The Viper's Nest (The 39 Clues Series #7) »

Peter Lerangis is the author of over 140 books for early readers through teens, including The Sword Thief, the third book of the New York Times bestselling series, The 39 Clues. Peter lives in NYC with his family.

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It's no longer a game. The body count is rising. Shaken by recent events, Amy and Dan flee to a distant land and trace the footsteps of their most formidable ancestor yet: a military leader of mythic proportions. Yet just as the siblings begin to master the art of ancient warfare, they confront a dangerous enemy that can't be felled with a sword: the truth. With the stakes higher than ever, Amy and Dan uncover something so devastating it changes everything – the secret of their family branch.

Children's Literature

The breathless "39 Clues" mystery/adventure series continues in this seventh entry as Amy, age 14, and her 11-year-old brother Dan attempt to find clues hidden around the world that promise to lead to "the greatest power ever known" and also reveal the truth about their family. This volume begins right where Book 6, In Too Deep, leaves off: the two are stranded on a small Indonesian island as their punk-rock au pair, Nellie, zooms to their rescue, with the police hot on her trail. A musical clue sends them off to South Africa, where they learn about Shaka, the founder of the Zulu nation; apartheid; the Boer War; Winston Churchill; and more about their untrustworthy relatives. They end up at a mysterious factory where people are being trained as warriors dedicated to defending the Tomas family branch, and Dan faces mortal danger. Amy and Dan finally learn to which family branch they belong. Plot twists and turns abound, and do not even think of tackling this volume before reading others in the series. It is a swift read, and Lerangis (who also wrote The Sword Thief, Book 3 in the series) successfully weaves humor and intriguing historical details into the suspenseful plot. Reviewer: Paula Rohrlick