The Secret: A Treasure Hunt

by Byron Preiss, Ted Mann, Sean Kelly

Book by Sean Kelly, Ted Mann

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery, Puzzles, Art, Poetry

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Byron Preiss was the president of Byron Preiss Visual Publications and Ibooks, and was recognized as a pioneer in digital publishing. He was among the first publishers to release CD-ROM's and electronic books.

Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Preiss graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1972 and earned a master's degree in communications from Stanford University. He produced The Words of Gandhi, an audio book that won a Grammy Award in 1985. He was also the co-author of Dragonworld, a novel he co-wrote with J. Michael Reaves that was published by Bantam Books in 1979.

A proponent of illustrated books, as well as comics and graphic novels, Preiss also published works by celebrity authors including Jane Goodall, Billy Crystal, Jerry Seinfeld, LeAnn Rimes and Jay Leno.

Reviews

[Lisa Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really wish I could figure these puzzles out!! I first saw this book on Expedition Unknown on the Discovery channel 🤓 And kinda got lost in it. Good luck to all who are really trying to figure it out!

[Erin the Avid Reader ⚜BFF's with the Cheshire Cat⚜ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has 12 puzzles in it, which are spoken of by cryptic poems and paintings that can be solved to reveal twelve treasure boxes hidden around the United States by the author. Only two have been found. The hunt still continues! How does this book have no reviews?!?

[R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy scheisse! It does exist! I read this book when it first came out, when it was a new book at the public library. Over the years, I began to believe that I'd just mashed together the memory of a beautifully enchanting cover from a random fantasy novel seen in a supermarket or a dream, a provocatively simple title that no 8 year old could resist ("secret", "treasure" and "hunt" in any order) and the contents of several faerie tale and folklore books I'd read in the early 80s and, voila, a bibliophile's intoxicating Mandela Effect cocktail: the syrupy summery popsicle sweet false memory of a magical book from childhood.

[Brett Dunst · Rating 2 out of 5]

Anyone who tells you they've read this book is lying.

It's not a story - it's a field guide for identifying fairies and shit in the real world. It's about as useful as an encyclopedia or phone book full of completely random content.

You'd get this book for access to the illustrations and verses that point the way to a dozen real-world treasures buried across America in 1982. That content takes up just a few pages (under 20) of what is a 224 page paperback book. However, as many have noted, those illustrations in this digital re-release are low-resolution facsimiles of the source material that make interpretation all but impossible.

[MegHan Marcello · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story but the physical book is lacking. Poor quality photo copy images really ruins the point of reading the book and solving the puzzles. Try to find an original copy or just read it online and save yourself 30.00

[Brendan · Rating 3 out of 5]

thought I had this on the list already.

[dawn rahe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book interesting. I still have to work on the verses and the pictures. I got a lot of information. Who knows maybe I will crack a code.

[Erin Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book because I became interested in it after watching an episode of Expedition Unknown. I think the puzzles are amazing. I have plenty of notes in my book but doubtful I'll go treasure hunting. The story itself bored me as it's not really my genre.

[James Vachowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Image 2, Verse 5 for the solve*: https://jamesvachowski.com/2017/12/31... Thank you, Byron Preiss for this awesome adventure!

And for everyone who's just coming across this book in 2018, avoid the iBooks re-print if at all possible. The images and photocopied pages are absolutely horrible and unlike what it says in the book, the new publisher doesn't know the locations so he isn't honoring claims unless you actually dig up a casque.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned about this book through the Discovery Channel, and I was fascinated that this treasure hunt is still going on today! I wanted to read the book to see if I could somehow contribute to the treasure hunt.

It's not easy. The puzzles and images in the first half of the book are very difficult to understand. It doesn't help that the book is being published by a new print-on-demand publisher, and the images are all grainy and low-quality resolution. It's easier to see the images in high definition on The Secret's website.

The second half of the book is a guide to fairies and other magical creatures that descend from the original fairy immigrants. It is mostly satire. Each entry includes photographs of puppets and sculptures meant to portray the fairies inscribed. I was hoping that these field guide entries would provide extra clues toward the treasure hunt, but I have yet to discover any hidden meanings (and I'm sure many others have tried this method before me).

Still, a very interesting book, and a remarkably creative artistic project.

