Book excerpt: 'What is the Lost Treasure which you seek?' When Nick Hollister saw these brilliantly glowing words appear in The Book of Lost Treasures, he thought his luck had finally changed. After losing his job, his girlfriend, and being beaten up by archrival Carter Cannon in the space of mere hours, the chronically unemployed and underachieving Nick had reached a new low, even for him. When a chance encounter with the eccentric Hank Harper, the new owner of an antique store in town, leads to the purchase of a mysterious painting, Nick soon discovers an equally mysterious book hidden within the frame of the painting. The book proves to be able to produce maps revealing the location of long lost treasures. In the course of forming The Treasure Hunt Club with four close friends, Nick meets and falls in love with Abby Summers. Soon, The Book of Lost Treasures leads Nick, Abby, and the other club members on a cross-country trek from tiny D'Lo, Mississippi, to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Arlington, Virginia, as it reveals the locations of many lost treasures, including a stolen shipment of Union gold from the Civil War era. Although these discoveries make Nick and the other club members wealthy beyond their wildest dreams, the sudden riches bring with them their own set of problems, and Nick learns ownership of The Book of Lost Treasures comes with a heavy price. In The Treasure Hunt Club, author Mike Clifton takes readers on an exciting journey of adventure filled with love, loss, and self-discovery.