The Viper's Nest
Encyclopedia
The Viper's Nest is the seventh book in The 39 Clues
series. It was written by Peter Lerangis
and was released by Scholastic on February 2, 2010. The 39 Clues series is intended for children aged 8–12, and takes the form of a multimedia adventure story spanning 10 books. The stories focus on a brother and sister, Amy and Dan Cahill, and their efforts to piece together clues left by the matriarch of the family, Grace Cahill, upon her death.
The Viper's Nest follows immediately on from the events of the preceding book: In Too Deep
. The events are described, below, using in-universe tone. Shocked by the death of Irina Spasky, Dan and Amy venture into danger once again. For the first, they begin to question how much they trust their au pair
, Nellie. Later in the book, she regains their trust.
The morse code
dashes and dots, along the page margins in the middle of the book, reads: "There is a madrigal watcher".
and murderer, Irina Spasky, brings them a pole to slide down to safety. Irina climbs to the top and helps them down, but the pole catches fire. Irina, knowing her fate, simply dives into the flames and dies.
The book begins the morning after the fire that killed Irina Spasky, who was an ex-KGB
and Lucian spy. The two were shaken by what had happened, not believing that Irina was on their side, after attempting to kill them earlier in the series. Using their de-coding abilities, Dan and Amy figure that the last words Irina spoke were actually a song: "I'm with you and you're with me and so we are all together", which points them to Pretoria, South Africa.
Here, they are given a postcard suggesting a connection with Shaka
. As they unravel the history of Shaka, they find out that he was a member of the Tomas branch, and was connected to Winston Churchill
. They find the clue, aloe
, but are captured by the Kabras while leaving South Africa. Isabel Kabra offers Dan and Amy to join their family. When they decline, Isabel orders them to be tied in chairs, and chopped to pieces by a spinning propeller.
They escape with the help of Professor Bardsley, together with the vial
of green liquid that they thought was their lead to the second clue in The Maze of Bones
, by flying Grace Cahill's old plane, The Flying Lemur. During the ride, Dan and Amy accidentally break the vial, spilling some of the contents onto Dan's arm. It turns out to be a Lucian poison. To get the antidote, they fly to Grace Cahill's home in Madagascar.
While at Grace's Madagascar home, they find a page in her journal that says, ″I am feeling melancholy today, thinking about my dear A & H and missing them so. I cannot even bear to listen to my beloved di Lasso
, because of the reminder...″, and on another page it says, ″I have written Deng Xiaoping, who has agreed to grant to visit to A & H when he discovered that they, like him, are "M."
This, along with a piece of music by di Lasso, leads Dan to realize that his and Amy's family branch is the Madrigals.
. The morse code translates to, 'There is a Madrigal watcher'.
The letters on the spears on the inside cover and back of the book are an anagram. It unscrambles to "Madrigal leader = Grace".
The 39 Clues
The 39 Clues consists of two series of adventure books, The Clue Hunt and Cahills vs. Vespers, combining reading, online gaming, and card collecting...
series. It was written by Peter Lerangis
Peter Lerangis
Peter Lerangis is an author of children's and young-adult fiction.-Career:Lerangis's work includes The Viper's Nest and The Sword Thief, two titles in the New York Times–bestselling children's-book series The 39 Clues, the historical novel Smiler's Bones, the YA dark comedy-adventure novel wtf,...
and was released by Scholastic on February 2, 2010. The 39 Clues series is intended for children aged 8–12, and takes the form of a multimedia adventure story spanning 10 books. The stories focus on a brother and sister, Amy and Dan Cahill, and their efforts to piece together clues left by the matriarch of the family, Grace Cahill, upon her death.
The Viper's Nest follows immediately on from the events of the preceding book: In Too Deep
In Too Deep (The 39 Clues)
In Too Deep is the sixth book in The 39 Clues series. It was written by Jude Watson and released on November 3, 2009. The story is set in Australia and Indonesia.- Plot summary :...
. The events are described, below, using in-universe tone. Shocked by the death of Irina Spasky, Dan and Amy venture into danger once again. For the first, they begin to question how much they trust their au pair
Au pair
An au pair is a domestic assistant from a foreign country working for, and living as part of, a host family. Typically, au pairs take on a share of the family's responsibility for childcare as well as some housework, and receive a small monetary allowance for personal use...
, Nellie. Later in the book, she regains their trust.
The morse code
Morse code
Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...
dashes and dots, along the page margins in the middle of the book, reads: "There is a madrigal watcher".
Plot summary
Amy and Dan Cahill are staying inside a small cabin with their uncle, Alistair Oh. However, the evil Isabel Kabra starts a fire in the cabin. Surprisingly, former secret agentEspionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
and murderer, Irina Spasky, brings them a pole to slide down to safety. Irina climbs to the top and helps them down, but the pole catches fire. Irina, knowing her fate, simply dives into the flames and dies.
The book begins the morning after the fire that killed Irina Spasky, who was an ex-KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
and Lucian spy. The two were shaken by what had happened, not believing that Irina was on their side, after attempting to kill them earlier in the series. Using their de-coding abilities, Dan and Amy figure that the last words Irina spoke were actually a song: "I'm with you and you're with me and so we are all together", which points them to Pretoria, South Africa.
Here, they are given a postcard suggesting a connection with Shaka
Shaka
Shaka kaSenzangakhona , also known as Shaka Zulu , was the most influential leader of the Zulu Kingdom....
. As they unravel the history of Shaka, they find out that he was a member of the Tomas branch, and was connected to Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
. They find the clue, aloe
Aloe
Aloe , also Aloë, is a genus containing about 500 species of flowering succulent plants. The most common and well known of these is Aloe vera, or "true aloe"....
, but are captured by the Kabras while leaving South Africa. Isabel Kabra offers Dan and Amy to join their family. When they decline, Isabel orders them to be tied in chairs, and chopped to pieces by a spinning propeller.
They escape with the help of Professor Bardsley, together with the vial
Vial
A vial is a relatively small glass vessel or bottle, especially used to store medication as liquids, powders or in other forms like capsules. They can also be sample vessels; e.g., for use in autosampler devices in analytical chromatography.The glass can be colourless or coloured, clear or amber...
of green liquid that they thought was their lead to the second clue in The Maze of Bones
The Maze of Bones
The Maze of Bones was published by Scholastic on September 9, 2008. The story arc of the series has been established by Riordan, but a collaboration of six other authors will continue to write the story through the next nine books.-Plot introduction :...
, by flying Grace Cahill's old plane, The Flying Lemur. During the ride, Dan and Amy accidentally break the vial, spilling some of the contents onto Dan's arm. It turns out to be a Lucian poison. To get the antidote, they fly to Grace Cahill's home in Madagascar.
While at Grace's Madagascar home, they find a page in her journal that says, ″I am feeling melancholy today, thinking about my dear A & H and missing them so. I cannot even bear to listen to my beloved di Lasso
Orlande de Lassus
Orlande de Lassus was a Franco-Flemish composer of the late Renaissance...
, because of the reminder...″, and on another page it says, ″I have written Deng Xiaoping, who has agreed to grant to visit to A & H when he discovered that they, like him, are "M."
This, along with a piece of music by di Lasso, leads Dan to realize that his and Amy's family branch is the Madrigals.
Page code
In the pages 39–65 above the side decorations is some Morse codeMorse code
Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...
. The morse code translates to, 'There is a Madrigal watcher'.
The letters on the spears on the inside cover and back of the book are an anagram. It unscrambles to "Madrigal leader = Grace".
External links
- The Viper's Nest at the 39 Clues wiki.