Chasing the Thrill: Obsession, Death, and Glory in America's Most Extraordinary Treasure Hunt Hardcover – Deckle Edge, May 18, 2021

For anyone who loves true crime this is the perfect book. Very compelling

This is an interesting and quirky book about the hunt for Forrest Fenn's treasure.Just found within the last year, the Fenn Treasure was an antique chest filled with coins, gold, gems, and jewelry hidden "somewhere in the Rocky Mountains more than 10 miles north of Santa Fe." So said Forrest Fenn, an adventurer and egotist who created American's most famous contemporary treasure hunt - one that captivated thousands (the exact number unknown) over the last ten years.Foster Fenn lived a life of risk and adventure. A pilot shot down twice during the Vietnam War, he became an aggressive commercial archaeologist finding, collecting, and selling treasures and building himself a fortune (and massive ego) in the process. Given a prognosis of death, Fenn decided to immortalize himself with a treasure hunt. A poem connected to his life story was a challenge to any adventurer who wanted to try his luck at puzzle solving and outdoor immersion that would lead to a million-dollar plus treasure chest and Fenn's body. He initially planned to lie down and die next to his treasure. Fortunately for readers of this book, he got better and the death part of the hunt fell away. Fenn published his challenge and the poem and set off a hunt that lasted a decade. It resulted in several deaths by seekers and controversies, got thousands of people into the outdoors, and created a community of Fenn hunters who immersed themselves to various levels in hunting for the treasure.Author and journalist Daniel Barbarisi (Wall St. Journal among others) fell into the Fenn world through a friend he had chronicled in a book exploring the fantasy sports culture. He and Beep (his friend's moniker) fell hard for the Fenn puzzle and hunt. Realizing after a while that the odds meant he wasn't going to be the one to solve the puzzle, Barbarisi decided to chronicle Fenn, the hunters and the community that grew up around the Fenn Treasure.The result is this book that details the character and ego of Forrest Fenn, treasurer hunters sympathetic, tragic and just plain weird who gave their lives to the hunt; and the controversies and psychology that surrounded a decade long minor-mania. That mania ended in the last year with the solve. I enjoyed the book. The writing is crisp, and the story moves along. Fortunately, Fenn is captivating, open enough to provide insight into his motives and interaction with the world he created but not without controversy and mystery. The author details interesting hunters whom he got to know and hunt with in his pursuit of the inside story to Fenn World. There are also plenty of outdoor scenes that give glimpses of the natural wonders available for those who get off the beaten path in five or so states. I enjoyed the ride and this book.

I don’t have a dog in this treasure-hunt fight except for living vicariously through the words of a gifted writer. I first heard about Forrest Fenn in a chapter of Finders Keepers, written in 2010 by another of my favorite gifted authors, Craig Childs. Later I even cut out Tony Dokoupil’s 2012 Newsweek article about Fenn’s treasure and placed it inside Finders Keepers. Then in May of this year, Childs alerted his FB followers to the publication of Barbarisi’s book, which I ordered immediately. I loved Chasing the Thrill and believe the author did a good job of differentiating between his duties as a journalist and his participation for a time in the actual hunt. His descriptions and dialogue were excellent, as was his keeping the reader engaged and anticipating the next revelation. I could envision his writing the book but holding off on publication for the final chapters and just the right “ending.” Reading these reviews was fun and I appreciate seeing input from treasure hunters Beep and Sacha!

I've been following the Forrest Fenn treasure hunt for a couple of years but I am not deep into it. The author Barbarisi has been closely involved with the alleged finder of the treasure so I was hoping to find out a lot I didn't know in this book. The book is a light read and probably interesting to those that aren't knowledgeable on the Chase. There were a few new things I learned, but the problem is that the new info is a sentence here and there interspersed between a lot of pages of things that are not directly about this chase. He talks a bit about other chases, or other happenings that I thought distracted from the book. It is like he was paid by the word. How he handles time is also confusing, there's flash forwards and flash backs and it is not good for chronology. He paints some of the chase community in an overly flattering like (like Cynthia Meachum) and some in a distinctly unflattering or unfair light (Stephanie Thirtyacre). Some of the people I hadn't heard of before, they must no longer be active in the community, and since they didn't find the treasure it was wasted reading when he spent excessive time on their stories. The handling of the people that died was okay, but again, he seemed to gloss over some of those stories while spending more time on other things that didn't have to do with the chase. The author is the only person besides the finder of the treasure that has seen the treasure chest besides Forrest Fenn, finder and attorneys since it was recovered but yet he didn't add a whole lot and there were zero pictures in the book. There are rumors that the author is part of the cover up or the fake findings and I can't tell from reading if there's any validity to that. The overall writing style is not bad but the chronology and the depth of what the author chooses to spend time on all distracted from the story. I think it is an okay introduction to the Forrest Fenn Treasure Hunt and will give you some background. For those at all involved deeper in this community, it will not tell you much that you don't know and it leaves out a lot of things. It also doesn't really address things since it was found, many in the community believe the whole "ending" to the hunt was a fraud and this doesn't touch on that. There's also various points that people say are not true that are mentioned so I don't know how much fact checking he did with people he writes about. It doesn't give much more info on where or how it was found, the Medium articles give more info on that. It also doesn't give much insight into Forrest Fenn. Overall, it was a decent read. I finished it in a couple days, but only have a few notes in it. I would pass it on to someone looking for a beach read but no big reveals in this book.

I'm Jay (beep), and I really liked this book! I thought Dan did an incredible job capturing the pure-hearted aspects of a classic treasure hunt, as well as the challenges of those who overly devoted themselves to the chase. Forrest was a wonderful man, and provided the world with an exciting adventure full of life lessons, old and new. I was also a searcher, and while I didn't find treasure, I learned a lot about myself, the art of searching, and re-prioritizing what's most important in life. Similar to Dueling with Kings, Dan does an incredible job capturing this refreshing world, including the hard-earned perspectives and insights of many of the most notable searchers, including Fenn himself. He rides the wave from peak to closeout with meticulous timing and dedication, eventually capturing the finder's viewpoint, and can't wait for his next adventure. Hopefully he sends me the invite, so that I can find redemption, forge myself stronger, and continue to learn from all the wonderful people along the way. Five stars!!

WOW! Jay (Beep) is my brother! This book so far of what I have read is fascinating! Like c'mon it's one of those books where you litterly have to read it from beginning to end to lime totally know what is going on. Fantastic book written by Daniel! Very very well written!