James T Recommends The Maze Of Bones

This is Rick Riordan

Hey this is James T here with another Friday book review. This Monday I went to my local library and was looking for a book in the genre of mystery. My librarian recommended the book Maze Of Bones by Rick Riordan the first book of the 39 clues series. I read this book because I have not read a lot of mystery books and the librarian said it was a good introduction into mystery. Anyway this book is not like a Scooby doo mystery or a book about a guy who walks around with a big magnifying glass.  This book is about a quest to find ultimate power and not even know what the prize actually is. For some quick info on Rick Riordan click here

The story starts off with Amy and Dan Cahill who are the main characters. Dan and Amy don’t know their parents very well because they died when they were little. The person they look up to is their grandmother Grace who is as sweet as you hope your grandma would be.  However the person who watches over them is aunt Beatrice who is a horrible person. Not that far into the story Grace dies and Amy and Dan are devastated. Then, Amy and Dan go to Graces funeral and, this is where things get interesting.

 Dan and Amy find a gold slip, or invitation, to meet with Mr. McIntyre. When they get to Mr. Macintyre they are told that the 39 clues is a competition to become the most powerful Cahill.  That means a lot because almost all of the important people in the world are Cahill’s. Amy and Dan are given a choice to join a competition or receive one million dollars. Amy and Dan have no money and everyone else is either filthy rich or really strong. This would be a very good reason to just take the money.  Surprisingly, they go against the odds and join the competition.

Soon after this they get their first clue and head to Grace’s mansion to figure it out. Dan and Amy have an abrupt awakening as to how dangerous this challenge can be when they get stuck in a fire at Grace’s mansion.  

The competition involves using 39 main clues and lots of little clues that lead to solving each of the 39 main clues. In the competition you can pick up many items that can be used to your advantage. To be a good competitor you need to make good choices.

These are the four branches

 The main theme of the story is that the Cahill family was built on betrayal.  The first Cahill’s were four siblings who simply could not stop fighting so they split apart and made their own branches of the Cahill family. The four branches of the Cahill family were: Lucian, Tomas, Ekaterina, and Janus. These branches have been fighting ever since they were created.

The two most important characters in the book are Dan and Amy. I don’t really think it would be good to have only one main character because having the 2 different points of view makes the book more interesting.  Dan is an average 11 year old or maybe not so average.   He loves collecting things like charcoal tombstone rubbings, which I thought was strange. He also collects and sells baseball cards and is a troublemaker. Amy is a 14-year-old girl who hates crowds; her voice just stops working when she is in large crowds of people. Amy is also a bookworm.

I can relate to Amy Cahill because I understand how annoying it can be having a younger sibling. I can also relate to Dan Cahill because when I was younger I used to collect baseball cards. I thankfully can’t relate to having people try to kill me. I also doubt my family has any cool secret clue hunts to riches other than buying lotto tickets.

If I had to rate this book out of five I would give it two and one half because it was an easy book for this level.  If you are looking for an easier read where the vocabulary is not that challenging this is a good book for you.  Also, it is pretty suspenseful in some parts.  So pick up The maze of Bones at your local library today. If you want to read the first few chapters click here