Matt Stribling is stuck spending another vacation with his brilliant, yet scatterbrained archaeologist father. His dad s house is often a mess, so when Matt arrives to find the place turned upside down and his father missing, he s not immediately worried. But a cryptic message and some strange sandy footprints quickly persuade Matt that all is not right. With the help of some unusual family friends, Matt discovers that his father had been searching for an ancient code, one rumored to have brought down the Mayans, and maybe even the fabled civilization of Atlantis. Now in the hands of a madman using high tech computers to decipher it, the code is being readied for new and sinister uses. Matt and his friend, Robin, will traverse the globe, battling terrifying sand creatures and mercenaries alike in their efforts to stop the chaos code from being fully reactivated and dooming the modern world to a catastrophe not seen since the days of Atlantis. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Let's Find Treasure," the catchphrase from Richards's (The Death Collector) mystery/thriller, seems emblematic of this novel's excited tone. Like Grimpow (reviewed above), this story, too, utilizes numerous conventions a la Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code-cryptic messages, coded clues, historical arcane societies, etc.-but here these feel somewhat derivative. The storyline revolves around 15-year-old Matt Stribling who, in search of his missing archeologist father, becomes entangled in a globe-hopping quest. The goal: to find an ancient treasure that, if unearthed by the wrong people, could potentially destroy the world. Initially, Stribling and two allies-millionaire Julius Venture and his precocious daughter Robin-set out to find the lost treasure of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, a legendary cache of scrolls and relics that supposedly holds the "knowledge held secret by the ancients." But as the search takes the group from the jungles of Brazil to a remote Scandinavian island, the scope of the mysterious "knowledge" expands to include the lost continent of Atlantis, elemental magic and quantum entanglement. The action never stops, but the glut of two-dimensional characters and more than a few highly implausible exploits (Matt figures out a computer's complex password after just a few tries) weaken the suspense. Ages 12-up. (Oct.) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Sent to his father's when his mother has to leave on a business trip, 15-year-old Matt is not totally surprised to discover his disorganized dad gone. But soon the mystery thickens, and when Matt arrives at his aunt's (as directed by a cryptic message), he finds himself in the midst of a sprawling scenario that includes a golem, ancient civilizations, secrets of a Knights Templar-like organization, and a quest that hops across continents and millennia. This British import can't be read too closely (it's filled with all sorts of logical questions that have no answers), and sometimes the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink mix of events is as confusing as it is exciting. But the adventure is nonstop, and the intriguing combination of computers and long-forgotten knowledge will have readers turning pages to find out how it all comes out. YAs who liked Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code (2003) may like this.--Cooper, Ilene Copyright 2007 Booklist From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.