He was also the author of The Viper's Nest and The Sword Thief, two titles in the New York Times-bestselling children's-book series The 39 Clues, along with the second entry in a four-novella collection, Vespers Rising.

Upon graduation, Peter moved to New York where he worked as an actor[10] and freelance copy editor for eight years before becoming an author.

[12][13] Authors R. L. Stine (Goosebumps) and Marc Brown (the Arthur the Aardvark series) also made the trip with Bush.

[12] Also in 2003, Lerangis was commissioned by the United Kingdom branch of Scholastic to write X-Isle, one of four books that would relaunch the Point Horror series there.

In 2007, Scholastic announced the launch of a new historical mystery series called The 39 Clues, intended to become a franchise.