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Fatal Treasure: Greed and Death, Emeralds and Gold, and the Obsessive Search for the Legendary Ghost Galleon Atocha
"In real life-especially off the Florida coast-things can have fatal consequences. Fatal Treasure is a truly compelling read."
— Aphrodite Jones, New York Times bestselling author of Cruel Sacrifice and All She Wanted
In 1622, hundreds of people lost their lives to the curse of the Spanish galleon Atocha-and they would not be the last. Fatal Treasure combines the rousing adventure of Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea with the compelling characters and local color of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. It tells the powerful true story of the relentless quest to find the Atocha and reclaim her priceless treasures from the sea. You'll follow Mel Fisher, his family, and their intrepid team of treasure hunters as they dive beneath the treacherous waters of the Florida Straits and scour the ocean floor in search of gold, silver, and emeralds. And you'll discover that nearly four centuries after the shipwreck, the curse of the Atocha is still a deadly force.
"On this day, the sea once again relinquished its hold on the riches and glory of seventeenth-century Spain. And by the grace of God, I would share the moment of glory . . . . I was reaching for my eighth emerald, another big one, when the invisible hands squeezed my trachea. In desperation, I clutched at my throat to pry away the enemy's fingers. But no one had hold of me." — From the Prologue
— Aphrodite Jones, New York Times bestselling author of Cruel Sacrifice and All She Wanted
In 1622, hundreds of people lost their lives to the curse of the Spanish galleon Atocha-and they would not be the last. Fatal Treasure combines the rousing adventure of Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea with the compelling characters and local color of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. It tells the powerful true story of the relentless quest to find the Atocha and reclaim her priceless treasures from the sea. You'll follow Mel Fisher, his family, and their intrepid team of treasure hunters as they dive beneath the treacherous waters of the Florida Straits and scour the ocean floor in search of gold, silver, and emeralds. And you'll discover that nearly four centuries after the shipwreck, the curse of the Atocha is still a deadly force.
"On this day, the sea once again relinquished its hold on the riches and glory of seventeenth-century Spain. And by the grace of God, I would share the moment of glory . . . . I was reaching for my eighth emerald, another big one, when the invisible hands squeezed my trachea. In desperation, I clutched at my throat to pry away the enemy's fingers. But no one had hold of me." — From the Prologue
272 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
April 24, 2017
Jedwin takes the reader on a voyage to long lost sunken treasure off the sunny beaches of South Florida. He retells how as an Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter sometimes happenstance and providence changes the direction of one's career. Jedwin vividly portrays the risks, challenges, and sacrifices in the pursuit of a life-long dream to chase centuries-old Spanish sunken treasure. In the midst of the story, Jedwin tells of his own fate-driven journey and his part in the discovery of emeralds and gold that took years to bring up from the bottom off the Atlantic coast.
January 30, 2016
A very interesting account of Mel Fisher and the Atocha treasure hunt.
The technical aspects of treasure hunting are touched on, but the true strength of this book is Smith's talent for portraiture of the colorful cast involved in finding the Atocha.
I enjoyed this book very much.
The technical aspects of treasure hunting are touched on, but the true strength of this book is Smith's talent for portraiture of the colorful cast involved in finding the Atocha.
I enjoyed this book very much.
October 18, 2023
A true quest for buried treasure is enough to awaken the dreamer in any of us. The idea of holding lost pirate gold? What could hold more weight in our imagination?
January 5, 2022
While on vacation in the town of Key West, Florida, journalist Jedwin Smith was bored and exploring one day when he came across the Mel Fisher Treasure Museum. Inside was a collection of coins, jewels, gold bars, and other items salvaged from shipwrecks along the coast of Florida - all of them rescued from the bottom of the ocean by Mel Fisher and his team of divers. During his visit, Smith ran into Fisher himself, and after being introduced (and getting quickly conned by Fisher into donating to the museum as an "investor", Fisher agreed to sit down with Smith and be interviewed about his long career as a treasure hunter. In a matter of hours, Smith was fully hooked, and spent the next few years researching and interviewing Fisher's team.
The main focus of Mel Fisher's diving crew was one particular Spanish galleon - the Nuestra Senora de Atocha,, which was wrecked by a hurricane in 1622 and sank off the coast of Florida, along with its crew of hundreds and its cargo of gold, jewels, and countless other treasures stolen from the New World. The story of Mel Fisher is the story of a decades-long quest to find the wreck of the Atocha, and the treasure that was lost when it was destroyed in the storm. But it's also a deeply personal story - most of Mel Fisher's core crew was made up of his own children and their spouses, all of whom were quite literally risking their lives to find sunken treasure.
