"The Gold House Trilogy" Victorio Peak Book# 1

gollum

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"The Gold House Trilogy" Victorio Peak Book# 1

WHEW!

FINALLY finished "The Gold House Trilogy" Book 1 "The Discovery"

http://www.victoriopeak.com/index.php

I will give a very brief review of the book here, but will give a more in depth one at my web site in a day or so.

I stated on another thread that from what I have heard, these books should be a knockout. Well, I can honestly say that #1 is a "KNOCKOUT!"

For anybody not familiar with the Doc Noss/Victorio Peak Story, this book may be a bit too detail oriented. A lot of names, backgrounds, and day to day camp narratives. For ANYBODY that has read other VP Stories this book is ABSOLUTELY what everybody has been waiting for. Some time ago, I put it to Alex, that everybody who has read the standards on VP (100 Tons of Gold, Treasure at Victoria Peak, Whittle Article, etc) already knows all the main facts surrounding the story. What could these books add?

Let me answer my own question:

Darn near everything! I thought that I had a pretty firm grasp on the true story of VP and the people involved in the story. I must admit with some chagrin THAT I WAS WRONG! John Clarence (author) has spent several years researching everything to do with this story. He has been granted insider status from the Holy of Holies; the Noss Family. He has scoured the archives of the New Mexico State Police and many other governmental entities. He obtained information (documentary information) from a CIA Operative that never should have seen the light of day (that is a story in itself).

I don't want to just gloss over the Noss Family input in this. Clarence was given the freedom to use A LOT of privileged family information that has never before been released. Pictures, documents, sworn affidavits, video interviews, etc, etc, etc. The staggering amount of evidences referenced in this book makes it an ABSOLUTE "MUST HAVE" for anybody interested in the subject of treasure hunting, government conspiracies, and history in general. This is not "another" book on Victorio Peak and the Noss Family, it is THE book to have. I can't wait to dig into Book# 2.

One thing I do particularly like is that the author went into a lot of detail and spent a lot of time on Milton Ernest "Doc" Noss himself. The good, the bad, and the ugly, so to speak. He openly writes about Doc's propensity for drinking and fighting, as well as the MUCH less well known humorous side to Doc's personality. While it is a lot to take in, it is what everybody wants to know about a man that claimed to have found one of the great treasures of the world. Even to his murder. YES; I said "murder." Read the book and you will understand.

The negatives:

1. The print is pretty small. I understand that this was necessary to keep Book# 1 to about 400 pages. Folks without perfect vision will have to break out the reading glasses. LOL

2. Pictures are small and look kind of washed out. Many of them warranted their own pages and much more resolution. I understand again the length of the book was a concern and possibly the extra cost of adding glossy picture pages. Hopefully, John Clarence will add a photo album book as a supplement to the trilogy.

Please feel free to ask any questions you have. I will not give away information that is proprietary to the book, sorry.

Let me also say that I have absolutely ZERO monetary stake in the success or failure of this book. Because I was friendly with one of the main contributors of the trilogy, I was offered the opportunity to get advance copies of the books to read and review. Being a treasure hunter myself, how could I say NO?

Best-Mike
 

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Re: "The Gold House Trilogy" Victorio Peak Book# 1

Thanks for the review. Now where can I get a copy?

KG6YLL
 

Re: "The Gold House Trilogy" Victorio Peak Book# 1

Hey KG6YLL,

http://www.victoriopeak.com/index.php

They are still not publicly for sale. The original on sale date was August 1 but that got pushed back a month. On the VP Website, you can see the countdown clock. I believe it will also be available in EBook Form.

