The Crypto-Capers in The Legend of The Golden Monkey

The Crypto-Capers #3

by Renee Hand

The Crypto-Capers are off on another adventure, but this time it is because of their adversary, the Panther. Max, Mia, Granny and Morris, must rise to his challenge. If they don't, the infamous Panther will surely win. The Legend of the Golden Monkey leads the Crypto-Capers to the ancient ruins of Chichen Itza, a once flourishing Mayan city where secrets abound. Sent to the Riviera Maya on the request of a friend, the Crypto-Capers find themselves on a treasure hunt smack dab in the center of Chichen Itza's archeological park. Upon realizing the Panther's involvement, the Crypto-Capers immediately agree to find ways to sabotage his efforts of finding the treasure first. But they find more questions than answers, and more clues. Are they being led astray? Or does the truth run so deep that it cannot be believed? The Crypto-Capers must believe in themselves and have faith in their new friends to help them find the items needed to open the treasure room and finally bring closure to an archeologist's life, a man whose history is tied to the Golden Monkey. Join the Crypto-Capers on their new adventure by solving the cryptograms and participating in the various activities. Good luck!

Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Renee Hand is a multi award-winning author and requested speaker on the topic of using fun fiction to teach science, geography and history. Let her show librarians, educators, and parents how using her books can not only challenge readers and the way they think about problems in real life, but she creates high interest topics that suck the reader into her stories encouraging them into wanting to know more about the settings, science, history, culture and people. Skills like reading comprehension, reasoning, deduction and observation come together in a myriad of ways.

In her Crypto-Caper Series children get to solve puzzles and cryptograms that are woven strategically inside of the story for the reader to find and solve inside of the books. Each book provides the reader with what they will need to solve the case, providing them with the knowledge and new skills that will help them succeed.

In her Joe-Joe Nut Series, Renee expertly combines the love of a good mystery with science using the topics of animal tracks, rocks and minerals, as well as weathering, erosion, and art. These books can supplement a curriculum in any classroom. The books also contain extra information like experiments, terminology of the topic, charts, and much more. All books are interactive and fun.

Renee is a maverick in writing children's interactive mysteries, combining elements while teaching children to believe in themselves and providing confidence to handle life's challenges. Contact her today to participate in your event.

Reviews

[Shirley Kingery · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Crypto-Capers in the Legend of the Golden Monkey is the third in a six-book series of a young group of cyber age detectives known as The Crypto Capers. It's a little bit like a modern day Encyclopedia Brown. I found this book to be a fun read; well written with the adventure unraveling quickly. In fact, it feels more like a mini-adventure; or perhaps a few chapters out of a larger adventure book. In fact I think that would have been ideal, if several of these books had been combined into a larger book. As it was, it went by very quickly and I was a bit let down at the brevity of the book, and VERY LET down by the abrupt "To Be Continued" ending. Other than that, even as the third book in the series it read fine as a stand alone book. The characters were well depicted and the action interesting and easy to follow. Another disappointment for me, was the sparsity of cryptogram puzzles, which the book was touted to include. It does, but only two of them, I think; which seemed like a let down, and rather odd considering I thought it would be chock full of them. But all-in-all , middle grade students should enjoy this book, and this series.

In this particular case, the Crypto Capers find themselves in the Mexican Riviera exploring the ancient Mayan Ruins and looking for missing treasure. But they had better hurry, because they are not the only ones! They also have to distinguish the good guys from the bad guys and ultimately save their new friend whose family is intimately involvee in the disappearance of the Mayan artifacts.

[Cheryl Malandrinos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Max, Mia, and Nellie “Granny” Holmes travel to the ancient ruins of Chichen Itza, which was once a flourishing Mayan city filled with secrets. Now in the midst of a treasure hunt, the Crypto-Capers must sabotage the Panther’s efforts to find the treasure first. While Morris helps remotely from Max and Mia’s home in England, the Crypto-Capers must depend upon each other and their new friends in order to discover the truth that will locate the items needed to unlock the treasure room and bring closure to an archeologist whose history is tied to the Golden Monkey.

Author Renee Hand has kicked it up a notch in this latest installment of The Crypto-Capers Series. Max, Mia and Granny are again pitted against their nemesis, the Panther, to be the first ones to find the items that will solve the mystery of the Golden Monkey. We met the Panther in the second book of this series, The Case of Red Rock Canyon, and we only get a glimpse into how dangerous this person can be. In Book 3, we learn more about the Panther and exactly what lengths he’ll go to, to get what he wants.

In addition to the Panther, Maggie Devereaux is a character that is carried over from the second book, though she plays behind the scene roles.

Hand has done an excellent job of further developing her characters as she continues this series. All the Crypto-Capers are learning more about themselves and each other. Morris is moving forward with bringing them top-notch technology to help solve the crimes, and the strength and cohesiveness of the team continues to grow. The addition of new characters, while developing those who have been present since the start is flawless. I enjoyed Emmanuel and Spencer–characters created by young fans of The Crypto-Capers Series–and how they become involved in this current mystery. I am glad they will return in the next book.

The cryptograms from this book are slightly more challenging, but even without a key there are enough clues to figure them out, so that this reading experience, like for the other books in this series, is interactive and fun.

The Crypto-Capers Series by Renee Hand includes some of the best and most engaging books for children in grades 4 through 7. I continue to look forward to the next book in this series. If you decide to purchase a copy of this one, make sure you hold onto it because like all the other Crypto-Caper books, they are tied into each other and you will need them later.