The Treacherous Trail

Baker Family Adventures #4

by C.R. Hedgcock

The dark beast with yellow eyes came careening towards her at full speed, its muzzle a mess of dirt and foamy saliva. Abby's shoulders tensed up with a jerk, and she was stiff as a board. A last-minute reflex made her pull the trigger, and the flare shot out with a bang and a puff of gunpowder. The beast swerved, paused, and then wrinkled its muzzle afresh in a ferocious display of bared gums and piercing canines. Too tired to run, too tense to think, too frightened to scream, Abby did nothing as the wolf lunged towards her. Its face was all she could see, its ominous growl the only sound in her ears. The Bakers and the Wilburs have become such good friends that they decide to vacation together at a lovely wilderness lodge. While the ladies and girls enjoy the lodge's luxurious facilities, the men and boys go camping in the surrounding wild. They expect their greatest thrills to come from horse-riding, canoeing, and hiking, but the trip changes when they find an injured hiker. Then the hiker disappears with most of their supplies, and they're stranded with little food, no communication, and a long trip back to civilization. What's more - there are some very strange things going on in this forest, and the mysterious hiker seems to be at the center of them. Mr. Baker must get his team back to safety with no supplies or means of contact, saddled with a thief who will not speak. Phil is forced to act like a criminal when thrown into a company of bad men, and the twins must survive in the wilderness with a man they do not trust. Who is really Jigson? What mysterious activity is going on in the forest? And, will they all come out alive? The Treacherous Trail is Book Four in the Baker Family Adventures series.

Genres: Christian Fiction, Adventure, Mystery, Fiction

292 pages, Paperback

First published October 25, 2013

Reviews

[Evelyn Boley · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS BOOK WAS AWESOME!!!! I really enjoyed reading this book, it was very worth my time.
I recommend this book if you love a good, Christian, adventure, suspense, bad guys, and kidnappings, story, this would definitely be your type. Ok so, to be honest i went right from the first book to this one (4) and to be honest, you don't miss out on much if you skip ahead, the book series just goes from one adventure to the next. "CAUTION SPOILER ALERT ⚠ DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE BOOK YET"
My absolute favorite part in this book was when Rolf has captured Phil and is showing him how to tack the horse and Phil puts a pinecone under the saddle, so when Rolf sits down he gets bucked and falls unconscious and Phil ties him up with lead ropes, then after awhile the Bakers and the Wilbers find him on their way back to rescue Phil after Phil had gone with the bad guys acting as Rolf.

[Myra Faye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting book .made me stay up one night till 11oclock

[Phoebs 🫶🏻 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book so much and it is my favorite in the series so far 😊I highly recommend reading 😉

[Laura The Book Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is also a favorite of mine in this series. The Baker family models respect for each other and others.

