While I enjoyed the overall premise of this novel—two recovery specialists being pitted against each other in a race to find a map that would locate the legendary Dutchman’s Lost Gold Mine—the story itself didn’t hold my attention the way I wanted it to. I think expectations can impact your response to a book, and I went into this expecting a suspense—something I felt like I didn’t get until the end. Mystery, yes; some threats, yes; and the initial tension between the two main characters, yes; but overall it moved at a leisurely pace, and I wasn’t turning the pages to see what happened next until toward the end of the novel. And if I'm going to be completely honest, the romance felt a little clichéd, not to mention a rather fast about-face.

There were also two aspects of the plot that troubled me a little. First of all, while Landry (the heroine) is a Christian, Nickolai (the hero) isn’t, and there’s no real indication that he becomes one beyond calling out to God to save Landry in last minute desperation and subsequently being thankful. If a character is going to experience a conversion, I prefer it to be less circumstantial than that. Secondly, there were scenes throughout the novel that depicted Native American mystical rituals—something which wouldn’t bother me in and of itself, except that the story seemed to give too much credence to the mysticism, particularly at the end.

**VERY MINOR SPOILER**

Most peculiarly, when Nickolai calls out to God to save Landry, it is actually the shaman Gopan who appears to him in a vision and intervenes. It is also the shaman who seems to oversee the final scene and give his blessing, which struck me as particularly odd for a Christian book, given what the last scene depicts.

**END SPOILER**

This one was more of a miss than a hit for me.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not influenced the content of my review, which is my honest and unbiased opinion.