Customer Reviews

Vanishing Act: Mystery at the U.S. Open

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My 11 year old almost missed the school bus this morning because he just had to finish this book. If you have a son that likes sports books, this is a sure bet. My son kept saying, "This is awesome!" and "I hope there's a sequel." all the way through.

The best book I read this year was Vanishing Act by John Feinstein.

The main characters are Susan Carol and Stevie Thomas who become kid reporters when they win a National Writing Contest. Susan Carol is a 14 year old from South Carolina and is a sports fanatic who seems to know everything about everyone. Stevie is a 13 year old from Philadelphia and plays basketball.

In this story they are sent to cover the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament with a friend reporter, Bobby Kheller. While they are waiting for a match to begin one of the players is kidnapped. When Susan and Stevie dig a little deeper they find that it was all staged to make a movie deal. They must stop the plot before it is too late.

This all takes place in New York City in modern day times.

The themes for this story are Bravery- for continuing the case after being threatened to stop their investigation. Friendship- for when Susan and Stevie stuck together to solve the case. Finally Money- because if the crooks got away with it the movie deal would give them 21.5 million dollars and more if the movie did well.

I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone. I loved it because it included mystery, sports and it was a pleasure to read. This book keeps you guessing and leaves you wanting more.

In Vanishing Act by John Feinstein, the main characters, Steve Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson, both have a deep love of sports and are sports reporters.

When Nadia Symanova, a tennis player, vanishes at the US Open Tennis Tournament, Steve and Susan Carol try to unravel the mystery. Has she been kidnapped because someone wants her to stay a Russian citizen and not become an American? Did she run away? The FBI, media and Steve and Susan Carol all try to find Nadia.

The story is written in current time in New York City at the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament.

The themes of the story are bravery, sacrifice, sports and hope. The moral of the story would be to always work together.

I loved the story because it's sports related and it shows the meaning of friendship. Steve and Susan Carol's actions in this book, where they save each other, help each other out on their stories and always work together is a great example of what I would want from a best friend. This story is the sequel to the story Last Shot. If you love this book, you will love Last Shot almost as much.

Stevie Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson got their "fifteen minutes of fame" after helping to unravel the Final Four mystery involving the blackmailing of Minnesota State University's star player, Chip Graber. Remaining good friends, they keep in touch over email and IM all the time. When Susan Carol tells Stevie she'll be covering the U.S. Open for her local sports paper, she convinces Stevie to come along. Stevie contacts Bobby Kelleher, the Washington Herald columnist who mentored them during the Final Four, and sure enough Kelleher has a job for Stevie too. They're off to New York City, but little do they know what they'll have in store for themselves.

Right before her anticipated first game, young Russian phenom Nadia Makarova goes missing and immediately Stevie and Susan Carol find themselves trying to unfold another mystery. And yet again, there are a lot of unanswered questions. Who are Nadia Makarova's kidnappers? Why does Susan Carol's agent uncle, Brendan Gibson, seem like he's right in the middle of this? Plus, what does this mean for up-and-coming new U.S. tennis star Evelyn Rubin, who is smashing her way through games and scheduled to play Makarova?

VANISHING ACT is John Feinstein's follow-up to the New York Times bestseller, LAST SHOT. The author, a political and sports reporter for the Washington Post as well as Sports Illustrated and National Sports Daily, has written many bestselling sports-related books. In his second effort Feinstein continues to succeed, mixing real-life sports personalities like Bud Collins and Andy Roddick into the fictional world. Feinstein also reveals a behind-the-scenes look at sports agents that doesn't portray them in a very good light.

Like his previous effort, VANISHING ACT provides an almost nonfiction-like look into the professional tennis world and the U.S. Open while mixing elements of a fiction mystery novel. Readers will be happy to see the return of Stevie and Susan Carol, who have clearly grown as friends. (And Stevie's constant eating of hamburgers and pizza in an effort to grow taller is pretty humorous too.) VANISHING ACT is a fast-paced story that whizzes by like a powerful serve. It's a fun read for anyone interested in tennis or mysteries, or both.

--- Reviewed by Kristi Olson

My eleven year old sister bought this book and I borrowed it because it seemed like a good read. Once I started the first chapter, I couldn't put it down! I recommend this book for people who like mystery or sports. However this book appealed to me even though I am not much of a sports fan. I found the characters to be funny and real. If you're looking for a fun, pleasing read, definitely purchase this book. I can't wait to try some of his other books!

John Feinstein's VANISHING ACT is set in new York City, where a hundred athletes are competing for millions in prizes - and where a kidnapping changes the nature of the game. Everyone's looking for Nadia - but two eighth-grade rookies have the best chance of finding her - if they're in time. A satisfying mystery evolves.

This is an excellent middle-school level book! While it looks like it's all about tennis, it's really not. It's a who-done-it book! Fast read for higher readers and an excellent recommendation for reluctant readers!

In my opinion, Vanishing Act is a very well written book by John Feinstein. It has plenty of heartstopping\heartbeating moments, it's suspensful, and it will keep you wanting to read more. I also purchased Last Shot, which is really the 1st book, becasue when you read it they talk about parts from that book, so maybe read LAST SHOT: A FINAL FOUR MYSTERY 1st. This book in my opinion is probably 12+, it does have some language in it. It will also keep you guessing as well. 5 Stars!

In this story, 13 year olds Steve Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson unravel a mystery. Brendan Gibson, Susan Carol`s uncle is an agent for up and coming tennis player, Evelyn Rubin. Nadia Symanova, the most famous tennis player in the world, has been kidnapped and the kids are trying to find out who did it. In the meantime, Evelyn is on her way to stardom. After a few days, Nadia returns and makes her way to round 3 to play Evelyn. The winner could possibly play Elena Makarova, a Russian like Nadia and Gibson is about to sign her. Steve and Susan Carol think this is key because the SMG (Nadia`s agency)was just fired by Elena. When Evelyn and Nadia play each other the plot has been foiled. Nadia staged her own kidnapping and kidnapped Brendan. But here`s the twist: After Evelyn wins the match, Nadia is arrested. But Gibson is also arrested because the place he was being held in is owned by his company. After that they give statements to the FBI. I think both Evelyn and Makarova should sign with Tom Ross, another agent who helped Susan Carol and Stevie throughout the story. Written by Jon Cooney I have my own radio show and I am writing a book.

I had to read this book for a class. At first, before I read it, my fellow classmates said, "Oh, it was a good book," So I thought ok. As a sports person I thought it would be definitely something I would want to read. I started reading and it seemed to be alright, it got better towards the middles, but I was really dissapointed with the ending because it didn't seem real exciting, more just so-so. I would not recomend this book to any of my friends because I know they would like an exciting ending like I do.