More Cahill secrets revealed in “In Too Deep”

Surprising revelations are in store for 39 Clues treasure hunters as Scholastic’s landmark multimedia action-adventure series comes out with the sixth volume, In Too Deep, in the race to uncover the Cahill family legacy.

Jude Watson (a pen name for Judy Blundell) returns with her second book in the multi-authored ten-book series. Watson previously penned the fourth volume, Beyond the Grave, which led the series to jump on to the US national bestseller lists, hitting the highest bestseller list ranking for the series to date on USA Today.

In In Too Deep, Dan and Amy Cahill find themselves in the Pacific, where the adventure takes them out on the Australian surf, then deep into the Australian outback, and eventually in the tropics of Indonesia.

Test of trust

Eleven-year old Dan and 14-year old Amy, the siblings starring in The 39 Clues, are on a hunt for clues to lead them to their family legacy, said to be the source of power and wealth of the Cahills, a family line which has produced prominent personalities in world history and culture, such as Galileo, Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, Mozart, Van Gogh, Beethoven, Winston Churchill, Mao Zedong, Rasputin, Neil Armstrong, Christopher Columbus and George Washington.

The clues were laid out as a family inheritance by the last remaining Cahill matriarch, Dan and Amy’s grandmother Grace, whose bequest set in motion a race to the Cahill secrets.

When their grandmother Grace passes away, they are made to choose their inheritance: one million dollars each, or the first clue in the quest for the legacy of the Cahill family.

Choosing the key to their family’s source of power, Dan and Amy embark on a thrilling quest, with the rest of the Cahills hot on their heels in a race to a reward beyond measure.

Dan and Amy have to rely on their wits to outsmart other Cahills who will cheat, lie, steal, and even kill, to get their hands on the family’s source of power.

After surviving harrowing experiences that have taken them across America, Paris, Germany, Japan, Egypt, and Russia, Dan and Amy have more challenges on their hands as the series moves into the second half of the adventure. The mystery surrounding their parents’ death slowly unravels and forces them to face the painful memories of the night of the terrible fire that left them orphaned.

Dan and Amy follow the leads left behind by Bob Troppo, a notorious Cahill from the 1900s who reportedly came close to finding all 39 Clues, and female aviator Amelia Earhart, who mysteriously disappeared in the Pacific in 1937, supposedly on a Cahill mission.

A new nemesis also surfaces in this latest 39 Clues book, forcing Dan and Amy to evaluate their allies. New revelations test their trust towards their au pair Nellie, the other Cahills in competition with them, and even their trust in each other as they come closer and closer to the family legacy.

The threat of the rogue Cahill family branch, the Madrigals, also looms above the Cahills, forcing one of the contenders to make a sacrifice for the family. The stakes are higher than ever for the Dan and Amy, who have to assess just how far they’re willing to go to best their other relatives, and to avenge their parents’ untimely death.

The Global Adventure Continues

Meanwhile, the adventure continues for readers who have joined the hunt for clues to the Cahill family secrets. The 39 Clues offers a revolutionary approach to reading: multi-platform interactivity, with additional components that enhance the reading experience: collectible game cards; online role-playing games; sweepstakes across several territories; and even a possible film franchise, with movie rights acquired by DreamWorks Studios and Steven Spielberg eyeing to direct.

With over 3 million books in print, the series’ interactive reading experience is a hit with kids worldwide, with more than 500,000 online game users from 191 countries on The 39 Clues website (www.the39clues.com), and more members joining each day.

On the website, members can find out their Cahill family branch, and collect clues by using the interactive cards that are enclosed with each book, as well as separately sold card packs containing additional clues. There are currently five clue missions on the website, involving role-playing games that yield clues towards the Cahill secrets. Mission 6 is set to come out in mid-December.

The countdown also begins for the release of Book 7, The Viper’s Nest by Peter Lerangis (author of The 39 Clues Book 3, The Sword Thief), set for release in February 2010.

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My copy: hardcover (thank you Scholastic!)

My rating: 4/5 stars