One False Note (The 39 Clues) book 2

I really enjoyed the first 39 clues book, and this one certainly lives up to that expectation. I found that after the first book, this one was quite a lot quicker in moving along. The Cahill kids are still finding clues, this time in Vienna, along with their au pair Nellie. They are on the trail of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and they have a few mishaps along the way. This was a brillaint second book in a fantastic series that I really enjoyed. I have read all of the books currently on sale and will be writing reviews on most of them, as I loved them!

Great story where you can easily lose yourself in the plot. Read on and enjoy the breathtaking excitement, which multiplies with each turning page. Brilliant!

great fun series - a different writer each time!

Reading this aloud to my boys every evening. They love it.

"One False Note" is by Gordon Korman, who is also the author of 'Why Did the Underwear Cross the Road?'. It is the second book in the series 'The 39 Clues' and is an action mystery.This book is about an eleven-year-old boy called Dan and his fourteen-year-old sister, Amy. Their parents are dead because their house burned down when Dan was four and Amy was seven. Their guardian is their au pair, Nellie. They keep a pet called Saladin. They all travel to Vienna to find out if they are related to Mozart. Dan and Amy are racing rapidly against their power hungry relatives to find who can discover the next clue to the answer. In their adventures, they break into a museum, get chased by monks, ride a motorboat and wield Samurai swords made in Japan.I think this is the perfect book for both boys and girls of any age - it will keep them busy reading for hours. This is a nail-biting, seat-gripping book with lots of twists and turns.Overall, this book has breathtaking as well as funny moments. This is the right book for both boys and girls who like reading mystery books.By Sartaj Sandhu, aged 10.

If you are a veteran of The Maze of Bones, you now know about the Cahill family and the race to find and solve the 39 clues, have visited the catacombs in Paris, and know the answer to the first clue (Shh! Don't tell!). In One False Note, you'll gain new perspectives on what it has meant in the past to be a Cahill, learn a lot about Mozart, gain a little knowledge about Venice, and find and solve a second clue (which you'll probably figure out on your own by drawing on what you learned from the first clue).Once again, Amy and Dan are still off trying to find the 39 clues with a Mozart musical composition in the hand writing by the master himself. To save money, they are on a clunky train headed for Vienna. Dan's amazing memory turns out to be essential, Amy's willingness to put up with her brother keeps the peace, and au pair, Nellie Gomez, patiently does the heavy lifting where an adult is essential. All of them are worried about Saladin not being willing to eat cat food (being used to fresh red snapper) as the cat gets thinner and thinner. There's lots of action as the Cahills seek to thwart each other.A major part of the story's charm is that the opposing Cahills are such dunces while having exaggerated opinions of themselves. It's not hard for Dan and Amy to outwit them at virtually every turn. But the youngsters still have a lot to learn about keeping what they know to themselves.To me, the only thing better than a mystery . . . is an extended mystery. The idea of putting together all of these books, trading cards, and the Web site permits the mystery lover to enjoy the unknown (which is always so much more exotic than the known) for a long time. It's terrific.As a stand-alone book, this one is pretty good. But don't bother to pick it up unless you want to follow the story through all of the books. Naturally, if you really want to compete for the prizes you'll need to acquire the cards. But I think you can enjoy the whole thing quite a bit just by reading the books and visiting the Web site. It's a more entertaining version of The Amazing Race pitched for the juvenile set.The book's main drawback is that the characters are too predictable . . . and are often more than just a little annoying. To sustain such a series with the highest level of entertainment, it would have been a good idea to make the leading characters more desirable and attractive. I also wonder if it was necessary to turn them into thieves to make the story work. I don't think so. There's a negative moral tone here that will bother any parent who pre-screens what his or her children read.But if you want to enjoy it as pure fantasy and imagine yourself as either Amy or Dan (and how you could avoid being a crook and still win), I think you will have a good time.Parents will like that there is so much culture and history crammed into the story line. It's likely that those who read the series will develop some lifelong interests that might otherwise have taken longer to sprout.Enjoy your mysterious cake and eat it, too!