The Black Circle

(4.5 / 5)

Five books in, I’m starting to feel like every time I’m ready to read the next book, I should re-read all the ones before it again to remember the important details. I know some of that is my own memory problems, but there’s just so much happening over the course of these books. It’s hard to keep up with who might be bad, who definitely is bad, and who seemed to be good but double-crossed someone else. Little hints that aren’t followed-up on right away get lost in the greater story. The fact that this bothers me probably means that I’m enjoying the series, though, and I am. I just may have to start taking notes about what’s going on.

Somehow I knew that when, in my review for the previous book, I said that a show more future book might give me a different look at the Holts than the family of meatheads they’ve been portrayed as so far, it would end up happening soon, and I was right. Though really, it’s only the eldest son, Hamilton Holt who has a bit of character development here. I thought it was weird that after receiving actionable intel, he takes part in some kind of family capture-the-flag game before telling his dad that they need to get moving. Makes little sense. I also didn't really get how the black circle was a big enough deal in the book to be put in the title. But overall, I enjoyed this book and look forward to continuing the series. show less

This was fast paced and action packed and it was wickedly good. Unlike Alex Rider it's not overly sad and unlike Cherub - I like the main characters. As a reader, I relate to Amy but I love Dan's way of looking at things. They're a great team. Nellie, the au pair, is hilarious. She's laid back and loyal and can speak a seemingly million different languages. The rest of the Cahill family kind of suck, but what's an adventure story without a villain? Or ten? The plot is riveting - the mix of fiction and history is fascinating and I'm flying through the series. They're not particularly long - but then this kind of book never is - or at least never feels like it is. I can't wait to read the rest. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5.


Partnership with show more Hamilton Holt! Didn't see that coming. But it made sense and it was nice that they worked together - and that he didn't turn out to be a jerk at the end of the book like Ian did. Not enough Nellie in this one and noooooooo, don't let her be traitor. I still have so many questions - can't wait to get some answers.
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Following the success of the fourth book in the series, I was quite pleased to discover that I liked this book just as much as the Egypt adventure, if not a bit more. Amy and Dan are recuperating from their most recent ordeal, when a telegram snaps them back into the action. An anonymous sender wants them to travel to Russia in pursuit of new secrets. They don't know whether this is a trap or genuine help, but Amy and Dan can't resist the lead; the clue clearly indicates personal knowledge that only they and Grace knew about. While Nellie is still sleeping back in the hotel, they take the proffered money and flight tickets, and head to Lucian-riddled Russia.

Once there, the mysterious informant continues to aid them, with disguises, show more mysterious lights that lead to secret entrances, and even decoy information for the competition. Using this guidance, Amy and Dan leave the airport, head to The Motherland Calls statue and create an alliance with Hamilton Holt, and discover another hint in Alexei's playhouse in Yusupov Palace. The Holts head to Siberia, where more clues connect with those that Amy and Dan are finding in the cities of St. Petersburg and Moscow, and the two teams telephone their information to each other. The Kabras are occupied in chasing the belligerent Holts around Siberia, but Dan and Amy still have Irina to contend with. Fortunately, their anonymous helper continues to provide them guidance, and eventually leads them to a personal meeting at the theater hall in the State Kremlin Palace. The whole hunt is tied up with Rasputin and the slaughter of the royal family, along with the rumored disappearance of Princess Anastasia. After they meet their benefactor, Amy and Dan must venture into one of the most dangerous missions they have taken on this wild ride - into a Lucian black circle, where they will find another clue, and information about their parents. If they survive it.

The book worked on many levels. The plot was tight, the action just as fast and exciting as in previous stories from the series, and even more believable. The fact that a Lucian of very high authority is secretly helping Amy and Dan, and thus allowing them to get away with infiltrating Lucian strongholds and secrets, is much more believable than the two children doing it all on their own. I don't think this undercuts their abilities; Amy and Dan have proven to be intelligent, resourceful, and brave clue hunters, but the idea that two children can overcome a highly trained organization with centuries of experience is beyond even my suspension of belief. The author does a great job of balancing the help they would certainly need to accomplish this with fresh examples of Amy and Dan having to solve puzzles on their own. The young Cahills are given assistance, but still have to do all the work and a lot of the thinking. Also, the character development continues strong in this book, with Irina further fleshing out beyond just the evil Russian bad guy, and Hamilton Holt stepping up into a prominent role for the first time. The Holts were much more likable in this book, and while I think this is a good change, I was bit irritated by the abrupt transition. This, however, was my one complaint in a book that capitalized on the potential of this series. I hope to read more along the lines of this example as I continue in the hunt. show less

4.5 stars

I loved the Russian setting, the secrets of the Lucien branch, and Amy and Dan's partnership with the Holts, of all people! On the other hand, although Dan called Rasputin a "creep", The Black Circle did sound like it was making a subtle argument for Rasputin's (nonexistent) virtue, crafting an explanation that it was him who helped Anastasia Romanov survive. In reality, Dan is right: Rasputin was no good guy. Still, Rasputin was only mentioned a few times, and this is a series that I'm enjoying!