It's a great story, especially the details about what it's like to be in the middle of a scattered wreck, sifting through piles of sand until suddenly, you find a single gold coin - and then another one, and another one, and then that leads you to a pile of gold bars, and that leads you to a cannon, still half-hidden by the sand. But obviously it's not all fun and games, and Smith makes sure the readers understand just how long the process of excavating a wreck like the Atocha can be - aside from having to find the damn thing in the first place, you then have to contend with rival dive crews, and even after all of that, Fisher's crew had to get involved in a lengthy legal battle with the US government over the issue of who got to keep the treasure they found. And there was a human cost, as well - Jedwin Smith's narrative spends a lot of time going over the events of one night early in the expedition, when the boat carrying the crew flipped over in the middle of the night, and several people - including Mel Fisher's son and daughter-in-law - were killed.
The only place this book falters is in the narration. Jedwin Smith tends to skip around in the timeline, describing events and then circling back to them several chapters later for no apparent reason, and this makes it really hard to follow the story at times. At one point, Smith goes on a long tangent about how Mel might have actually discovered the wreck of the Atocha several years earlier than he initially claimed, and I could not follow it at all.
Mel Fisher's museum is still up and running, and his legacy still lives on in the active salvage operations being carried out by his children. From the website, it's unclear if they ever found the stern of the Atocha (by the publication date of Fatal Treasure, it- and its rumored vast stores of treasure - was still unaccounted for), but it looks like they're still excavating and restoring items from the wreck. And they're still happy to accept donations.
The main focus of Mel Fisher's diving crew was one particular Spanish galleon - the Nuestra Senora de Atocha,, which was wrecked by a hurricane in 1622 and sank off the coast of Florida, along with its crew of hundreds and its cargo of gold, jewels, and countless other treasures stolen from the New World. The story of Mel Fisher is the story of a decades-long quest to find the wreck of the Atocha, and the treasure that was lost when it was destroyed in the storm. But it's also a deeply personal story - most of Mel Fisher's core crew was made up of his own children and their spouses, all of whom were quite literally risking their lives to find sunken treasure.
It's a great story, especially the details about what it's like to be in the middle of a scattered wreck, sifting through piles of sand until suddenly, you find a single gold coin - and then another one, and another one, and then that leads you to a pile of gold bars, and that leads you to a cannon, still half-hidden by the sand. But obviously it's not all fun and games, and Smith makes sure the readers understand just how long the process of excavating a wreck like the Atocha can be - aside from having to find the damn thing in the first place, you then have to contend with rival dive crews, and even after all of that, Fisher's crew had to get involved in a lengthy legal battle with the US government over the issue of who got to keep the treasure they found. And there was a human cost, as well - Jedwin Smith's narrative spends a lot of time going over the events of one night early in the expedition, when the boat carrying the crew flipped over in the middle of the night, and several people - including Mel Fisher's son and daughter-in-law - were killed.
The only place this book falters is in the narration. Jedwin Smith tends to skip around in the timeline, describing events and then circling back to them several chapters later for no apparent reason, and this makes it really hard to follow the story at times. At one point, Smith goes on a long tangent about how Mel might have actually discovered the wreck of the Atocha several years earlier than he initially claimed, and I could not follow it at all.
Mel Fisher's museum is still up and running, and his legacy still lives on in the active salvage operations being carried out by his children. From the website, it's unclear if they ever found the stern of the Atocha (by the publication date of Fatal Treasure, it- and its rumored vast stores of treasure - was still unaccounted for), but it looks like they're still excavating and restoring items from the wreck. And they're still happy to accept donations.
December 15, 2022
The Nuestra Señora de Atocha, a Spanish treasure galleon from New Granada heading back to Spain, sank during a hurricane off the Florida Keys in 1622 along with other ships. Although some of the treasure from one of her sister ships was salvaged shortly after sinking, the Atocha's were scattered and never discovered. . . .until. . . .
