Kindle Edition Category:  Children Publisher: Hypothesis Press ISBN-10:  0999035703 Type: Fiction Pages: 202 Copyright: July 10, 2017 ISBN-13: 9780999035702 Price: $2.99 (eBook) In this archaeological mystery, three daring young adventurers embark on a dangerous quest to discover the truth about Vikings visiting ancient America. In this first novel of the Doubloon Cove series, we meet tween-aged sleuths Jeffrey and Steven, both 12, and Cindy, 10 as they tackle their first case. Jeffrey's and Cindy's parents are college professors, and believe that there is a thousand-year-old mystery right here in Doubloon Cove, Massachusetts. But their peers ridicule them, so they are too afraid to pursue it. So it is up to Jeffrey, Cindy, Steven and his brother Frederick, to solve the case. But they must battle dangerous caverns, their own fears, and must learn to work as a team, all while being chased by crooks who have their own agenda. Set in a time before smartphones and Internet, Doubloon Cove is a thrilling adventure full of danger and revelations. History, mystery, and action come together in this compelling story; it is Nancy Drew meets the young Indiana Jones meets the Goonies.  Excerpt When burglars break in to Jeffrey's house, the twelve-year-old is understandably terrified. However, the crooks don't seem to be interested in jewelry or cash; instead, they're focused on a safe filled with weird old artifacts. Unable to crack the safe, the burglars flee the house in a hurry, leaving behind a backpack filled with their own artifacts. Jeffrey immediately recognizes these artifacts as relating to his parents' research into early Viking settlers in what would become Massachusetts. This research was initially shunned but is apparently worthy of these burglars' attention. Jeffrey, together with his little sister and his best friend, feels compelled to examine the artifacts and follow wherever they lead--namely, a nearby cave full of treasure, skeletons, and danger. Did Vikings really arrive in Massachusetts centuries before the Pilgrims? Can these kids uncover the mystery before the burglars? Set in the 20th Century, before smartphones and search engines, they have only their wits to guide them.

Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite
Doubloon Cove: The Secret of the Ancient Visitors is an action and adventure mystery novel for children and preteens written by Kelly Novak. Twelve-year-old Jeffrey and Steven loved hanging out in their fort, the old shed in the back of Jeffrey’s house. It had been built in the late 1800s and was the perfect venue for overnights and the spooky stories they delighted in telling each other. Often, the combination of too much Rocky Road ice cream and too many weird stories would result in some rather elaborate nightmares, like the one Steven experienced one night. His dream involved cyborgs whose inanimate movements were accompanied by the most awful whirring noise. To his horror, the noise continued even after he woke up -- or had he? After he got Jeffrey up, the two decided to go to the house which seemed to be the source of the noise and investigate. They snuck in through Cindy’s window, who explained that the babysitters had come to do work in their parents’ bedroom. But they hadn’t had babysitters for several years now, and why they’d be working in a bedroom made no sense at all to the two boys. The strange couple they discovered in the room was actually after the contents of their parents’ safe, and the three kids were determined to figure out why.

Kelly Novak’s action and adventure mystery novel for children and preteens, Doubloon Cove: The Secret of the Ancient Visitors, is grand fun no matter how old you are. Consider the series title, Doubloon Cove. Whose imagination doesn’t start to work overtime at the thought of doubloons and pieces of eight as well as hints of a manuscript with directions to a treasured item? I know mine does, and it stayed happily involved with the adventures of Cindy, Jeffrey and Steven. There’s even a good deal of caving in this story, which made it even more irresistible to me. Novak introduces some history in this tale as well, as she delves into the possibility of Viking and Irish visitors predating the Spaniards and Columbus. Novak’s characters are fresh and original, especially Cindy who is both a girly-girl, complete with tiara and dreams of marrying a prince, as well as a whiz at things both technical and mathematical, and Steven’s brother, Frederick, the language expert who also plays a major role in this tale. I was thrilled to discover that there’s future adventures planned for the inhabitants of Doubloon Cove, and I’m certainly looking forward to reading about them. Doubloon Cove: The Secret of the Ancient Visitors is most highly recommended.


