Customer Reviews

The Treasure Hunter

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4 star:		(1)
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After spending a while locating this book I found it marvelous, it excites the imagination its realism is refreshing and keeps dreams of adventure and fortune alive.

If Howard Jennings wasn't George Lucas's inspiration for the Indiana Jones movies, he very well could've been. This book documented by one of his treasure hunting cronies gives novelistic descriptions of everything from found pirate hoards to emerald gems discovered in South America by Jennings. Seems both the author and this modern-day swashbuckler were also first-rate ladies men throughout their years of treasure hunting adventures together which adds even more spice to the true tales. Danger, intrigue and adventure are the key elements of this book whether you're a treasure hunting couch potato or a serious treasure hunter yourself. Practical advice abounds and the book even closes with some known and not so well known sites for aspirants to follow the leads of. While this book is out of print, the good news is that several cheap copies are available online at places like abebooks.com. Discover for yourself why this book is a treasure all on its own!

This book tells of exploits that occurred decades before certain 'sensibilities' entered the fray.

It's an adventure story, pure and simple. Inside of every red-blooded man there exists a muted desire to do what they did; to throw off the shackles of the daily grind, head off to somewhere wild and risk life, limb and freedom in pursuit of riches. This book is pretty much a tale of guys who had the balls to translate those thoughts into action. Were they scofflaws? Yep. Do they make any apologies about this? No.

We can argue about what they did in terms of artifact hunting- when it's done by an adventurer, it's called "looting", yet when the very same thing is done by a college professor, they call it "academic fieldwork". The difference? A few measurements here, a few notes there. Context can be important, but sometimes, "context" is simply a pretext cited by academics to preclude anyone but them from getting the artifacts. Private hunters do it for riches, public hunters do it for prestige, ego and acknowledgment. Let there be no doubt, both sides has their own personal motivations for "chasing history".

It's a good read. If you want a book that holds your hands as we weep and cry about "cultural patrimony", this isn't for you. It's for guys with normal to above-average testosterone levels.

I found this book very interesting. As a small boy in the late '70's met and befriended Mrs. Jennings who as a person, and with stories of her and her husbands adventures, had a great impact on my childhood on Roatan. I personnally have a strong connection to the stories, I am sure I would find it interesting if I did not.

So I picked up this book hoping for a good read. Initially I really enjoyed it, until I discovered the book really seems to be about his sexual conquests (they are mentioned repeatedly in each chapter) and also his disdain for archaeologists. He bashes archaeologists and actively subverts the laws of the countries he excavated in. While he makes no claim on being an archaeologist it makes me wish he were. He even admits to lying to a partner who helps him and says he would have to "educate" her later after he had gotten what he wanted. Had the sites he plundered been actively researched instead of plundered solely for gold and gems a lot more could have been learned. He wants to prove he found the city of Coaque but he may have destroyed the very evidence that could have proved it. Essentially he's nothing more than a greedy white man come to plunder. No different than the "explorers" 400 years ago.

Working from the assumption that Robin Moore's role in authoring (and participating) in these stories lends them a sort of legitimacy, this is really a good read.They are likely to offend modern sensibilities re the morality of "treasure hunting," but in context of the era in which they take place, it's just old school cool. I liked Howard Jennings, and apparently so did Moore. Forget the lecture on plundering archaeological sites, and enjoy the story telling.

I found this book very interesting. As a small boy in the late '70's I met and befriended Mrs. Jennings who as a person, and with stories of her and her husbands adventures, had a great impact on my childhood on Roatan. I personally have a strong connection to the stories. However, I am sure I would find it interesting if I did not. Mr. Moore is lucky to have been able to participate in these adventures.