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Summary
Summary
After foiling a gang of kidnappers and fending off an army of robots, 11-year-old siblings Nick and Tesla Holt could use a little rest! But as their third mystery opens, they discover there's a spy in their midst, searching for secrets in the home of their beloved (and slightly crazy) Uncle Newt. Is it the new laboratory assistant? The exterminator? The housekeepers? Or someone completely unexpected? To expose the mystery agent, Nick and Tesla must engineer all kinds of outrageous contraptions, from code wheels and fingerprint powder to spy cameras and burglar detectors. Best of all, instructions are included throughout the story, so you can build the projects, too!
Author Notes
Steve Hockensmith (born August 17, 1968) is an American author. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky. Hockensmith is the author of the Holmes on the Range mystery series. The first book in the series, Holmes on the Range (published in 2006), was a finalist for the Edgar, Shamus and Anthony Awards for Best First Novel. he wrote the third book in the Quirk Classics series, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls, in 2010. He also published its sequel, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After, in 2011.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-With a penchant for inventing and sleuthing, 11-year-old twins Nick and Tesla return for a third mystery. The siblings have been visiting their Uncle Newt, an eccentric scientist, for the summer, while their parents work on a mysterious government project in Uzbekistan. After receiving a cryptic message from their mother warning them of a potential spy, Nick begins to suspect everyone of espionage, while Tesla is not so sure-until the pendant her parents gave her is stolen. The list of possible culprits is lengthy, including Uncle Newt's burly new apprentice, a pair of geriatric maids, a spider-fearing exterminator, and a disgruntled neighbor with an affinity for garden gnomes. Using their ingenuity and science know-how-and a multitude of homemade gadgets-the twins catch the thief and uncover a few more clues about the true nature of their parents' work. Although the third in a series, this entertaining and humorous whodunit is straightforward enough that it can be read as a stand-alone. Cautious Nick and confident Tesla are both well defined, as is the quirky cast of comical characters that surrounds them. As with the previous books, instructions for each of Nick and Tesla's inventions are included, giving resourceful children the opportunity to make their own gadgets. With the promise of more mystery, science, and humor to come, children will be anxiously waiting for more adventures-and more inventions-from Nick and Tesla.-Laura J. Giunta, Garden City Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
Science-minded sleuths Nick and Tesla are still with Uncle Newt while their parents (supposedly) research soybean irrigation techniques in Uzbekistan; these second and third capers up the ante with robotics and spy technology. The books' humor is both smart and silly, and the mysteries are surprisingly complex. Garrett illustrates tense scenes as well as instructions for the twins' experiments, which remain inventive yet simple. [Review covers these titles: Nick and Tesla's Robot Army Rampage and NIck and Tesla's Secret Agent Battle.] (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
After foiling a kidnapping ring in Nick and Tesla's High-Voltage Danger Lab (2013), 11-year-old twins Nick and Tesla Holt solidified their status as certified gadget-handy crime solvers, and this third installment features a new mystery and a whole new set of devices. The last time Nick and Tesla heard from their parents, who are ostensibly working on a soybean-irrigation project in Uzbekistan (yeah, right), their mother warned them to keep an eye out for spies. That, and the convenient timing of several odd guests, including an Australian with a heavy Russian accent and passion for borscht, spurs Nick and Tesla on to build a series of nifty traps to catch the spy red-handed. As usual, charts and instructions for building a few of the projects, some of which involve batteries and wire stripping, with an adult's help, are included. Though the directions would be greatly improved by clearer illustrations, this high-speed caper with comical characters, clever kid detectives, and an ever-deepening mystery (with a cliff-hanger, of course) will keep the pages turning.--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2010 Booklist
Excerpts
Excerpts
