Breaking the Beale Code: The Treasure Hunters Club by Sean McCartney (available for 1.99 on Amazon) follows a group of middle school aged treasure hunters who are trying to solve the mystery of how to cypher the Beale Code. Amber is new to town and received a letter that has the key to solving the Beale code from her dying Grandfather. When an evil man trys to steal the letter and get the treasure the hunters must solve the mystery and save their friends.
This book had the problem that many books do that are published independently and by small publishers. It needed a good editor to get the author to smooth things out and flesh out the plot and the characters. The plot was very disjointed epically at first and I had trouble keeping track of what was going on as the story flipped from character to character. Additionally there was no subplot to help me understand or care about the characters. I had a hard time figuring out who was who. I did think that there was a lot of potential for it to be a great story. Once I got into the story I found an interesting and exciting plot and the code work could be something that kids could really get into. Unfortunately the negatives outweighed the positives in this one.
Appropriateness: This book did not have any adult content. There is some action and some violence but it is not disturbing. I would recommend this book to kids 10-14 (and it would be enjoyed by boys).