Smith is a writer from Atlanta and this is the story not only of Mel Fisher, his family, divers and investors but of his own captivation with the treasure hunt. Mel Fisher's tales and belief that the Atocha was waiting to be found and he was going to be the one who did it - or at least, his company was. It's a listing of unbelievable triumphal highs and heartbreaking tragic lows. The years where there was no money for divers to be paid, for fuel for the boats and divers and in some cases, only the absolute necessary repairs and maintenance on those same boats. The celebration of nine bronze cannons confirmed from the galleon countered by the death of Dirk Fisher, his wife and another dive when their ship capsized, trapping the three inside to drown. And those weren't the only lives that the search claimed - there were two more. The so-called mother lode of gold, silver and emeralds brought up from the deep estimated at over $450 million. The legal fights with the state of Florida and the federal government over ownership of the galleon - eventually the courts awarded the galleon to Treasure Salvors Inc, Fisher's company but the governments "got" a share through taxes. The archaeologists and numismatists all calling him either a fraud or a vandal for disturbing the sites.
At the time of Smith's writing - and he spent several vacations and various time periods as a diver on the boats, finding his own salvaged coin to wear - Mel Fisher had died but his sons are carrying on with the search for the sterncastle (or back end of the ship which usually houses the captain and/or important passengers) as that was where the royal passengers resided with their smuggled chests of precious metal and gems. And occasionally, Smith stops by Key West, diving for the Fishers, hoping that "Today will be the day".
2022-276
Smith is a writer from Atlanta and this is the story not only of Mel Fisher, his family, divers and investors but of his own captivation with the treasure hunt. Mel Fisher's tales and belief that the Atocha was waiting to be found and he was going to be the one who did it - or at least, his company was. It's a listing of unbelievable triumphal highs and heartbreaking tragic lows. The years where there was no money for divers to be paid, for fuel for the boats and divers and in some cases, only the absolute necessary repairs and maintenance on those same boats. The celebration of nine bronze cannons confirmed from the galleon countered by the death of Dirk Fisher, his wife and another dive when their ship capsized, trapping the three inside to drown. And those weren't the only lives that the search claimed - there were two more. The so-called mother lode of gold, silver and emeralds brought up from the deep estimated at over $450 million. The legal fights with the state of Florida and the federal government over ownership of the galleon - eventually the courts awarded the galleon to Treasure Salvors Inc, Fisher's company but the governments "got" a share through taxes. The archaeologists and numismatists all calling him either a fraud or a vandal for disturbing the sites.
At the time of Smith's writing - and he spent several vacations and various time periods as a diver on the boats, finding his own salvaged coin to wear - Mel Fisher had died but his sons are carrying on with the search for the sterncastle (or back end of the ship which usually houses the captain and/or important passengers) as that was where the royal passengers resided with their smuggled chests of precious metal and gems. And occasionally, Smith stops by Key West, diving for the Fishers, hoping that "Today will be the day".
2022-276
April 15, 2021
“Today’s The Day” to Read This Book! Excellent! Must Read!
I’ve have read a few books about Mel Fisher and his quest for the Atocha Treasure. And this version of the tale filled in so many wonderful details, perspectives that made it even more real to me. It helped endear me even more to the Legend, the Great Mel Fisher, truly The World’s Greatest Treasure Finder! I grew up watching the news flashes of Mels exploits in the ocean. I’ve been to many of the places mentioned here, and both of the Mel Fisher Treasure Museums in Key West and Sebastian. I’ve metal detected all the Treasure Coast beaches looking for those elusive coins. As a Certified Master Scuba Diver, I deeply appreciate the authors perspective of diving in these waters. This book was an incredible journey that I truly appreciate and enjoyed. I was sad as I read the last page and had to go back to reality for a while. I would highly recommend this book to anyone seeking mental adventure.
I’ve have read a few books about Mel Fisher and his quest for the Atocha Treasure. And this version of the tale filled in so many wonderful details, perspectives that made it even more real to me. It helped endear me even more to the Legend, the Great Mel Fisher, truly The World’s Greatest Treasure Finder! I grew up watching the news flashes of Mels exploits in the ocean. I’ve been to many of the places mentioned here, and both of the Mel Fisher Treasure Museums in Key West and Sebastian. I’ve metal detected all the Treasure Coast beaches looking for those elusive coins. As a Certified Master Scuba Diver, I deeply appreciate the authors perspective of diving in these waters. This book was an incredible journey that I truly appreciate and enjoyed. I was sad as I read the last page and had to go back to reality for a while. I would highly recommend this book to anyone seeking mental adventure.
April 27, 2022
It was probably a 4 or 5 star book except the last 50-100 pages were so self-congratulatory and filled with some truly stupid boomer musings about how tyrannical the government is and how these sexy tanned maverick tough guys are out there adventuring to stick it to the government and we should be in awe at these overweight Harley-driving beefcake fantasies on the open sea blah blah blah and on and on. Masturbation in print.
