The Kidd siblings are ready to follow their Dad's next big treasure hunt that will help them free their Mom...but "Uncle" Timothy rocks the boat and sends them to boarding school. All is not hopeless though because Dad evidently prepared the Kidds for just such a situation and they find the treasure-hunting trail anything but cold. Soon they are on their way to Africa in search of King Solomon's Mines. Or are they? If the African jungle doesn't manage to do them in, the pirates and conniving treasure hunters on their trail might, or horror of horrors, Uncle Timothy could send them back to boarding school! Can the Kidd kids manage to find the right item to satisfy Mom's captors in time?
I picked this one up thinking I'd just start it last night and before I knew it, I was done. Once again, the high action, touches of humor, and fun puzzles keep the story moving at a good pace (the large font and loads of pictures help too). Don't expect too much to get resolved in this book, after all, the Kidds have more adventures in store before their story can be over, but it's a fun ride. I enjoyed it (well, I had one issue with continuity about the custody court case in this book after Uncle Timothy sports guardianship papers in the last book, but that was my only qualm). I like how the authors have farmed out clues to each of the Kidds from their parents so that they can only figure things out completely as a team. I'm sure the adventure and spy enthusiasts will eat up this series. I was honestly a little skeptical about this series because, let's face it, James Patterson puts out more books than seems humanly possible; and generally when production seems a little too abundant quality seems to suffer. But earlier this year I read House of Robots by the duo and really enjoyed it, and of course Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library is pure genius, so I decided to give this series a shot. Yes, it does seem to have some basic patterns laid out for each book so far, but for the most part it's relatively hard to predict how the story will go in the details so it doesn't feel like it was just written to make money. There was obviously some thought and creativity put into each book. They're no literary masterpieces, but they don't feel like a computer formula spit them out either. I don't feel like they are a waste of money or reading time. I can definitely see these hooking reluctant readers, which make them books we need in the library, and they'd make great read alouds too. So if you too are wary of the seemingly over-abundant Patterson stamp, put aside your doubts and go ahead and let a middle grader you love give it a shot (or you yourself).
Notes on content: No language issues. No sexual content. Once again, there are violent situations but they are very much kiddy cartoonish in that everyone seems to end up ok with just some bandaids even though AK47s are involved. One person may have died in a crash, but they're a spy and they very well may have gotten away.