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Ruby Redfort #3

Schneller als Feuer

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Ruby Redfort, die jüngste Geheimagentin der Welt, löst ihren dritten Fall.

Die Geheimdienstorganisation Spektrum schickt Ruby zu einem Survivaltraining in die Berge. Wissbegierig saugt Ruby alles in sich auf, was man über Bären, Wölfe und das Überleben in der Wildnis wissen muss. Sie ahnt nicht, dass sie gerade dieses Wissen in Lebensgefahr bringen wird …

544 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

148 people are currently reading
1801 people want to read

About the author

Lauren Child

452 books838 followers
Lauren Child MBE is an English author and illustrator. She was the UK Children's Laureate from 2017-19.

Child grew up in Wiltshire as the middle child of three sisters and the daughter of two teachers. She has always been interested in the many aspects of childhood, from gazing into toy shop windows to watching American children's shows from the 1960s. After attending two Art Schools, she travelled for six months, still unsure about which career to embark upon.

Before writing and illustrating children's books Child started her own company 'Chandeliers for the People' making lampshades. It was only when she came to write and illustrate the book Clarice Bean, That's Me that she decided to devote her time to writing and illustrating books for children, which combines her fascination for childhood and her talent for designing and creating. Child gets her inspiration from other people's conversations or from seeing something funny happen.

Her book I Will Not Ever Never Eat A Tomato won the 2000 Kate Greenaway Medal. For the 50th anniversary of the Medal (1955–2005), a panel named it one of the top ten winning works, which comprised the shortlist for a public vote for the nation's favourite. It finished third in the public vote from that shortlist.

Child lives in North London.

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5 stars
2,224 (54%)
4 stars
1,346 (32%)
3 stars
472 (11%)
2 stars
54 (1%)
1 star
16 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 148 reviews
Profile Image for BabyLunLun.
916 reviews132 followers
April 3, 2017
One thing that sets Ruby Redfort apart from Nancy Drew and Alex Rider is that Ruby dont get called into Spectrum and LB or Hitch said oh you got a mission, this is the gadget you need bla bla bla. Or in Nancy Drew case we usually have an old woman crying :" Nancy someone stepped on my zuchinni pls help me find the culprit".

The style in Ruby Redfort is the case wasn't always clear cut. Clues and signs are dropped, is up to Ruby to figure out whether there is a crime or not. At the same time everyone and Ruby herself went about their own business. This book is kinda special in its own way because at the beginning you weren't even sure what is it Ruby is looking for
25 reviews1 follower
December 7, 2017
#3 “Catch your death” written by Lauren Child, is a thrilling adventure. Ruby works for a spy agency called Spectrum. She is the youngest agent and is always trying to live up to the expectations. With Spectrum she is trying to figure out why people are seeing strange animals, why jewelry has gone missing, and how to survive in the wild. I loved this book! This is the third book in the series and I still love it. It’s an exciting new adventure, with every book. I love how in this book it has secret messages that her and her friend send each other. It also has a bunch of smart things in there, because Ruby is very smart. The author has got to be way smart to figure out all the secrets and mysteries and tie them all together in the end! I love it! She asks her friend Clancy to do a lot of favors, but I love how he is so loyal and always does what she asks. One part in the book that I thought was pretty confusing was when there were letters that had messages. But they weren’t written messages, they were scented paper. Ruby would figure out the message of the letter by the formula of the scent. That just blows my mind how Ruby could find that out. The theme of this book is “Follow your instincts.” This has been a string of theme throughout all of her books. She always is told to stay back or let the adults handle it. But she is always right in the end. Also she has to survive in the wilderness. And even though she has read every book about the wild she might not be ready for it. I love how she learned her lesson throughout the book, even though she was stubborn about it. This was always fun to pick up and read, and always a bummer to have to put it down.

Profile Image for Marta Demianiuk.
887 reviews620 followers
June 25, 2022
Bardziej 3,5, ale nie chcę zaniżać oceny trzema gwiazdkami. Ten tom na początku nieco się wlecze, autorka trochę się rozpisała, nie do końca rozumiem, czemu, ale jak już przechodzimy do głównej akcji - jest fantastycznie jak zawsze. Uwielbiam Ruby!
Profile Image for Rose McPhee.
18 reviews
February 17, 2025
I’ll keep this one short and sweet for now and then come back because it is too late and I am too tired slash hungover to be coherent but catch your death is a special installment in the rr series because a SIGNIFICANT portion of the word count is dedicated to two best friends loving each other SO MUCH and doing things for each other because they’re bffs and it’s so CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was a crewfort TRUTHER back in the day (ship name for ruby and clancy invented by 12 year old me because I was a trendsetter) and it came flooding back to me just how much i was Fed by this book in particular I was delusional and I STILL AM and I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!the code in this one was cool as well
Profile Image for Gouri Verma.
139 reviews
August 28, 2021
This was better than the last one and as good as the first one!!💕 I REALLY LOVED IT!! Lauren Child is ready a great author❤️❤️ How do people write such good books???