[Lydia Willcock · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Wow. WOW. WHAT HAPPENED? I finished Riddle of the Ruby Ring with the feeling that the series was slowly improving from the earliest books, but… I was not prepared for this. The Treacherous Trail is SO GOOD! The first book was nice, the second was good, I liked the third, but the fourth was just… wow. I loved it.
Firstly, JIGSON! I missed him in Book 3, but in this one he is back with a vengeance!
Spoilers
I was so thoroughly confused by the two 'Jigsons'. At first I honestly thought that Garth was Jigson, and I was thinking that right up to Phil’s escape with Abhra. Then for the first time I realised that Jigson could not possibly be in two places at once. I don’t know, I guess I was so surprised to find Abhra was Jigson that I never doubted either one, thinking that somehow Jigson was switching between Phil and the gang, and the Bakers. But when I realised something was wrong, I was so confused. Eventually, when I realised one of them had to be a fake, I did manage to pick out the right one. But even though at first I was quite sure it was Abhra, it was so well done that there were several times I seriously wondered if I was wrong, and began to think Garth was actually the right one after all! I doubted Abhra for a while because of the way he had destroyed all the tracking devices, and because he had told Garth that he was pretending to be the real Jigson to Phil in order to trick him. But then other little things would pop up to show me that he was actually Jigson – and then something else which would set me wondering again. But for the most part, I knew it was him.
Jigson is just so clever! Usually I can see through disguises, but I didn’t see through Abhra’s, despite the numerous hints that were given. After I knew, I looked back to find the hints, and I was blown away at the amount I had missed. I laughed so much at his saying that Jigson wasn’t as clever as everyone thought and that he had made some silly mistakes. This was really a stroke of genius! And the way he shadowed Phil – and his subtle prompting to help him – and the haircut – and just everything. Jigson is very possibly my favourite character in the entire series.
End of spoilers
But there is so much more. I have always loved undercover stories, especially when there is no lying. Phil and Jigson were both extremely clever in their answers to tricky questions, and I was glad that in this book, at last, there was at least an effort not to tell any lies; and for the most part neither one did.
The one thing that irritated me was that Phil was rather exasperatingly slow at first to catch on to what was going on, which I suppose is realistic to an extent but after a while just got annoying. But when he finally pulled himself together, he was brilliant. He was almost as clever as Jigson. There were times when he acted more like a trained spy than an ordinary young man!
As for Abby and Andy, they were amazing. I notice that Andy has really learnt his lesson of the last book, and he is getting almost like Phil in his quiet courage and good sense. And Abby was just the same. I thought their reactions to the situation was natural and well done.
Another thing I loved about this book was Garth. No spoilers but… I loved it. All of it.

I can also recommend this book to older readers. The earlier ones were intended more for a younger audience, but this would be an excellent series to grown up alongside, so to speak. From Summer of Suspense, which I would recommend to readers 10-13, the series has progressed to a point where I would say readers over 13 would love it just as much as younger children.
This is definitely the best of the series so far, and if all the later books are like this one, I’ll love them. I’m really looking forward to reading Prisoner of the Pyrenees!

[Abigail Harris]

RTC

[Bekah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one of my favorites of the whole series. It kept me on the edge of my seat and quickly turning the pages to find out what happened next. Throughout this book, I was really encouraged by the Baker family's faith in the Lord as they went through some trials and adversities. It's a great read!

Again, this whole book series has been amazing and I highly recommend books by C.R. Hedgcock

I recommend this book to ages 10+

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! Great storyline, great plot twists, great outcome. Such an improvement from the first book!

[Lucy Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rolf! Your going to be ok!
I am so happy that Rolf turns good!
It was a great book!

[Miriam Whyte · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! I think this is my favorite from the Baker Family series =)

[Gloria Penn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good story with plenty of unexpected twists and turns. I read the three previous books in this series and enjoyed them, but definitely thought this one was the best. C.R. Hedgcock did a good job making a successful story that is not too hard to follow despite the many shifts in narration and multiple characters. It was great to read a book where the whole families were fully involved in the story.

[Gloria · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit unrealistic, but action packed and quite captivating.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first time i read this book it was almost so hectic that i could not fully process all that was going on, but i loved it! I've read it at least four times now, and every time i read it again, i understand it better.
The Baker family and their neighbors, the Wilburs, decide to go on vacation together. They go to a lodge in the woods, and the girls and children stay at the lodge, while the boys hike out to try their hand at camping. SPOILER > Along the way, they stumble across an injured hiker, who will change their entire camping trip.
This is a very exciting, action filled book and i cannot give it enough credit. It is clean, well-written, not super graphic, and I would suggest it to anyone who loves action, adventure, and books about the great out-doors. Even younger kids would probably enjoy this book, and it is definitely family-friendly!

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great, clean and family-oriented book. This series just keeps getting better and more exciting! Again, it had a good storyline, was well written and contained a lot of good messages of faith. I highly recommend for young readers, as well as the rest of the Baker Family series.