I'd heard about the 39 Clues series a while back, but only just started. I listened to the first book on cd with my seven year old son. The first book is The Maze of Bones. It is written by Rick Riordan, but each book in the series is written by a different author, which is an interesting concept. The writing style in this one was fast paced and never boring.

This book begins with a grandmother dying. Amy (14) and Dan (11) and the other Cahills in the family find out at the funeral that their family is the most powerful in history but that there is a prize that will make the one who finds it the most powerful person ever. The lady's will stipulated that of the people she selected they all had a choice of a million dollars or the first clue. Amy and Dan's parents died and they live with an aunt and are cared for by a babysitter (though Dan prefers to call her au pair). They decide to go for the clue.

Their babysitter, Nellie, agrees to accompany them to Paris, since the first clue leads them to Benjamin Franklin. The children sell some of their grandmother's jewelry for money but it dwindles as the story progresses, which is just one of the many obstacles the children face.

There is plenty of adventure. They escape a fire, narrowly miss a bombing, and are constantly on the lookout for their extended family members who now all seem to be enemies in this race for the 39 clues and ultimate prize. The children do have to lie and many characters in the story do unscrupulous activities (nothing perverse but there is a lot of deception). As a plus there is a bit of a history lesson about Benjamin Franklin. And the title of the book refers to the catacombs in Paris, which I've seen in person and are really cool. The author does a good job of not making them sound too gruesome or spooky, which I liked.

You have to figure the main characters aren't going to die, with there being 39 books, but there are plenty of close calls. I did like the brother and sister and they end up working well together even if there is some sibling rivalry at times. At the end of the book I was excited to find out what would happen in the next book. My son liked this book a lot too. I think he is a little younger than the intended audience, with probably 9-12 year olds liking this book the best. As an adult I enjoyed it as well.

Recommended: Yes