Mike
 

Re: "The Gold House Trilogy" Victorio Peak Book# 1

I have finished the first book, Before I give a quick review I will comment on the website
after reading the response "They are still not publicly for sale" by gollum I was puzzled, On Aug 13 I posted that I downloaded the EBook
So I went to the website to check. It seems they pulled the eBook (I wonder if its because I pointed out on another thread the PDF was authored by “Harold Jackson” ) and looking at the picture it would look like they are going to release book 3 70 days before book 2

Now I wonder if the rereleased eBook will be different then the one I downloaded.
Now to the review, Its is evident from the first 75 pages that a lot of time and research went into this book and to people who live and breath Noss and clan this was a labor of love, For the price of $.50 cents (the price I paid 8-13) certainly worth the time to read. I don’t feel this will appeal to general public or will be the next "National Treasure 3" I enjoyed the way the author entwined history lessons with the Noss story to give a sense of timeline.

Now to what I did not like, In the same 75 pages it came clear the author was pushing a point of view (as most authors do) But in this case I felt the point was not well documented, The author would say things like 'it was well know' or 'people in the area understood'

I would normally paste examples but I don’t think that would be allowed

Finally for $.50 I highly recommend downloading Gold House I cannot understand why someone would pay $29.00 for a paper copy I like the fact I can search the PDF

Gollum In the other thread you misunderstood my question, I was wondering about the Two pictures they use in the website for book one but do not appear in the actual book The shot of the single rung ladder and the double ladder both in the caballos. It seemed strange that feature these pics in the website but not in the book.
 

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Re: "The Gold House Trilogy" Victorio Peak Book# 1

sfloto said:
I have finished the first book, Before I give a quick review I will comment on the website
after reading the response "They are still not publicly for sale" by gollum I was puzzled, On Aug 13 I posted that I downloaded the EBook
So I went to the website to check. It seems they pulled the eBook (I wonder if its because I pointed out on another thread the PDF was authored by “Harold Jackson” ) and looking at the picture it would look like they are going to release book 3 70 days before book 2

Now I wonder if the rereleased eBook will be different then the one I downloaded. While searching for the web site I found out Gold House book one is on thepiratebay.org (I don’t know if its real there tends to be a lot of s**t on that site)

Now to the review, Its is evident from the first 75 pages that a lot of time and research went into this book and to people who live and breath Noss and clan this was a labor of love, For the price of $.50 cents (the price I paid 8-13) certainly worth the time to read. I don’t feel this will appeal to general public or will be the next "National Treasure 3" I enjoyed the way the author entwined history lessons with the Noss story to give a sense of timeline.

Now to what I did not like, In the same 75 pages it came clear the author was pushing a point of view (as most authors do) But in this case I felt the point was not well documented, The author would say things like 'it was well know' or 'people in the area understood'

I would normally paste examples but I don’t think that would be allowed

Finally for $.50 I highly recommend downloading Gold House I cannot understand why someone would pay $29.00 for a paper copy I like the fact I can search the PDF

Gollum In the other thread you misunderstood my question, I was wondering about the Two pictures they use in the website for book one but do not appear in the actual book The shot of the single rung ladder and the double ladder both in the caballos. It seemed strange that feature these pics in the website but not in the book.
I have finished the first book, Before I give a quick review I will comment on the website
after reading the response "They are still not publicly for sale" by gollum I was puzzled, On Aug 13 I posted that I downloaded the EBook
So I went to the website to check. It seems they pulled the eBook (I wonder if its because I pointed out on another thread the PDF was authored by “Harold Jackson” ) and looking at the picture it would look like they are going to release book 3 70 days before book 2

Now I wonder if the rereleased eBook will be different then the one I downloaded. While searching for the web site I found out Gold House book one is on thepiratebay.org (I don’t know if its real there tends to be a lot of s**t on that site)

Now to the review, Its is evident from the first 75 pages that a lot of time and research went into this book and to people who live and breath Noss and clan this was a labor of love, For the price of $.50 cents (the price I paid 8-13) certainly worth the time to read. I don’t feel this will appeal to general public or will be the next "National Treasure 3" I enjoyed the way the author entwined history lessons with the Noss story to give a sense of timeline.