Well! So there were no twists and turns…BUT…that doesn’t make it less interesting😁 I loved Ruby and Clancy’s parts!! He was dorky as usual but acted really brave towards the end!! Hitch was cool as well and LB was sarcastic as usual…I really loved all the charcters!!💕💕

I really loved it!!💕💕
Profile Image for Ella Storey.
370 reviews3 followers
May 8, 2022
A. M. A. Z. I. N. G! This is my third time reading it and I could honestly say it one of the best books I have ever read. Lauren Child is a very talented author and she should be proud of what she has accomplished. Absolutely AMAZING!!!
Profile Image for Willow Anne.
527 reviews92 followers
December 10, 2021
Wow, I had forgotten how good this book is! And it's really good! The dialogue is sooo funny in this one, even more so than usual, and it just had me cracking up😂😂. Also I love Clancy. You can't find a better friend than him. Just everything about this book is so good, and it makes me even more excited to get further on in the plot! (Also I can't remember the ultimate purpose of the scent, and the truth serum from last book, and all that stuff, so I'm looking forward to rediscovering all that.)
Profile Image for Jadyn.
14 reviews
July 17, 2018
I enjoyed this book immensely!!!! It was an excellent plot with a good mystery to wrap it up and characters that seemed real. Lauren Child is quite an amazing writer, I must say. This is an incredibly well written book. 😸
Profile Image for Merla Atwood.
28 reviews
January 14, 2025
i only read this to get through everything in the house, but why is it actually so good? like i know it’s a kids book, but unironically had me deeply engrossed. the characters are so loveable and the plot it so thought through!! love it.
Profile Image for Amanda.
101 reviews24 followers
June 25, 2016
I received this book as an ARC from Random House, and since I've been meaning to check out the Ruby Redfort series for a while, I figured it was a sign. I have never read the Clarice Bean books by Lauren Child, but from what I understand, Clarice reads the Ruby Redford books all the time in her books. It was this meta-fiction aspect that made me interested in the first place.

In this book Ruby is trying to learn survival skills as part of her secret agent training, but can't seem to stop overthinking things. She knows all the rules by heart, but when it comes to using her instincts to survive, she just can't do it. Additionally, some very weird things are going on in town, all having to do with a rare perfume that everyone seems to be talking about.

Since this is my first time reading this series, I was very surprised by how grown up the main characters seem. Both Ruby and her friend Clancy come across as being far more mature than what I would have expected from a middle grade series. It doesn't help that the adults in the book often come across as the exact opposite. They are the ones who care about things that don't really matter, and it's up to Ruby to save the day. Her mom is concerned about being invited to a party where this new perfume will be unveiled, meanwhile, her child has been missing school, gets horribly sick, and disappears for days on end.

In total honesty, I didn't read the entire book. There seemed to be a lot of uninteresting stuff in the middle about bikes and other nonsense, so after reading about 120 pages I just skipped to the last few chapters to see what happened. I don't feel like I missed a lot. I still know what happened, and got to read the parts that were actually important to the plot. I find it really disappointing that so much of the book was filler. I don't know many kids who would continue reading such a long book with a plot that moves so slowly. Perhaps the infrequent clues and puzzles might be entertaining to some, but I've seen similar books that engage the reader throughout and further the plot without losing their readers.
Profile Image for Mia.
378 reviews1 follower
November 14, 2016
I really enjoy reading the Ruby Redfort series by Lauren Child but this one fell a bit flat for me. I don't believe it was as mysterious and charismatic as the last ones and ended very suddenly in a few chapters at the end.

Even though the book was so, so, so long (filled with a lot of unnecessary chapters) I loved being transported back into the world of Ruby Redfort and Clancy Crew. Also, the ending leads you onto the next book and leaves you asking many questions. I've always liked the characters of Ruby and Clancy and was pleased to see that their normal selves were still within the book's pages.

I don't believe it is my favourite Ruby Redfort book but the style of Lauren Child's writing is still there and hilarious as it always is. I hope that the next one will improve on this and still follow the mystery that Ruby has come upon.
Profile Image for Tyra Jelly.
44 reviews4 followers
August 21, 2014
Wow I just really loved this book! When I saw that it was in the library I immediately got it since I had been waiting for a long time for the next ruby redfort book to come out. I really liked it. I loved the ending too. But it could have been a little more interesting like the other books ( I'm talking about the whole book not just the ending). Anyway I still loved it
When is the next one coming out?!?!!
Profile Image for Kelsey.
123 reviews14 followers
February 24, 2016
Another adventure featuring our favorite junior-high spy. This time Ruby will have to put her newly learned survival skills to the test to solve a perfumed puzzle involving offbeat characters, exotic animals, and a seemingly invisible jewel thief. So grab your bubblegum and follow your nose into the exciting third installment in the Ruby Redfort series.
Profile Image for Sara Waheed.
4 reviews
February 26, 2014
When i heard that this book was coming out, i excepted it to be quite less exiting then the first two books. But i found this book exciting and it builds up a lot of tension. It is extremely hard for me to put down this book along with the other two.
1 review
March 8, 2014
I found it a little harder to get into than the others, but once I did I could hardly put it down. I can't wait for the next one!
5 reviews
October 26, 2017
Why I decided to read this book:

