Tom Ryan

When I was young I loved maps. (And I still do). I would trace the lines on the map, marking the final destination. I kept also kept copious lists of places that my family's station wagon drove through. And yes, I dreamed about finding a map to a treasure chest. I'm still looking - and I've found a treasure in Tom Ryan's new book - The Treasure Hunters Club.

There is so much to love in this book. I loved the setting by the sea, and the town of Maple Bay. The legend of the pirate's booty draws show more in quite a few tourists. As well as a number of permanent residents.

Ryan tells this wonderful tale with three main characters - Peter, Cass and Dandy (she's my favorite!). Each of the three have their own voice. There's a wealth of supporting players from the present and the past.

Who's telling the truth? Who are lying? Is the legend of the pirate plunder true?

Ryan kept me on my toes the entire way to the final ah hah! There's a twist that is epic! Things did not turn out as I had thought they would. And I adore being wrong!

Get comfy in your favourite reading spot - you're not going want this one down. Bravo Tom Ryan! show less

I am a high school librarian. I spend all day with teenagers, and I read a LOT of YA literature. Unfortunately, this book falls very short of the mark.

It's doomed from the start by a cliched story - teenage boy thinks he might be gay, but he lives in a small homophobic town with a couple of meathead homophobic friends and so he has a lot of trouble accepting himself for who he is. Some new people come into his life over the summer, including an older, wizened lesbian (clearly marked to be show more his new role model) and by the end of the summer everything is hunky-dory.

Here's the problem: this story has been written a lot, and it's been written a lot better. This book takes place over the summer of 1994, which makes little sense to me - even the mixtape on the cover is a dead giveaway to today's teenagers that this book is "old." (Most teenagers today do not even know what a cassette tape is!) The dialogue is the absolute cheesiest stuff I have ever heard, full of 1994 slang and clearly written the way adults think that teenagers talk, but not in the way that teenagers actually talk to one another. The characters are pretty one-dimensional and the problems are solved too easily, with everything tied up in a neat and tidy bow by the end of the book.

This book might serve as some decent nostalgia for a 20-something reader looking for some light fluff. But for the YA audience this book is intended for? I don't know any teenager today who would bother reading it. If you're looking for some good YA literature dealing with issues about coming to terms with being gay, try Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan. show less

When you were a kid, were you captivated by tales of missing treasure and secret pirate hoards?

The Treasure Hunters Club was written for that kid in all of us that used to pore over those tales. The town of Maple Bay is known for the legend of the hidden pirate treasure that came ashore hundreds of years ago. We go back and forth in time between a group of five childhood friends and their present day grandchildren, along with several new arrivals in town. We see the effect this treasure and show more its legend has had throughout generations of their families. And when several people close to the mystery start turning up dead, new questions arise. What really happened so many years ago between those five young boys, and where is the hidden treasure?

This book was wonderful. I thought I knew what the twist was going to be and who the bad guy was, and I was so wrong. It was entirely unexpected and surprising and I loved it. I felt the narrative weaving back and forth between the past and the present, and the multiple POVs, was done seamlessly and flowed well. I was invested in the characters, and the fast paced mystery made it feel like you were on an actual treasure hunt with them. I thought it was a wonderful setting, well written mystery, and an engaging plot.

Despite the multiple murders this doesn't feel like a heavy book. It's light and fun and feels like a perfect book to curl up with on a rainy weekend, imagining yourself as a child running wild on the beach, searching for treasure washed ashore from a sunken wreck.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! show less

* I got this book for review for the publisher for my honest thoughts*

I thought this was super well crafted mystery thriller. I really liked how this book was had podcast element mixed with two mysteries and also a strong LGBTQ realtionship. I really was so emotionally invested in these characters. I really liked the pacing of this novel. I really liked both mysteries a lot. I thought there was alot of plots and some of them, where not fully developed as i wanted and felt some of these plots show more pieces wanted a bit more from some. I really enjoyed this read and loved the diversity of this read. I loved how much this mystery impacted the main character. It was super fun read and wonder if maybe a second book is in the future. Some triggers warming's for PTSD, Smoking! It was the prefect thriller to kick off halloween season! show less