VALVERDE'S GOLD: In Search of the Last Great Inca Treasure

Journalist and historian Honigsbaum was on a research trip in 2000 to Baños, Ecuador, when he heard an intriguing tale: in a cave somewhere in the mountains northeast of Baños, a hoard of gold originally intended as part of the ransom for Inca emperor Atahualpa was said to have been hidden in 1533, and a document known as Valverde's Guide indicated how to find it. Fascinated, Honigsbaum pored through archives; the more he read, the more complex the story became. His recounting of his journey of discovery, about the guides and maps (there turn out to be many), is deliciously detailed and dense, as satisfying as any mystery, since he's genuinely stymied by the riddles he finds. His cast includes a botanist who harvests microscopic orchids resembling bumblebees, an aging Ecuadoran playboy who drinks and lies, and wary descendants of men who held the original treasure maps in their hands. Despite warnings that the treasure's a chimera and that the mountains are perilously labyrinthine, Honigsbaum eventually sets out to find the treasure. What he finds is a spellbinding climax to this tale of adventure and of the age-old lure of treasure. Maps and illus. not seen by PW . Agent, Derek Johns. (Aug.)

Forecast: If Honigsbaum makes media appearances and can spin these yarns well, then it's a bullseye.