March 9, 2018
While in grad school I met treasure hunter Mel Fisher. He was a complex, one-of-a-kind. Fatal Treasure does a wonderful job of capturing the man and the adventures he shared with so many.
July 31, 2024
What a nice book for summer reading or anytime of the year you want to escape boredom and hop into a dive suit and go look for treasure!
August 24, 2025
I love maritime history and this modern day treasure hunting story was incredible!
January 24, 2022
Although it was clearly not the author’s intent, this book disabused me of any romantic dreams to become a treasure hunter, at least until a new treasure hunting frenzy arises. The book describes a gold bug-bitten motley crew of modern day heirs to the pirates of the Spanish Main. Their complete disregard for marine and diving safety causes the deaths of five of them including an eleven year old boy who should never have been out there in the first place. An additional diver got the bends and that is the first and last that we hear of him. The salvage operation was on a shoe string budget so health insurance and workers compensation doesn’t get mentioned.
What was most galling to me since I have no personal relations with the dead or their families, is what happened when the mother lode of sunken treasure was finally discovered. The company had sole title to retrieve the hoard and no one else was lurking about on the open sea to steal anything. The company had a lucrative and exclusive contract to provide National Geographic film and video access. But instead the undisciplined crews began to wantonly scavenge the site and the opportunity for an iconic photo shoot to capture the pristine moment was irrevocably lost. All we have now are the sterile artifacts that have not been sold off and a babble of semi-coherent recollections of the participants.
The writing itself deserves more stars but there were minor inconsistencies and many of the crewmen regarded the author as an outsider and pariah and were guarded if not outright hostile toward him.
The book was published in 2003 and indicates that the search for more treasure, a second mother lode from the galleon, continues and perhaps this is still so. The author seems to be honest and frank - this is not a salvage company sponsored book it would seem - and he explains why at least one salvager is skeptical that there is much treasure still to be recovered.
What was most galling to me since I have no personal relations with the dead or their families, is what happened when the mother lode of sunken treasure was finally discovered. The company had sole title to retrieve the hoard and no one else was lurking about on the open sea to steal anything. The company had a lucrative and exclusive contract to provide National Geographic film and video access. But instead the undisciplined crews began to wantonly scavenge the site and the opportunity for an iconic photo shoot to capture the pristine moment was irrevocably lost. All we have now are the sterile artifacts that have not been sold off and a babble of semi-coherent recollections of the participants.
The writing itself deserves more stars but there were minor inconsistencies and many of the crewmen regarded the author as an outsider and pariah and were guarded if not outright hostile toward him.
The book was published in 2003 and indicates that the search for more treasure, a second mother lode from the galleon, continues and perhaps this is still so. The author seems to be honest and frank - this is not a salvage company sponsored book it would seem - and he explains why at least one salvager is skeptical that there is much treasure still to be recovered.
January 17, 2010
This was a pretty interesting story, but it was a little hard to follow. The author jumps around chronologically, which makes for a faster-paced and more sensationalized story, but as a result it is hard to get a clear picture of how the treasure-salvaging business works and how this particular story unfolded. It would have been nice to have a map too: just a general one of the keys and the straits to get a general idea. But the story is fascinating nonetheless, and some of the tragedy is heart-wrenching.
June 7, 2010
Interesting book, especially since I own a tiny bit of the Atocha's treasure - acquired through legal, legitimate means I might add! Hearing the author go on and on about how great it was to be a treasure hunter/finder got to be annoying though. Maybe it's just b/c I got bit by that bug and moved on a long time ago. :p
March 27, 2007
A real-life treasure hunt for the fabled Spanish treasure Galleon, Las Nuestra Señora de Atocha. The loss of life involved over the course of this one man's hunt for her is astonishing and what he sacrificed and went through...I'm about half-way through...I'm completely hooked.
April 26, 2010
I really enjoyed this documentary about Mel Fisher and his lifelong quest to find the sunken galleon, the Atocha. It kept me hooked to the end and then beyond!
June 19, 2014
excellent book
July 20, 2014
thoroughly enjoyed this story about Mel Fisher and the treasure divers looking for the Atocha off the coast of Key West. Very well written and engaging, and a quick read.
October 24, 2024
Book had a somewhat disorganized feel, a juvenile retelling, though the author was there. I'm still glad I read it. And I still love the idea that some of the treasure remains out there.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews