will do anything to find them. Even kill.
The 39 Clues also tends to be good for learning history because Amy and Dan travel the world to all kinds of exciting places. Paris, Venice, Cairo, and, in this book, Russia.
If you haven’t read the series yet, I’d start with the most recent series and then work your way back from the first book. For those of you who have…
Summary
Amy and Dan are still in their hotel room in Egypt when they get a telegram from a person who calls himself (or herself) NRR. NRR gives them an airport locker number. The telegram also contains a poem about how Dan buried his bottle cap collection in Grace’s yard, making Amy and Dan think NRR must have known Grace.
Their au pair Nellie is asleep, so they head out without her and leave a message. In this book much more than any of the others, Amy and Dan act independently without Nellie’s help.
Of course, things won’t go so easy for Amy and Dan that they can just get to the airport easily. Ian and Natalie Kabra, their rich cousins, are already on their tail. Amy and Dan manage to outsmart them, however, and find a key hidden in a glass paperweight and a piece of paper with jumbled letters on it. They also get disguises, passports, a credit card (which Dan is most excited about), and a Russian guide book with plane tickets. Most important to Amy and Dan: A picture of their late parents in Russia.
Even though Nellie is still in the hotel room, time is of the essence and they head out. Dan decodes the piece of paper to be various cities in Russia. Amy and Dan learn that the clue may have something to do with Anastasia Romanov and her medicine man, Rasputin.
They scale all the to the top of The Motherland Calls Statue to find a clue, but meet up with the Holt family. Dan decides to team up with Hamilton because he knows that there’s no way they can to all the cities on the list in time. It is a very exciting book and they do all kinds of awesome things, too many to list here.
They are also tracked down by Irina Spasky, an ex-KGB agent. Irina tries to convince them not to look for the clue, but the pictures of their parents and the connection to Grace make Amy and Dan forge on.
Will Amy and Dan make it in time to see NRR? More importantly; will NRR actually help them, or simply kill them?
Review
This is an awesome book, one of the best in the series. It is very clearly written and I still remember a lot of the historical information in the book. It is very fast-paced and full of adventure. Carman did a great job.
Even though it’s not quite written in the same style as the earlier books, I think this one is just as good. The characters also develop well, as we see Amy and Dan going off on their own. We also meet NRR and get closer to the Holt family, seeing a better side of them. In addition, we see that Irina cares about Amy and Dan because she doesn’t kill them when she has the chance.
If I was going to rate The 39 Clues books, this would be a strong contender for the best one; I can’t even think of anything bad to say about it. It’s too bad that this is the only book Carman wrote in the series.
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Yes, this was one of my favorites too and one of the few that I reread. Have you ever listened to the audiobook versions of 39 Clues?
Yeah, I always bought the audio versions. There was no way in the world I was going to miss whatever was on those bonuses (although they never revealed very much)! But yeah, they are pretty good. I definitely prefer actually reading them, but the guy who does the audiobooks is pretty good and you can for sure have a good experience listening to them.
interesting book loved it