The Genius Files: You Only Die Twice

By Dan Gutman

Hi! Has your life ever been threatened? Well, Pepsi’s and Coke’s have. They were entered into a program called The Genius Files by a man called Dr. Herman Warsaw. But then, he went mad and thought it was all a failure, so he tried to kill Coke and Pepsi, but he didn’t succeed. Then, he got his apprentice, Archie, to chase them and then, in the end, Coke and Pepsi killed Archie by pushing him off of a cliff. Now, they had finically finished their trip to get to their Aunt Judy’s wedding. And guess who she was marrying?? Dr. Herman Warsaw! They had thought that Dr. Warsaw was dead, for Coke has pushed him off of a building. Nearly all of his bones had been broken, but he had survived. He had said that he would somehow get them.

When Aunt Judy and Dr. Warsaw (or in Coke and Pepsi’s case, “Uncle Herman”) went on their honeymoon, the McDonalds (Coke and Pepsi’s family) began their eventful trip home. They started traveling across the world and went to tons of fun places with exciting adventures. But the first thing you need to know about is the fireworks show that they went to. Pepsi was worried that someone was going to attack them at the fireworks show, but their parents wouldn’t let them leave. At the grand finale, there was a cipher waiting for them. It said, “LEVEL VISI”. Eventually, Pepsi deciphered it to be “LIVE ELVIS”.

Then, they went to the Battle of Cedar Mountain. There, they got pulled aside by two “soldiers,” but it was really Bones and Mya (you’ll know who they are if you’ve read my reviews of earlier books in this series). Bones and Mya told them that they thought the trouble was all clear, so they gave Coke and Pepsi bubbles.

The next place they stopped was the Luray Caverns. The kids went on the tour, but the person doing the auto-voice record was their Health teacher, Mrs. Higgins! She was the one who had set fire to the school and tried to kill them! But she didn’t try to kill them at all. She told Coke and Pepsi that she had found a job here after they had pushed Dr. Herman off of the building. So when they got to the end, they came to the gift shop and met up with their parents.

The next place they went was the National Jousting Ring. There, they saw two men demonstrate jousting. They went up to get the men’s autographs and then they saw that it was the bowler dudes who had worked with Dr. Herman and had tried to kill them!! But they told them that they had retired too and that they had found a job there. So they left.

Are Bones and Mya telling the truth and everything is really okay, or is everything all one big mystery like Pepsi suspects? As I always say, read the book to find out!

I recommend this book to readers who love action, adventure and excitement. If you’re looking for a book full of details and fun, this is the book to look for!

A few helpful things I like to say about the books I read:

“Run and Get Mom” (how I describe the scariness factor):
There were a few scary parts, but none were too scary.

“Yucky-Lovey Stuff” (how I describe the romance factor):
No yucky-lovey parts in this book.