ೄྀ࿐ Quotes ೄྀ࿐
☐ “Lazy Dan left the building and was replaced by Alarmed Dan.”
☐ “Doesn’t Shep live near Darlinghurst?” Amy asked. “Dude, don’t call me darling,” Dan said. “Ever. That’s an absolute show more rule.”
☐ “The Road of Bones," said Dan. "That's a little bit unpleasant even by my standards.”
☐ “We push away the bad memories," Irina said. Bleak sadness deadened her voice. "We tell ourselves is better not to remember. It is not better. Better to remember everything, even pain.”

Yeah. Weird book! But Irina's character development is show less

This book definitely wasn't my least favourite of the series so far - that one would have to be The Sword Thief - but it wasn't great either. I didn't like how Amy and Dan were so completely on their own on this one, especially since they were being trailed by three other teams, and I would have liked it if Nellie had come along (at this point Saladin seems pretty useless to the plot). The reveal of NRR was far too quick and the last two or three chapters probably could have been stretched out a bit more.

I did like how more and more hints towards Irina's backstory are being revealed, however the broken English she has seems kind of cheesy, especially since she was a KGB agent. Ian and Natalie were superfluous in this book and could show more have been kept entirely off-screen (do we honestly to keep re-hashing the sort-of romance between Amy and Ian two books ago?), and Natalie's fuss about her clothes was too childish for her.

Amy and Dan teaming up with Hamilton was a plot twist I didn't see coming, and I like the way the entire Holt family was humanized more. They're still over-competitive and a bit violent, but they're getting deeper as characters and I enjoyed it. I do think there was a bit more potential for the whole Road of Bones scene, especially since not a lot of people know about that part of Russia's history and it is very entertaining.

In the end, this book was fairly interesting and the writing wasn't terrible, however there were issues with characters, inconsequential plot points, and unrealistic storylines. (Do you have to make everyone other than Amy and Dan super-geniuses? Can't you just have Amy and Dan screw up once in a while instead of everyone else having unbelievably good tech or equipment?) show less

Out of all the five books, this is by far the best in the series. Carman brought the series back to where it should be, it had the feel of the first two books. Dan and Amy are in Russia gathering clues, and they have to make an alliance with a team they don't want to, but need to.

As the story unfolds we learn something about the character of Irina Spasky. I hope we learn more about her, and the hint that is dropped is explored more. I really like what Carman did with her. He really developed her and made her an interesting character. I hope we can learn more about her and her past.

I also like how Carman got away from Amy and Dan bickering all the time. In books 3 and 4, that was a major draw back for me. Dan and Amy are in the race show more for their lives, and they have to battle different members of the family tree, and they have to fight? For me, that never worked, and took away from the story. Glad to see that Carman didn't that in this book. It was such a pleasure to read.

Dan and Amy have to face something in this book that they never had to face in the past. They have a time limit. Amy and Dan get a mysterious card saying that they just have a set amount of hours to do what they need to, and if they don't, all will be lost.

I also loved how Carman kept the story in Russia, and let the reader in on some of the history and interesting facts about Russia, I felt that this aspect was missing from books 3 and 4. The reader gets drawn in and doesn't stop reading to the last page. This book has a lot of Russian history, and it was presented in such an interesting way.

One more thing I'll say that made The Black Circle such an interesting read..... while Dan and Amy solve puzzles and clues, they have a chance to learn more about their parents. At one point, one character tells them, "Make sure you want to know something. Once you know it, you can't unknow it."

That being said, this is a fantastic read! This is the first book I've read by Patrick Carmen and I may look up more books this author has written. This is fast paced and draws the reader in. I just hope that Carman gets to write more books in this series. Honestly, there wasn't any boring parts.

Kuddos to Patrick Carmen, great job done! show less

I have enjoyed each and everyone of the books in this series. After the first one this one was probably my favorite. In the past Dan and Amy have been chased by other families but have not formed any alliances that lasted throughout the book. They were double crossed in each one. It was refreshing to see them make an alliance with the Holts that lasted all the way through the book. Irin played a bigger role in this book. She is probably the one character that I have loved to hate. That is changing somewhat. I have seen another side of her and found out a bit more of her past. I actually saw a part of her heart that makes me feel somewhat sorry for her. I was also glad that they had left the babysitter or au pair out of this one. It gave show more us a chance to see what Dan and Amy could do on their own without her. They actually had to work together more and fight less. I loved the amount of Russian history we learned. I also like the fact that we were not running from one country to another trying to follow the action. The setting was well described and the characters were developed a little more in this book. All I could say to Patrick Carman about this book is “Well done!” show less