Now to what I did not like, In the same 75 pages it came clear the author was pushing a point of view (as most authors do) But in this case I felt the point was not well documented, The author would say things like 'it was well know' or 'people in the area understood'

I would normally paste examples but I don’t think that would be allowed

Finally for $.50 I highly recommend downloading Gold House I cannot understand why someone would pay $29.00 for a paper copy I like the fact I can search the PDF

Gollum In the other thread you misunderstood my question, I was wondering about the Two pictures they use in the website for book one but do not appear in the actual book The shot of the single rung ladder and the double ladder both in the caballos. It seemed strange that feature these pics in the website but not in the book.

Steve,

I'll email Jack and see what he says.

Some things I can explain:

1. The Release date: PROBABLY only goes up to 99, or only displays a max of two characters, so 103 would look like 03.

2. Couldn't say why ebook was pulled, but the fact that you could download it for fifty cents should give you a clue. HAHAHA

The author would say things like 'it was well know' or 'people in the area understood'

Without rereading the book, I don't know which specific instances you are talking about. There are some things that are absolutely understood and known to be true to anybody familiar with the story. Like I said, to someone not already familiar with the story.

In the same 75 pages it came clear the author was pushing a point of view (as most authors do)

The author didn't know much about the story when he was first asked to research and write the book. The opinions he has are all based on the research he has done. Put the shoe on the other foot; if you started researching a story, and you found incontrovertible evidence that the story is absolutely true, would you really take a "sitting on the fence" attitude when writing the story? I doubt it.

Mike
 

Re: "The Gold House Trilogy" Victorio Peak Book# 1

As far as the pics. If you read my review, you will see that they are a sore spot for me as well. Since a lot of them are never before seen from the Noss Family Archives, they deserve more prominence.

Mike
 

Re: "The Gold House Trilogy" Victorio Peak Book# 1

sfloto said:
.... Now to the review, Its is evident from the first 75 pages that a lot of time and research went into this book and to people who live and breath Noss and clan this was a labor of love,....

Now to what I did not like, In the same 75 pages it came clear the author was pushing a point of view (as most authors do) But in this case I felt the point was not well documented, The author would say things like 'it was well know' or 'people in the area understood' .....

A vaguely documented labor of love pushing the 'Noss and clan' spin. Interesting take.
 

Re: "The Gold House Trilogy" Victorio Peak Book# 1

Springfield said:
sfloto said:
.... Now to the review, Its is evident from the first 75 pages that a lot of time and research went into this book and to people who live and breath Noss and clan this was a labor of love,....

Now to what I did not like, In the same 75 pages it came clear the author was pushing a point of view (as most authors do) But in this case I felt the point was not well documented, The author would say things like 'it was well know' or 'people in the area understood' .....

A vaguely documented labor of love pushing the 'Noss and clan' spin. Interesting take.

To say this book is vaguely documented is both a lie and an insult, and VERY obviously said by someone with an agenda.

Without rereading the book, I have to say that there are some things that are well known and don't require references, but everything the author states comes from the archives of the New Mexico State Police, Noss Family (Ova spent many years collecting documents and sworn affidavits regarding all aspects of the story), letters of the time from those involved, newspaper archives, telephone transcripts, video interviews, and many other sources.

"A labor of love" is also a far cry from the reality of the book. As I have stated before, the author was only vaguely aware of the story before he was asked to write about it. He lived in Florida and had retired at the time.

Mike
 

Re: "The Gold House Trilogy" Victorio Peak Book# 1

gollum said:
To say this book is vaguely documented is both a lie and an insult, and VERY obviously said by someone with an agenda. .....

Yes, that may or may not be. Like all these public domain treasure legends, most interested parties seem to stake out a rigid position and stick to it, no matter what. I guess we'll have to read the book and judge for ourselves. I will say this - the hype generated has set the bar to a height that will be a challenge to meet.
 

Re: "The Gold House Trilogy" Victorio Peak Book# 1

I completely agree Spring.

