The 39 Clues: The Cahill Files #4: The Houdini Escape

This incredibly suspenseful story transports the reader to late nineteenth century New York City, conjuring up that time and place with vivid, bustling streetscapes, struggling immigrants, horsecars, and early Coney Island. We are introduced to young Harry Weiss, an aspiring magician who has not yet evolved into the great Harry Houdini. Through no fault of his own, Harry finds himself caught up in the larcenous plan of a consummately evil transatlantic criminal operation. The tale takes us through Harry's travails as he employs his burgeoning talents as a magician in confronting the challenges of a seemingly impossible situation, and we are moved to care deeply about Harry's fate. This is a great read.

I have read all of the 39 clues books to date and none of them have disappointed. They have all been difficult to put down - the story just pulls you in.It's a good thing they have multiple writers for this series. If I had to wait each time for one author to finish a book it would be agonizing."The Cahill Files" can be read before, during, or after reading the other books. many of them (including this one) do not focus on the current cast of characters (Dan & Amy) so you do not need to know what has already happened to them to fully understand what is going on.I highly recommend this series to anyone who likes to read.

The Cahill Files #4 The Houdini Escape was an exciting and thrilling addition to the series. This book gave the origins of Harry Houdini, and his life as a child. It explained why he chose to become a magician, and his family ties to the Cahills and their on-going fight with the Vespers. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of the 39 Clues!

Book was enjoyed by a pre-teen, story line carries from the series. Must read the books in order to get the best reading experience. Highly recommend the entire series.

We can't get enough of the 39 Clues books. Hope they continue the series somehow, but even the back stories are interesting.

I love these and can't wait for the next one. I wish these were a bit cheaper since they are sooooo short.

My kid is crazy about 39 clues. I went through one or two, just to make sure the content is appropriate. I can see why kids are so fond of it. :)

great book

Review: The book was fine but I'm not really enjoying these shorter stories that have gone off on a tangent from the main characters. I know that I am not even remotely the target audience but the original 39 Clues books appealed to me even though they were clearly children's books whereas the newer books don't really have much more to them than the basic adventure which will appeal to younger readers but not to me. I miss the characters that I've grown to know, particularly Amy, and want to know about them, not get brief stories about random characters I don't know.I'm going to keep reading these books as background to the main stories but I wish we could get back to the main 39 Clues and if I had started by reading one of these books first I certainly wouldn't have continued.Having said that, as a basic adventure for the young readers it is clearly aimed at I think it does exactly what it should.Favourite character: Harry Houdini