Nick and Tesla's Secret Agent Gadget Battle by "Science Bob" Pflugfelder and Steve Hockensmith

(Thank you to Quirk Books for providing me with a copy of this book!)

about book:

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!

my thoughts:

Danger, Will Robinson!  In the latest installment of the Nick and Tesla series, the brother-sister duo are in DANGER!!  They have been mulling over a message they received from their mother - sounding a bit harried, she tells them that they were sent to their Uncle's for safety, but it didn't work and now they have to be on the lookout and they can't trust...that's where the message ends. Ack!  What are they going to do?  Who is after them and why?  And so begins the mystery of Nick and Tesla's Secret Agent Gadget Battle.  

With the help of their friends, Silas and DeMarco, the foursome finds themselves keeping watch over the new, uninvited guests at their Uncle Newt's home.  Well, uninvited in the sense that they all somehow managed to appear (via unannounced drop-in, suspicious new adverts, etc.) on their doorstep on the same day - right after Tesla and Nick's mother's message!  There is the M.A.D. Scientist intern, Oli, who claims to be from Australia, but clearly isn't - although he throws in "G'day" for good measure.  Skip the Verminator who is investigating every nook and cranny in the house for bugs - Uncle Newt found a brown recluse spider, nope a black widow spider the other day, so looks like the house needs to be sprayed for insects ASAP!  And, then there are the women from Maids-to-Order, Gladys and Ethel, who are having trouble cleaning the hoarder house filled with dust bunnies the size of rabbits.  Looks like Nick and Tesla have some sleuthing to do!

An irate neighbor, mud-splattered bike, broken gnome, and missing pendants make for quite an interesting story.  Plus, it doesn't hurt to have the instructions for so many cool gadgets this time round - codex wheels and booby-trap balloons!  In Nick and Tesla's Secret Agent Gadget Battle we get mystery, danger, and so much more!  I absolutely loved reading all about the plans, fake-outs, and spy methods employed by this smarty-pants duo - it was fun and exciting.  Of course now I can't wait for the next installment.  I just have to find out what misadventures Nick and Tesla will get involved in - and, what exactly are their parents up to?

I would most definitely recommend this book to fans of the series and anyone looking for a new children's book series to get lost in - you will absolutely enjoy reading all about Nick and Tesla Holt.

Thank you to Quirk Books for providing me with a copy of this book!