The old pulp novels of high adventure are brought to mind with this tale that would do Indiana Jones or Robert Langdon proud. It all begins when Matt Stribling, a 15 year old, goes home to spend some time with his father as his mother, who is divorced from dear old dad, is off to a mysterious work assignment out of country. When Matt arrives at his father's place, he finds his archaeologist father missing, things strewn about, and consciousness quickly fading under mysterious circumstances.

Fortunately, for Matt, his father had always set Matt up with coded messages and puzzles that could only be solved with cryptic clues. It is because of this that Matt is able to sort out a secret message guiding him to his aunt's place, which is actually the huge estate of an adventuring millionaire named Julius Venture and his daughter Robin.

Upon his arrival, Matt finds himself falling further into an ancient mystery relating to the Hospitallers, the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, and a hoarded treasure that holds the secrets of an ancient civilization. Searching for his dad and the treasure will keep Matt and his companions globe-hopping at a quick pace and a high level of suspense.

As with all good pulp, the focus is on the quick pace of the action and the mysterious evil that must be overcome ... think page-turner. Along with that, the characters tend to usually be two-dimensional and a bit predictable with easily identified heroes and villains. There is a certain level of comfort in knowing that good will overcome evil even as things look like that would be impossible.

One thing I was particularly impressed about is that Richard seems to really know his stuff with archaeology. He premises a lot of the content on the book on a number of theories relating to ancient cultures that are considered controversial, such as whether a geologist's theory that the Sphinx is about 10,000 years older than expected. These theories support the idea of an older culture with advanced knowledge, something that a number of our ancestral cultures make reference to.

I have to admit to really enjoying this one. I wished I had more time to dedicate toward it, but things have been so busy.