The Mesa Code: A Monument Valley Adventure (Paperback, Reading Age 10-15)

Seven marks. One hidden location. And someone determined to make sure it stays secret.

Max Carter expects his camping expedition to Hunts Mesa to be about spectacular sunsets, sandstone cliffs, campfires and exploring one of the most extraordinary landscapes in the American Southwest.

Then he photographs something unusual.

Among ancient markings on the rock is a symbol that seems strangely familiar.

Soon Max, his sister Ruby, their friend Ethan and local teenager Talia Begay discover that similar markings appear at different points across the landscape. When the locations and directions are compared, they begin to form a pattern.

A pattern leading somewhere that doesn't appear on any map.

But someone else knows what they are doing.

A memory card disappears from their tent.

Footprints appear outside the camp.

Three unexplained lights move silently through the valley at night.

A forgotten survey marker carries the same symbol they have been following.

And beneath the desert lies evidence of a secret research programme that was supposedly abandoned decades ago.

What begins as an irresistible puzzle becomes a dangerous race across mesas, canyons and forgotten installations as the four friends uncover the remains of Project Echoglass and a modern experimental system known as MIRAGE.

Someone wants the project protected.

Someone wants the evidence destroyed.

And the children may have already discovered too much.

With a desert storm closing in, communications failing and their route home becoming increasingly uncertain, Max, Ruby, Ethan and Talia must rely on observation, courage and one another to solve the seven markings before the people pursuing them reach the answer first.

But the greatest surprise may not be what lies beneath Hunts Mesa.

It may be what the ancient clues were really trying to tell them.

The Mesa Code: A Monument Valley Adventure combines a gripping wilderness expedition with mystery, exploration, archaeology-inspired clues, secret technology and escalating thriller suspense. It is designed for readers who enjoy dangerous discoveries, hidden bases, codes, survival adventures and mysteries where every clue matters.

The novel also carries an important theme beneath the adventure: ancient landscapes and cultural sites deserve respect, and discovering something does not automatically give us the right to disturb it.

And just when the mystery appears to be over...

there is one mark left.

Book details: Paperback adventure novel • Author Eric Henry • Illustrations by Questbound Studios Ltd • Published by Questbound Studios Ltd, UK • First Edition • First printed in the UK in 2026 • ISBN 978-1-911943-03-7.