When Ryan Thomas and his two siblings stumble upon their grandfather’s secret past—a quest for the legendary Lost Dutchman Gold Mine—they decide to take matters into their own hands and finish what he started.
Sneaking into an old wooden chest of their grandpa’s, they find a treasure trove of weathered maps and cryptic notes about the fabled mine. Among the artifacts, they uncover the elusive clue that had stumped their grandpa for years—and crack the mystery wide open.
Little did they know, their wildest adventure was just beginning! Tag along with Ryan, his siblings, and Grandpa as they hunt for the lost mine, encountering snakes, bats, dynamite, and mind-boggling riddles, all while being shadowed by a dark phantom, watching their every move!
Discover why, at every turn of this twisty tale, Ryan can’t help but exclaim, “YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING!”
This story didn’t begin at a desk or in a quiet office. It began around a lively conversation with my three oldest children—then ages 13, 10, and 8—on a Sunday evening long ago. I wrote in my journal that night, January 7, 1996:
“I got to talking with Erika, Neil, and Bryce tonight, and we came up with the idea to write a mystery adventure book with three characters just like themselves. We came up with the basic plot about the legend of the Lost Dutchman Mine in the Superstition Mountains in Arizona. They are so excited about it, and so am I. It will be good for us to work together on a project like this. I love my kids.”
Me and my three oldest in 1996
Hiking in the Superstition Mountains with my family 1997
A view of Weaver’s Needle in the Superstition Mountains
We dove into the project with all the enthusiasm you’d expect from a dad and three imaginative kids. For a while, the story grew—chapter by chapter, idea by idea. We even traveled to Arizona and hiked to Weaver’s Needle in the Superstition Mountains, doing research for the book. But life has a way of shifting the ground beneath us. After four years, I had written only seven chapters. The last one was finished on September 10, 2001. The next day changed the world, and the manuscript was quietly set aside.
Two decades passed.
Then, in December 2021, I decided to dust off those old chapters and send them to some of my grandchildren as a Christmas surprise. I didn’t expect what happened next: they jumped in with the same excitement their parents once had. They offered ideas, asked questions, and helped shape where the story should go. I would send them new chapters, and they would send back their thoughts—sometimes small suggestions, sometimes big leaps that opened new paths in the story.
Their enthusiasm rekindled mine. Their encouragement pushed me forward. And together—across generations—we finished the adventure that began so many years ago.
This book is, at its heart, a love letter to my six now‑grown children and my twelve remarkable grandchildren. It exists because of them. It belongs to them. And it carries the joy of every moment we shared along the way.
The first printing of the book
My grandkids opening their Christmas gift from me, my new book.
