The 39 Clues - Agent Handbook product reviews

For children who love to play make-believe and want to be part of a big adventure, this book helps blur the lines between reality and fiction. An extension to the already popular 39 Clues website, the handbook contains bio pages on all of the known agents from other Cahill branches as well as codes to crack and plenty of space to make your own notes.
This is quite an exciting development as it encourages young readers to think for themselves and begin imagining their own part in the big adventure. I would note, however, this is not a puzzle book. There is relatively little guidance provided as to how children should fill in the blank pages, which means it is left almost entirely open to their imaginations. This is likely to suite some children more than others.
I really do appreciate the way this series integrates learning and self-driven thought in children. Perhaps a computer game could take the whole idea further and become even more immersive?

Perhaps this handbook should have come out sooner so one could start collating the clues sooner. But then again, if it had come out sooner would it have been as much use as it is now?

The book is packed full of information about the Cahill families and there is further explanation about the various branches; there is plenty of information about some of the key characters in the books. It is up to you to use this information how you see fit. Look for the clues and decode them as you go along.

The book also contains plenty of blank pages for you to make your notes and hide them for future reference.

The book is a nice hardback format, sturdy enough for one to globe trot with the Cahills and survive the all the predicaments they have been subjected to. One thing would have made this better, and fit in with the whole theme of the books - a lock and keys to prevent prying eyes from decoding your notes. Not that a lock and key would prevent the other family branches from reading your work.

The Agent Handbook is a small book that lets you get top secret info on the four Cahill branches, forge letters to get you into other stongholds, protect your secrets with codes from each of the branches and find out about the key players in the hunt. This book is SWEET, it taught me some cool stuff that I didn't Know before, I even learnt that there's a Tomas stronghold here in New Zealand!

When I got the Agent Handbook I felt rather weird, all the excitement made me tingle all over. All the info I got was so accurate that it almost seemed real, but some of the excitement was for the fact that I'm a big 39 clues fan.

I thought the codes were cool, some of them I haven't beaten yet, some I'm still getting my head around, and some are childsplay to me as I was able to do them since I started the hunt. Even now I still don't know why the guys who made the handbook would want to give out a free card code, but it beats me, and I'm very curious to to find out what's so special about that card.

I'm sure you'll love this Agent Handbook, so good luck everyone else who's on the hunt, you're going to need it.

Packed with everything a good clue-hunter will need to stand the pressures of being part of the hunt for the 39 Cahill Clues. You have dossiers on all the major players, living and dead, as well as maps and code keys to encode and decode any messages you find along the way.

You also get a selection of assorted branch letterheads and notepapers, so you can throw other clue-hunters off track with official-looking instructions that will send them off on wild dead-end chases, or set them chasing competing hunters close on your heels... devious, these Cahills... so make sure you keep track of your progress, theories and clues collected in the checklists at the back of the book. You never know when you might need to refer back to something that seemed innocent when you first found it.

Presented in a sturdy hardcover format, this book will survive with you as you chase around the globe trying to get the clues first, or steal them off those who beat you to them... and it's all so easy, what with the massive mistrust between the branches.

Overall, an excellent, fun addition to the game that is The 39 Clues. Every true clue-hunter needs one.