Read it for yourself. Remember, previous books that encompassed the entire story:

1. Treasure of Victoria Peak (Khoury) = 200 pages

2. 100 Tons of Gold (Chandler) = 268 pages

3. The Gold House Book# 1 = 400 pages
Book# 2 = +/- 800 pages
Book# 3 = ? ? ?

Think there is no documentation? What others have condensed into around 200 pages, the author has only been able to condense into approximately 2,000! Trust me, the book space isn't taken up with a bunch of space filling pictures. When I get home from work, I will post how much of each book is references.

Mike
 

Re: "The Gold House Trilogy" Victorio Peak Book# 1

gollum said:
I completely agree Spring.

Read it for yourself. Remember, previous books that encompassed the entire story:

1. Treasure of Victoria Peak (Khoury) = 200 pages

2. 100 Tons of Gold (Chandler) = 268 pages

3. The Gold House Book# 1 = 400 pages
Book# 2 = +/- 800 pages
Book# 3 = ? ? ?

Think there is no documentation? What others have condensed into around 200 pages, the author has only been able to condense into approximately 2,000! Trust me, the book space isn't taken up with a bunch of space filling pictures. When I get home from work, I will post how much of each book is references.

Mike

You don't need to keep hawking the books. I, and presumably others, intend to buy Book 1 when it's available. I don't care if it's 400 pages or a pamphlet - the value of the content is all that matters to me. Documentation infers serious research and 'detective work', yes, but the nature and quality of the sources are critical. Family gossip and government documents are always suspect. Police reports can be tenuous. Testimony from unattached and otherwise reliable third parties are frequently very important. Books 2 and 3? They're not on my list of things to do at this time, but that could change based on what Book 1 reveals.
 

Re: "The Gold House Trilogy" Victorio Peak Book# 1

Not hawking anything. Just when people make unfounded and untrue allegations about something, I post what I know to be the truth.

Just like I glanced back through the first 75 pages of Book1 last night and that section of the book only deals with many of the people in the area at the time, statements by many of those persons interviewed by the author, and some police files. Frankly, I don't know what Sfloto was talking about.

Mike
 

Re: "The Gold House Trilogy" Victorio Peak Book# 1

gollum said:
Not hawking anything. Just when people make unfounded and untrue allegations about something, I post what I know to be the truth.

Just like I glanced back through the first 75 pages of Book1 last night and that section of the book only deals with many of the people in the area at the time, statements by many of those persons interviewed by the author, and some police files. Frankly, I don't know what Sfloto was talking about.

Mike


Well, I guess sfloto must have had his reasons for the opinions he posted. We'll all read the book and form opinions too, even though our opinions mean essentially nothing.

When all the dust settled, the only one who knew for sure what Doc's motivations and actions were was Doc. Not Ova, not Ryan, not his descendants. The others witnessed the fallout and some of the activities, but I suspect Doc had personal secrets, maybe many of them. His life Pre-Soledad intrigues me the most. If Book 1 ever sees the light of day, hopefully we'll get some new allegations to consider.
 

Re: "The Gold House Trilogy" Victorio Peak Book# 1

Spring,

Doc had a lot of run-ins with the law in his days. Most of them came from drinking binges he went on after selling gold bars. Sometimes Ova would not see him for weeks at a time.

One other thing that is cleared up are the circumstances surrounding Doc's Murder by Charley Ryan. Everything leading up to it, all the way to the end of the trial.

Mike
 

Re: "The Gold House Trilogy" Victorio Peak Book# 1

Greetings Mike,

I'm thrilled Jack sent you a copy for review, he wasn't aware that you and I had conversed on TNET, etc. I thought I would write here to try help clear up a few questions that have popped up. First off, I must congratulate Mr. Sfloto for his one and only download. Pretty ironic that a sceptic like him gets to hack into the website and download the only epub copy, and for $.50... and then brag about it. He has already posted this copyrighted material on multiple bit torrent sites for free downloading as expected. Enough about froto.

Harold Jackson works at Thompson Shore the company that is manufacturing the book. He is the author of the PDF file not the book. Mike, I'd like to address the lack of clarity in the photos within the book. Jack shipped you a "galley print", or "advanced reader copy" of the book(s). These books are printed digitally but the final book will be printed with traditional offset printing. This includes the color cover as well. The final version will contain last minute corrections and reviews before printing. I think you will find the quality and the density of photographs better. I too was disappointed at the color on the cover and was reassured that it would pop on the final printing.

