Middle Grade May Reading Challenge ... I'd picked up this physical book for the LFL (library sale) and figured I'd give it a read before I sent it on its way. Of course, I grabbed the audiobook and Kindle copy from the library for my personal "read".  I've read one other Gordon Korman book (Restart). 

This was very easy to get into ... it had a few different POVs, but the main ones are Keenan and Zarabeth. A couple chapters from Ronnie, one from Keenan's dad, one from Zarabeth's dad. All 1st person/present tense. In audio, they got their own narrators, although the guy's voices didn't stand out that much, didn't even sound that different (I had to look to verify they were different people). These four chapters switching to the other characters ... they felt a little off to me, as I was used to Keenan and ZeeBee for most of it. 

It was all very conversational - almost to the reader at times. The way it starts, first line "You've probably seen the video-it's been viewed over eighteen million times." With that start I would have though the video would have been more important, not just a random viral one (that I actually looked up to see if perhaps it was real? I don't think so). 

A cute story, two teens, one a bit of an outcast. Unique location, as the US and Canada split duties over the lighthouse. The cover image, there's barely the shadow there of the first Barney(dog ... so yes, that dog dies, before the book even starts. Zeebee thinks he's been murdered). The cute puppy pictured on the cover is Barney2, who wins hearts, eventually (Keenan, the reader, before ZeeBee). 

Historical mystery, with Al Capone & Tommy-Gun Ferguson and some missing gold.

It all kept my attention, even as an adult, and not the middle-grade audience as intended.