There is a treasure high in the Colorado Rockies waiting for someone to find it. Jake Martin couldn't care less. Since the death of his wife, all Jake wants is to be left alone in his mountain cabin where he and his dog, Fred, can get on with life. But when it becomes known that an old miner used a copy of Tom Sawyer as a key to a coded message for the location of the treasure, someone wants that edition so bad he's willing to kill for it. Can the amateur sleuths decode the message and stop the murderer, or have Jake and Fred finally met their match?

This story was somewhat convoluted and sometimes hard to follow. Jake was likeable but did some risky and silly things once he got involved. His friend Bonnie and Jake’s dog Fred were also likeable and there were some humorous moments. ( )

According to what I see, this is book 3. I haven't read the first two books.

The characters felt very cardboard to me. It's definitely more of an action-driven plot than a character-driven plot. I find I tend to prefer the latter in books I read. I felt held at a distance from the characters, which meant I never really got to care about them, which means I don't really care what happens to them.

The premise sounded interesting--a treasure hunt based on a code in a specific edition of a book. Sad that it didn't hold my interest. ( )