"It's her," Nick said. "She's the spy." "Who is?" said Tesla. She looked around. She and her brother were in their uncle's backyard, about to test-fly the hoop glider they'd been working on that morning. There was only one other person in sight: a fortyish woman crouched over a bed of begonias about forty feet away. She was wearing jeans and a T-shirt and dirty gardening gloves. A sweat-soaked bandana was wrapped around her head. She didn't look much like a spy to Tesla. "You mean Julie Casserly?" Nick nodded, eyeing the woman suspiciously. "I can feel it in my gut," he said. "She's always watching us. Always glaring." "Well, of course she is. Wouldn't you if you lived next door to Uncle Newt?" Nick and Tesla's uncle was an inspired, ingenious, innovative inventor. Unfortunately, he was also a forgetful, dreamy, not-particularly-safety-minded one. Since the kids had come to stay with him a couple weeks earlier, his out-of-control creations had chewed up Julie's flower beds, demolished one of her garden gnomes, set her lawn on fire, and splattered her car with thirty pounds of putrid bananas flambé. (Uncle Newt was convinced he could build an engine for a vacuum cleaner that ran on compost. So far, he'd only succeeded in building several extremely smelly time bombs.) Maybe Julie would have overcome her dislike for Uncle Newt and warmed up to Nick and Tesla-- maybe --but the kids were wannabe inventors themselves. They could often be found in their uncle's backyard testing out homemade hovercrafts and balloon rockets and robots. And, this day, a hoop glider. "What is that?" Julie said when Tesla lifted the glider and prepared to send it on its first flight. She'd turned from her begonias to shoot Nick and Tesla a wary glare. "A remote-controlled spear?" Tesla lowered the glider. It was just a couple hoops of stiff paper, a small one in front and a larger one behind it, connected by a straw. "No," said Tesla. "A computerized javelin?" said Julie. "No." "A self-shooting arrow?" "No." "Some kind of missile?" "No." "It's a glider," said Nick. Julie narrowed her eyes. "And what's that supposed to do?" "Uhh . . . glide," said Tesla. Julie cocked her head, her lips twisting into a tight, sarcastic smile. "Oh, sure. It just glides," she said. She pushed herself up from her knees and began walking away. "Well, let me get inside before you set it loose. I don't want to be here when it 'glides' someone into the hospital." The woman marched around the corner of her house and disappeared. "Not very brave for a spy," Tesla said. "Maybe that's just her cover," Nick grumbled. "Anyway, go ahead. I want to see if this thing works." Tesla brought the glider up again, pointed it away from Julie's yard, and launched it with a flick of the wrist. It shot away with surprising speed and flew smoothly over Uncle Newt's lawn, arcing to the left as it went. "Whoa! Look at it go!" said Nick. "And go and go and go," said Tesla. She'd expected the glider to fly five yards, tops, yet even after twenty it was still six feet off the ground and not slowing down. In fact, it was soaring toward some trees on the other side of Uncle Newt's property, perhaps about to fly out of the yard altogether. "Hey, kids!" a cheerful voice called out. "Whatcha up to?" It was Uncle Newt's other neighbor, Mr. Jones, stepping out onto his patio. The paunchy, gray-haired man was wary of Uncle Newt's inventions--which was wise--yet he always had a smile and a wave for Nick and Tesla. Unfortunately, it was a really bad time for a smile and a wave. "Mr. Jones!" Nick cried out. "Duck!" "A duck? Where?" Mr. Jones looked up into the sky. The glider came swooping through the trees and smacked him in the face. Nick and Tesla ran to the old man as he staggered back into his house. He managed to find his footing again just as the kids reached him. "Where did that crazy duck go?" he started to say. Then he saw the hoop glider lying in the doorway. "Oh," he said. "We're sorry, Mr. Jones," said Nick. "We had no idea it was going to fly this far," said Tesla. Mr. Jones rubbed his bulbous nose--which was now slightly more bulbous and way redder than usual. "No harm done," he said. He didn't sound like he meant it, though, and the smile he gave the kids when he handed them their glider seemed strained. Mr. Jones closed the door on Nick and Tesla, muttering something about getting an ice pack. "Great," Tesla said as she and her brother trudged away. "The one neighbor who's nice, and we go and throw a paper airplane up his nose." "It was an accident," Nick said. "And who's to say Mr. Jones is such a nice guy anyway?" "What?" Tesla looked over at her brother, thinking he might be joking. Nick hadn't been joking much lately, though. And he never joked about this. "It's him," Nick said. "He's the spy." "Mr. Jones? He must be, like, two hundred years old." "Spies get old like everyone else." Nick threw a suspicious squint over his shoulder. "He's always watching us. Always smiling." "So now being nice makes someone a suspect?" "Why not? You remember what Mom said." Tesla did remember, of course. She just wished she could forget. Excerpted from Nick and Tesla's Secret Agent Gadget Battle by Bob Pflugfelder, Steve Hockensmith All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.