9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Shaka -- Shaka Khan, February 7, 2010
This review is from: The Viper's Nest (The 39 Clues, Book 7) (Hardcover)
Another day in the life of Dan and Amy Cahill and their au pair Nellie Gomez? Well, that might include daring escapes, rescues, wretchedly nefarious family reunions, explosions, snakes, and the odd clue or two to the mysterious Cahill family secret. Peter Lerangis delivers another epic installment in THE 39 CLUES series, and this time, the stakes are higher than before, and the clue hunt is beginning to wear the siblings down: who can they trust anymore? Can they even trust each other? Or Grace, their beloved grandmother? More and more secrets keep cropping up in book seven: THE VIPER'S NEST.
The plot continues on straightaway from book six, and I would recommend going back and re-reading the last chapter of IN TOO DEEP before you set foot into book seven -- just to re-orient yourself in the Cahill world. I don't want to delve too deeply into the plot here, but rest assured, there is plenty more action, intrigue, and the final revelation of Dan and Amy's family branch.
This is the second installment in the series from Lerangis, and I remember really enjoying book three -- THE SWORD THIEF -- by him. The plot moves along swiftly, and he reminds us of just enough without seeming like he's dumping previous information down our throats. A lot of the typical CLUES staples are here as well -- a reigning family nemesis throughout the book, more mysteries and twists -- and the final page is one that made me sit back and say, "WHAT!" I will definitely be eagerly waiting for the next book coming out in a few months.
THE 39 CLUES continues to be a fairly solid book series perfect for the 3rd to 7th grade set (and beyond). Definitely one to have on your bookshelf.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another Great Installment, February 7, 2010
This review is from: The Viper's Nest (The 39 Clues, Book 7) (Hardcover)
Dan and Amy travel from Indonesia to Pretoria, South Africa and learn all about Shaka Zulu and Winston Churchill in this the seventh adventure in the 39 Clues series. They are on the run from the evil Isabel Kabra and the evil but inept Eisenhower Holt. They have encounters with Alastair Oh and still don't really know whose side he is on. They also meet some friends of Grace and learn what family branch they are part of. The book was filled with exciting adventures and lots of dangerous situations.
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17 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Lerangis just doesn't get it., February 5, 2010
This review is from: The Viper's Nest (The 39 Clues, Book 7) (Hardcover)
This may contain some small spoilers.
This is the second book that Lerangis wrote for this series, and I thought he'd correct the mistakes that he made in his earlier book, sadly this isn't the case. There are so many problems with this book.
The Characters: All of the main characters (Dan, Amy, Nellie) are very annoying and snapped at each other throughout the book. I don't think that Lerangis has the right mind for the characters. It has the feeling that he just wrote it without reading the other books to know what the characters should be like. Nellie and Dan said, "Dude" and "like" far to much. Something like this, "Dude, like, you really need to check this out dude. It's like totally cool." UG! I guess Lerangis was trying to make Dan and Nellie hip, but iin reality, it was very annoying. Even Amy was grouchy in this. book.
Also, the characters weren't true to form. In The Viper's Nest, Dan had a lot of the answers to solve the clues and codes, but we're never told how he does, just that he does. There's no trial and error, looking it up on line, or in a library. It's just all of a sudden he knows it. One part was really laughable. I don't want to say what part, because I don't want to have any big spoilers. Also, he knew a lot about African history. Let me say that again, Dan (who really doesn't like school or research) knew about African history. I just didn't get that part. It's not within his character to know things like that. I'd say it's more in line with Amy, and not Dan. I just couldn't believe some of the things Dan was doing.
I also didn't really like Lerangis' writing style. He used caps far to much. Some examples are GAHHHH!!! EEEKK!!! DUDE!!!! RUN!!! ATTACK!!!! GET OUT OF HERE!!!! This was done all through the book and was really annoying. There wasn't any real plot twists that made and sense. There were some, but it really didn't follow or have any logic to it. It was as if Lerangis had an idea, and just stuck it in, if it made sense or not.
Over all, this was a let down. I didn't expect to much from Lerangis because of the earlier book he wrote. This is a weak installment of the series.
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