Chasing the Thrill: Obsession, Death, and Glory in America’s Most Extraordinary Treasure Hunt

Part thrilling puzzle, part character study, 100% bonkers adventure story. This was a “just trust me” recommendation from my husband Will, who’s followed the Forest Fenn treasure hunt for years. I’m so glad I picked it up—because once I did I couldn’t put it down. Fenn launched the hunt in 2010, when he hid treasure worth several million dollars deep in the Rocky Mountains and pointed would-be hunters to a poem with nine clues for finding it. Barbarisi became a treasure hunter himself, becoming deeply enmeshed in the close-but-combative Fenn community. Though many believed the hunt was pure myth and the treasure didn’t exist, a Michigan med student found the treasure not long before the book went to print, which provides a nice resolution to the story.