The Last Musketeer by Stuart Gibbs

 Gregory has grown up in a large historic estate, and has always attended private schools.  Now his family's inherited wealth has run out and his parents have decided to sell many of the antiques in their mansion to an interested buyer in France. When they get there they find that the man purchasing their heirlooms is mostly interested in his mother's necklace, a broken piece of crystal. When he gets his hands on it, a time portal opens up and he, Gregory's parents, and Gregory himself are sucked into 17th century France where Greg meets Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, the Three Musketeers, as teenagers.  Greg enlists their help to try to free his parents who have been imprisoned in La Mort. 

I am almost always up for a new book by Stuart Gibbs.  I liked his Moon Base Alpha series, his Spy School series, and his Charlie Thorne series.  This one was OK, but I didn't like it as well and some other Gibbs books I have read.  For one thing, the story loses a lot if you are not familiar with the Three Musketeers by Dumas, or at least seen one of the movie adaptations.  How many middle grade readers are? Also, Gibbs falls back on a lot of slap-stick type physical humor. A ten-year-old boy might laugh at the schtick, but I found it a bit too cliché. I did appreciate the realistic portrayal of some of the less appealing aspects of 17th century France, like the lack of sanitation, high levels of pollution, and the intense smells that must have permeated city life in the past. Even though I didn't like this book as much of some of Gibb's others, I will still recommend it to readers looking for historical action and adventure. (2018, 272 p)