[Kevin Pimbblet · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I were to win the lottery, I would strongly consider writing a book like this! I stumbled across this one in an old library many years ago. In essence, it is a treasure hunt featuring real life treasure for readers to try to find. Only 3 of them (at the time of writing) have ever been dug up and found. Considering when it was written (1980s), it is probable that many of the remaining ones would have been disturbed or otherwise built over. The clues are both visual - attractive artwork - and in the form of verse - clues to the location of the treasure. These are difficult and require contextual knowledge (along with 1980s geography of America) which the younger version of me totally lacked, so I gave up on this one. Nice to see some were solved in the intervening decades though.

[cia sunshine ☭ · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. I really tried with this one, but I kind of hated it. It was recommended to me from one of the librarians at my local library, and I just couldn’t keep reading it. I thought the idea of the book was interesting and the beginning of the book was interesting, but I didn’t like all the descriptions of all the fairies or whatever. I feel as if this book could have been set up in a way that actually makes sense. The, however, photographs were cool though, and the art was great. This is an example of “Don’t judge a book by its cover” for me because the cover is wicked pretty, but the contents aren’t. I feel like a lot of it is satire which is exactly what I don’t want out of a book where I’m supposed to decipher how to find long lost treasure or whatever.

[Jami Duffy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I could have found a better copy of this book that does the artwork justice. I am terrible at riddles but loved following along with the Destination Unknown episodes based on this treasure hunt. I hope the renewed interest leads to some finds and/or a better re-printing in the near future!

[Lorna A MacLachlan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a fan of poetry but add a treasure into the mix and it becomes an obsession for some, not so much for me. I did however like trying to figure out where the treasure may be hidden. Although not being able to retrieve it I will keep my mouth closed on that.

[Lynne Nash · Rating 5 out of 5]

The search is not over for the remaining casques. This is a difficult hunt. However, you will learn so much about the history of American cities along your journey. I will never completely be done with this book. It is the ultimate puzzle.

[Lisa Ulibarri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun and quirky book.
I am guessing i did not read the original version but do do especially love the part about the treasure hunt!!!
The parts about the various fair beings is hillarious.

[Kienn Nguyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

as a concept v interesting. i love the paintings and the clues hidden within them. who wouldn't be interested in hidden treasures. i do question some of the caricatures associated with the fair people, such as goblins

[Shubham Sharma]

Anyone knows... where i can read this book... online for free???

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great true life Treasure hunt. Authors purpose is to get you out in the parks of 12 major Cities around the United States.

[Ravindran · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice

[Jean · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I just skimmed the pages. It makes no sense to me. Way over my head.

[Vaibhav]

I am from India and now obsessed to crack this treasure hunt.. Seen first time on expedition unknown.. Gud luck everyone..

[Hayden · Rating 1 out of 5]

The poems and pictures are 5/5
The rest of the book isn't worth anybody's time 0/5

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first quarter of the book is about the treasure. The rest is of the fair people. A satirical look at the people of the 80s.

[Navy Vogel · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is just a field guide for finding stuff. Its really boring

[Lizzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading about this treasure hunt is addictive!

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was cute and clever but didn’t age well. I love the illustration and based on all the people involved, I love the collaboration.

[Melissa Jarosz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riddle obsession unlocked.
I’m coming for you Milwaukee treasure! 🏴‍☠️💎

[Rebecca NorWoot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do I wish I'd never learned about this?
Yes.
Do I also wish there were 15 more books just like this?
OMG YES lol

I absolutely love this, the concept the book, the hunt, everything! I live in Florida so I've been focusing on the St. Augustine treasure and it's made me want to go back to the town. I'm CONVINCED I can solve it lol

As for the books itself: I love the treasure hunt part of it.
The part with the articles about the individual creatures was just okay. Some of it was humorous but other parts were lowkey just weird lol. Some of that is also just old pictures as this book was published so long ago.

My book is about to fall apart though and I'm now spending way too much time on related forums about the treasure lol Honestly, I don't even want the actual treasure that badly, I love the hunt and I sincerely hope more of these are solved very soon.

[Kristen (belles_bookshelves) · Rating 3 out of 5]

""

I swear I'm going to plan an entire vacation around looking for this treasure.