I actually got this as a gift awhile back but it seemed WAY too lengthy. After a little bit of reading, I actually found myself enjoying this mystery book. It's written about a teen and I can relate to the stuff that Ruby goes through.

Why I liked the book:

I'm into Nancy Drew books so reading this was heaven for me. It was the perfect balance of teen and undercover and mystery. Even though there were a few chapters that could've been removed, I still loved the story plot and how an animal is found in random places in some chapters.

Something new I learned from this book:

Never take money from someone you don't trust. Even though this is why the whole story happened, never trust strangers. Get to know them first before you even do anything.

A character that was interesting to me and why:

This is the first time that I'm saying this but, I liked the second main character, Clarence. He's loyal, never rats out friends and he's funny. He's the type of friend you would kill for. He's just, perfect.
Profile Image for Clarisse.
10 reviews1 follower
August 19, 2021
These books do not drop in quality at all as you go on. This one was pretty interesting, very unique, and the codes Marcus du Sautoy came up with are just brilliant. The “bad guy” in this one was a bit predictable, but these are meant for kids/YA and I’m a college grad so I don’t think I can really speak for that, lol.
Also I have a hunch that Clancy Crew is autistic (I’m autistic so I claim him) and that makes me happy. He does arm flaps when he’s excited and that feels like good autism representation to me. Of course I don’t believe any of that was confirmed by the author but who knows?
All in all if you’ve read the first 2 books in this series I highly recommend this one too. And I recommend the series as a whole!
Profile Image for Neko.
69 reviews
July 26, 2023
i will preface this by saying that I read this as a kid and it was one of favourite books, now that I'm older however I can see the flaws. now obviously this is a middle grade novel which isn't a genre I read much of anymore, so I will try to be fair, its not gonna be the same level of an adult or ya book.

so I found this one to have a lot slower of a start than the other two, however I still love the codes and vibe of the book. the puzzles and mystery in this book are what I loved as a kid and I still love it now.

but it still wasn't the best experience of my life. 3 stars is still good tho
76 reviews2 followers
February 25, 2020
i really enjoyed it! its a good mystery story, but not to graphic or gory. lots of twists and turns, not the ind of book where you discover the whole plot in the middle of it. also, the scent code was so cool. am i the only one who decoded the vignette code in the beginning of the book? because if i did it right, it doesn't actually say anything. i think Lauren child while writing the book just did a keyboard smash and called it vignette, because there is never a solution after it. just wondering. i might have done it wrong.
Profile Image for King Rupert.
97 reviews7 followers
March 7, 2023
Another excellent story which as usual gives us a bit more education without detracting from the fun. Ruby and Clancy both face uphill struggles, disappointments and sacrifices as they struggle to please parents, bosses and teachers whilst they lives are being threatened. Some good explanations and references to the facts from the plot for when you finish the story at the back. A good quick read as well if you want something that doesn't take took too long.
Profile Image for Loveday Byrd.
12 reviews
August 4, 2023
One of the best books I have read, I definitely recommend this its a fantastic book and it deserves more than five stars. It is a book that should have Guinness world record for the greatest book for tweens and above. If you're looking for something kind of realistic like

*spoiler alert do not read further if you want to read this great book and don't want spoilers of it *

.


Like how Ruby Redfort failed the training course / survival test.
Profile Image for Bethany Dark.
177 reviews
April 2, 2024
I think I read this series upwards of ten times when I was a teen, so reading this was the best kind of nostalgia. Child's characterisation is amazing - Froghorn, for example, gets less than 20 pages of action in this novel, yet even in that time we can tell exactly what kind of person he is. I love the super geeky codes and puzzles, I love Ruby's no nonsense attitude, I love how fast-paced it is. I would genuinely recommend this series to everyone and anyone.
1 review
October 22, 2025
I love all of the Ruby Redfort series but this one definitely makes it in the top three. For a children’s book it is so mature but not inappropriate. It just doesn’t make you feel like you’re reading a children’s book. I absolutely loved the plot and everything about this 100% recommend if I could give this book more than four without being a five I definitely would but five I only give to something that is just definitely my favorite book ever even though the series is definitely up there.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 148 reviews

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