Customer Reviews

The Gold of Carre-Shinob

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It's fun to think that there might be mountains full of treasure in your own backyard. Alas, I don't believe many of Boren's claims that these mountains exist. This book gives some informative historical information, and seems to all add up at times, yet, sometimes Boren's claims are laugh-out-loud silly. Boren gives a detailed account of one trip he took to a series of caverns filled with ancient treasure. Does anyone really believe this? If he is telling the truth, then a million questions immediately surface. If he's lying, then readers have to wonder what he has to gain from his lies. Money? Boren is locked tight in a Utah prison and won't be getting out anytime soon. I thought it was funny how Boren seemed to be related to every historical character he mentions in his book. He claims to be related to early Mormon church leaders, but also claims to be related to Utah Native American leaders. Hmmmm...interesting family there. I bet they have some wild family reunions. Boren also claims to be related to an ancient explorer of the Americas. I don't even know how he can justify this, because the man's very existence is barely recorded. Boren seems obsessed with writing himself into the legend of the gold. I guess being related to all these different people is the easiest way to do it. Reading about all the treasure that allegedly exists in the mountains of Utah is entertaining, but Boren has some serious credibility issues.

The Gold of Carre-Shinob is at the most very interesting reading. There are fantastic stories of long lost mines and Spanish gold in the mountains of Utah. But as far as being historically accurate, well... Boren seems to favor re-writing bits of history here and there throughout the book to support his tales. Read this book not for its historical accuracy, but rather for its intrigue and adventure.

Its amazing the stories you can come up with when you have been sitting behind bars for 2o years, great stories with a bit of history

Even though Boren is an experienced writer, and a good one at that, he embellishes his books to the point where they are no longer a reliable source of information. He has embellished the truth so much so, that this book is nothing short of a ficticious tale. Anyone who would use this book to aide them in a search for the Lost Rhoades Mine, or the fabled Shin-Ob is running after a ghost. Mr. Boren also invented the Shin-Ob, as well as the word "Towats" to mean "The Great Sprit". Towats means "Man" nothing else. This book is great for the fire place.

I have read Boren's other books on the subject of lost mines, Spanish treasures and etc. (i.e. Footprints in the Wilderness). I've also read several other authors works on the subject as I find it an intriguing one. If you like a good tall tale, or liked the movie "Big Fish", you'll find the book amusing. I think most readers will easily be able to sort out fact from fiction. This book unfortunately is mostly the later (fiction). On the downside of The Gold of Carre-Shinob. This book reads pretty much the same as his other publications on the subject with a few new twists and turns. The book is written in the same manner, is rather repetitive, he contradicts himself countless times and forgets to do his math in several instances which makes it impossible for certain occurrences to happen when he says they do. The book lacks an index or bibliography. The majority of his sources are simply "he said - she said". The maps that he includes are just his own hand drawn renditions of maps he says he has in his possession. Not a single picture of an original map with provenance to show that it is the real deal. In short, those are the pro's and con's of the book. The following info is neither a pro or con about the book itself, but are only claims Boren makes about himself that are less than truthful. He states that in the 1960's he worked as the Assistant LDS Church Historian under A. William Lund and is an accredited genealogist. These claims are less than truthful. He also states that he is the 2nd great-grandson of the LDS Prophet, Joseph Smith and that he is the 3rd great-grandson of Isaac Morely. These claims as well are false. Plus, he claims that he is a direct descendant of Iorwerth ap Owain Gwynedd, the brother of the legendary Madoc, the Welsh prince who sailed to America in 1170. No source or even a pedigree chart, just a statement. Your guess is as good as mine on that claim since Madoc is more or less still a myth. With all that being said, Boren knows how to spin a pretty good treasure-hunting tale. Sadly his sources for the book seem to be as mysterious as the lost mines them selves and his credibility is sketchy at best.

The book comes from the co-writer of a very respected, and well regarded work Footprints in the Wilderness. I think he should have stuck with that credit. The auther is incarcerated and this book feels like a fairy tail. There is some interesting info to be gleaned from both this authors books on Utah mining and history, but this one.... Major suspension of disbelief needed.

If you use this to search for gold it will be useless, but, for early history items concerning mining and general history it is a 'goldmine.' I thought it was well done.