Nowhere to Run

September 1, 2013
The Cahill super serum is in jeopardy...or has it already been compromised? Just when 13-year-old Dan and 16-year-old Amy Cahill began to think life might approach some semblance of normalcy at the Attleboro, Mass., estate they inherited from their grandmother Grace, the former matriarch of the Cahills, they are attacked at the graveside services for their attorney, Mr. McIntyre, and nearly buried alive. Then their faces are splashed over every tabloid and gossip website in town along with outlandish lies that portray them as spoiled rich kids. And then the federal government begins to investigate them for embezzlement. Someone is definitely after them. Following the trail leads to media mogul J. Rutherford Pierce, who came out of nowhere to control newspapers and businesses across the country. Disturbingly strong and invulnerable henchmen keep attacking; could the serum that Dan and Amy fought so hard to protect, the biggest secret of the Cahill clans, have been leaked? What would that mean to the Cahills...and the world? Good thing the branches of the family are still working together. Series veteran Watson kicks off a new quartet of Cahill adventures with a collection of showy, unrealistic action scenes sprinkled with a few puzzles and populated by two often inconsistent main characters. Pedestrian writing won't matter to series fans. Trading cards and online games will drive this offshoot series to the Gordon Korman-penned conclusion next year. (Multiplatform fiction. 8-12)

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October 15, 2013
Grades 4-6 Kicking off a 39 Clues spin-off series that will run for four episodes, this setup reunites siblings Amy and Dan Cahill with various squabbling cousins. Ruthless media tycoon J. Rutherford Pierce has stolen a serum that endows him with super powers and has set out to conquer the Earth. His grand scheme involves eliminating the Cahills, so Dan, Amy, and the others find themselves racing from Ireland to Anatolia to procure ingredients for the serum's antidote. Meanwhile, the kids are pursued by a squad of superstrong hit men, who turn out to be astonishingly incompetent; the Cahills survive at least six assassination attempts early on in the storybut, then, the tale still has a long way to go, and it wouldn't do to start killing off cast members yet. Each episode will be packaged with collectible cards, as well as codes that will unlock additional adventures on an associated web page. With a 39 Cluesinspired film tentatively scheduled for release in 2014, this fast read will find a ready-made audience.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)