Tyler’s Treasure (The Family Tree Book 1) by Linda S. Duty

Nine-year-old Tyler has a dream life. His family’s ocean-side marine life park is all he’s ever known and the dolphins and other sea animals his closest friends, but time and money are running out for his mother to continue operating the tourist attraction, due to mysterious events that threaten to destroy everything he’s known.

A torn treasure map, village rumors and fascinating clues he and his visiting cousin find, reinforce the idea that there is buried treasure somewhere on the property and they have to dig deep for courage and imagination, not to mention a little time travel with a guardian angel, to be able find it before someone else who has been secretly trying to shut down the park.

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“A Little Bit of Everything”

Five Star Review on Amazon By Pop Bop

I’m not too worried about spoilers because the Amazon book description pretty much sets out the entire plot and the resolution of the Tyler Treasure story. That said, it’s worth noting that even though this book is a bit of a hot mess at times, it is carried by two very engaging heroes and by a nice sense of adventure.

Tyler and his cousin Aaron are fine heroes. They are energetic, imaginative, honest, inventive, and yet pretty well grounded. They have to worry about losing the family marine park, finding a treasure that will save the day, avoiding bad guys, dealing with what may be a ghost, following clues, solving puzzles, and still be home in time for dinner.

The plot just keeps expanding, and parts of the book get pretty fanciful by the end, but there is so much treasure hunting good cheer that the reader is by and large willing to go with flow and indulge the author’s more fanciful twists and turns. That’s probably due in large measure to the fact that the two boys seem so real and their exchanges and teamwork seem so authentic that the story always feels grounded.

So, you have good characters, an interesting marine park location, a treasure hunt, and some thrills and chills. If your reader likes adventure with a touch of ghostly involvement, this could be a good choice.

Please note that I found this book while browsing Amazon Kindle freebies. I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.

About the Author

I was born and raised in Orlando, Florida, and pretty much called Florida home most of my life, with some addresses in Oregon, South Carolina and north Georgia after marriage. Reading, writing, selling things like seeds, cards and yarn octupus dolls as well as putting on neighborhood productions occupied a major portion of my childhood, much of which would serve me well later in life as a mother of 8, grandmother of 22 (I’m thinking that’s the latest count) and eventually writer/publisher/producer.

It has been an interesting journey and I’m still enamored with the written word as well as the visual creations of creative people from recycled art to films. I am the publisher of a children’s newspaper, “The Bug Island Gazette,” an adventure series with my little bug characters as well as a number of other projects. My #1 bug is Benjamin Bee…that’s him in the pictures. He loves to write and get on the computer, enjoys reading the Gazette newspaper we publish, and is curious and kind to little creatures.

“The Family Tree series” stories came about while writing a biographical book for a friend about his wheelin-dealing, not-so-good uncle, the result of which was my own version of a grumpy grandpa, “Haley’s Angels,” which should be out early next year. The antics and imaginations of my grandchildren fueled the desire to write adventure stories about them and their encounters with some of their ancestors…so off I went.