***NOTE MY REVIEWS OFTEN CONTAIN SPOILERS***


Grace Cahill has just learned that she is dying and she must decide if she’ll let the secrets of The 39 Clues and the Vespers die with her. All she wants is to keep her grandchildren safe and they might be safer never knowing the true Cahill family legacy. But when Amy and Dan are chased by masked men talking about a “Vespa”, she learns her decision might have been wrong. Can two children escape a criminal organization of which they know nothing about?

I really enjoyed this Cahill short story, the main reason I didn’t give it a five stars is it breaks with The 39 Clues tradition and offers nothing other than who wrote The Nutcracker in educational value. In 30 pages Riley manages to offer an exciting story, insight into key 39 clues characters, the set up for the original series and key setup for the Cahills vs. Vespers series. That is definitely impressive. Like all 39 Clues stories this is a well written fast paced third person story.

Oddly, considering the length, Riley offers excellent character development in his novella. Granted the set up for the characters has already been made. You aren’t going to read Rapid Fire if you haven’t read The 39 Clues so you already know Grace, Amy and Dan, but Riley still manages to suck you in and make you see Grace’s strength and feel her anguish and pain. He lets you experience Amy and Dan’s insecurities and how they deal with them and shows off some of the strengths that aid them in the clue hunt.

Overall for a quick read it’s a great addition to the 39 Clues franchise.