A venomous truth.
"I wanted him to die, Dan. I never felt that before. What's wrong with me?"
— Amy Cahill
The Viper's Nest is the seventh book in the first series of The 39 Clues.
The hunt for 39 hidden Clues that lead to an unimaginable power have taken a heavy toll on fourteen-year-old Amy Cahill and her younger brother, Dan. They've just seen a woman die. They're wanted by the Indonesian police. They're trapped on an island with a man who knows too much about the death of their parents. And a tropical storm is rolling in. Just when they think it can't get any worse, it does. Because the Cahills have one more rattling skeleton for Amy and Dan to discover... the terrible truth about their family branch.
Tropes:
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: During the ransom with the Holts threatening to kill Alistair if Dan, Amy and Nellie don't give them the next lead, Amy states that they should let the Holts kill Alistair, as revenge for him being a part of the group that killed Amy's and Dan's parents in a house fire. After they escape, with Alistair getting away in the chaos, Amy is horrified at her murderous thoughts, acknowledging this trope in the page quote above.
- Tomato in the Mirror: In the previous books, Dan and Amy were told to beware the Madrigals, another group that made other Cahill branches afraid of them, and who have a man dressed in black watching them. By the novel's end, Dan and Amy find out that their branch is this group.
- Red Herring: Initially, Dan, Amy and Nellie believe that the diamond taken from the African Tomas stronghold was the real Clue. It wasn't, as the green aloe plants growing around the box was the actual one.
- Wham Episode: Dan and Amy discover they're Madrigals, like their mother, father and grandmother Grace before them.
- Wham Line: Grace's journal says that she can't listen to the music of Orlando di Lasso because it's "a sad reminder" of Hope and Arthur's branch. When Amy and Dan have some of di Lasso's music, they find out which branch they belong to because of the title and the above fact.Mon coeur se reccomande a vous by Orlando di Lasso.
A Madrigal, in Four Parts.