An amazing book. Don't miss the opportunity to read it.
I may be a little old for this book but some books are just too good to be missed because of not being age appropriate. It took me right back to my childhood and teenage years and all the Enid Blyton’s books I read, excited and anxious to continue reading their adventures and wishing I could be part of it.

The book is set in a pre-internet era and banks on the old good nostalgia. It is extremely well-written and the children are amazingly interesting and well-built. Everything is secret, everywhere there are secret passages and conspiracy theories are all around us. For me, it borders perfection. So entertaining! At the same time, you will also learn a bit about history, old settlements and archaeology sites. Your brain will be constantly teased with codes you’ll need to break and you’ll wish you could be a part of the team. Adventurous, witty and smart kids that embark on a dangerous quest to find a secret that could change history as we know it.

It’s fast paced, brilliantly written and with very good characters. Enjoy it!

a relaxing read but more
There are two ‘stories’ in this book. One is finding the proof of a historical theory in a cave on Doubloon Cove, Mass. Two professors had theorized that the Vikings and the Irish had visited Massachusetts before Columbus came to America, and that they traded with the Native Americans in their hometown, Doubloon Cove. They are ridiculed by their peers, and their book and the theory did not fare well.
Four youngsters (two of whom are the professors‘ children) engage in a secret mission to find the cave in search of evidence for the theory. They work from the ‘fort’, a small (used-to-be-a-shop; interesting piece). They encounter two burglars trying to break into their father’s safe. Jeff’s sister Cindy calls 911 and the burglars run, leaving behind a bag, containing tools, an old coin, and one half of a manuscript. The parchment matches another Jeff had seen previously in his father’s safe while being taught how to open it. They act secretly. Steve’s elder brother, Frederick, is a nerdy university student and finally translates the writing as Latin and Irish Gaelic.
Not without danger, they do find the cave underneath the Fort; and the crooks; and several skeletons with Celtic jewelry; and an ancient graveyard with the "Deirdre" woman named in the document. Frederick helps with the final cipher, which turns out to be an interpretation of Deirdre. Their parents are vindicated by visiting professors who determine that the find supports their theory. The story and the group are written up in the newspapers; sales of the book jumps, and the group individually give parts of the story to an audience in their school. The team members called “discoverers” and are praised for their efforts. There is a nice allocation of the spoils.

The second ‘story’ is about the youngsters themselves. The core of their story is that they found an objective close to a home interest (to find a cave); follow the evidence at hand, and they persevered with the quest. Jeff says it clearly to his father: “We kids took the dare, we endured the dangers, and we did the work! ….. We found it!" His father quietly admits to himself that his children could think clearly for themselves. Jeff and Steve strengthen their friendship. Neither Cindy nor Steve has close relationships with their elder sibling. But as they progress in the quest and its dangers, Cindy and Steve get to tell their siblings that they love them and receive their assertion of love in return.

Their ultimate despair was to find their return over a river removed by the burglars. The good news was that the burglars could not get to them either. Cindy adjusts to her “momentous quest”; she uses her intuition to interpret the parchment; and her camera to take pictures in support of her parents’ thesis. She tells her brother she loves him, and he presses on feeling like a prince on a mission.

Frederick also had his major moments. He turns up because he is interested in his brother’s safety. Frederick’s motto seems to be: “There is always a way out”; a stabilizing message when difficulties arose. He guides and congratulates his brother Steve who is acrophobic, to cross a river on a rope. Very nice! Later they both confess their love for each other. True to Frederick’s “there is always a way out”, they do find a way out and into the arms of a police rescue.
Jeffrey and Cindy Ferguson, Steve and Frederick Olaf and Michael Williams (auctioneer) might not have been conscious of the fit of their ancestry to the story, but “like their ancient forebears, Cindy and the boys had no idea of what Doubloon Cove and their future were about to unleash upon them next...”

This book is very well written and very easily read. There are no big twists and turns, only a drive to a target. I recommend this book for young people, and hope they find the second story; and as a relaxing read for adults.