The Science Museum of Half-Moon Bay is about to open its new exhibits, but the animatronic scientists are running amok! Nick and Tesla Holt’s Uncle Newt is hired to fix the malfunctioning geniuses and the twin amateur inventors, who have a habit of getting into trouble, have tagged along. And it looks like that habit isn’t one that they’re going to kick today…

Nick, Tesla and their friends start to suspect that the malfunctions are more than an accident or shoddy wiring. Someone is trying to sabotage the grand opening and when one of their friends vanishes, the twins are determined to get to the bottom of things. But to do so, they’ll need all of their skills, both deductive and inventive. Oh, and their Super-Cyborg Gadget Glove of course!

Thanks to Quirk Books for the chance to review Book Four in this fun little series. Oh, for regular readers, these are books for kids of course, but if you’ve got kids, then I can heartily recommend them. And when the kids have read them, then there’s no harm taking a look yourself. Besides, they’re going to need your help to build the gadget glove. The instructions are pretty straightforward but I imagine that younger kids might need a bit of help.

The adventure is enlivened by two factors in particular. The chance for young readers to learn a little about a lot of famous scientists and, most importantly, the ever-witty writing of Steve Hockensmith. Older readers must check out the fabulous Holmes On The Range series (and Cadaver-In-Chief is worth a look too) and there are several points where I had a silly grin on my face.

As a mystery, it’s a little bit of a guessing game, rather than a fair-play one, but that’s a minor niggle. Another fun entry in a very enjoyable series. Recommended.

The other books in the series:

• Nick and Tesla’s High-Voltage Danger Lab
• Nick and Tesla’s Robot Army Rampage
• Nick and Tesla’s Secret Agent Gadget Battle