I knew you would "get" this book and appreciate the work that Jack put in it. Perhaps the others that can't tell the difference between research and a "Noss spin" should have someone read it to them, they are missing some important words. I provided Jack with hundreds of hours of video interviews I had taken during the project in the 1990"s when most of the family members were still alive. This along with hundreds of hours of interviews with Terry Delonas the keeper of the family story. Jack's work above and beyond the family archives is staggering. He traveled all over the USA to collect this information. It clearly ends with this and these books.

Book 2 is whole different ball game though. The information contained in that is not public knowledge, it's an expose of sorts. Please check the victoriopeak.com website often for updates. Thanks to all for being patient, well almost all.

-alex
 

Re: "The Gold House Trilogy" Victorio Peak Book# 1

victorio peak said:
Greetings Mike,

I'm thrilled Jack sent you a copy for review, he wasn't aware that you and I had conversed on TNET, etc. I thought I would write here to try help clear up a few questions that have popped up. First off, I must congratulate Mr. Sfloto for his one and only download. Pretty ironic that a sceptic like him gets to hack into the website and download the only epub copy, and for $.50... and then brag about it. He has already posted this copyrighted material on multiple bit torrent sites for free downloading as expected. Enough about froto.

Harold Jackson works at Thompson Shore the company that is manufacturing the book. He is the author of the PDF file not the book. Mike, I'd like to address the lack of clarity in the photos within the book. Jack shipped you a "galley print", or "advanced reader copy" of the book(s). These books are printed digitally but the final book will be printed with traditional offset printing. This includes the color cover as well. The final version will contain last minute corrections and reviews before printing. I think you will find the quality and the density of photographs better. I too was disappointed at the color on the cover and was reassured that it would pop on the final printing.

I knew you would "get" this book and appreciate the work that Jack put in it. Perhaps the others that can't tell the difference between research and a "Noss spin" should have someone read it to them, they are missing some important words. I provided Jack with hundreds of hours of video interviews I had taken during the project in the 1990"s when most of the family members were still alive. This along with hundreds of hours of interviews with Terry Delonas the keeper of the family story. Jack's work above and beyond the family archives is staggering. He traveled all over the USA to collect this information. It clearly ends with this and these books.

Book 2 is whole different ball game though. The information contained in that is not public knowledge, it's an expose of sorts. Please check the victoriopeak.com website often for updates. Thanks to all for being patient, well almost all.

-alex

Obviously you need to keep public interest up on this thing - it's a business promotion, after all. The website and forum presences have been well-executed, albeit the countdown clock does seems a little overdramatic - it's a book, not the end of the Mayan calendar.

The Hembrillo Basin incident was not an isolated event but a piece in a much larger puzzle, IMHO, and I'm hoping for clarification about this and also about Noss' life and associations prior to his 'discovery' in 1937. You have sent copies to your pals to review and now we're hearing feedback, at least a little from Mike. Eventually the book will be released and the public will respond. Not all readers will be your pals, but I for one will be honest, fair and objective - let's hope the book is too. Once it's in the public's hands, it will stand on it's own. By the way, when will that be?
 

Re: "The Gold House Trilogy" Victorio Peak Book# 1

Springfield said:
victorio peak said:
Greetings Mike,

I'm thrilled Jack sent you a copy for review, he wasn't aware that you and I had conversed on TNET, etc. I thought I would write here to try help clear up a few questions that have popped up. First off, I must congratulate Mr. Sfloto for his one and only download. Pretty ironic that a sceptic like him gets to hack into the website and download the only epub copy, and for $.50... and then brag about it. He has already posted this copyrighted material on multiple bit torrent sites for free downloading as expected. Enough about froto.

Harold Jackson works at Thompson Shore the company that is manufacturing the book. He is the author of the PDF file not the book. Mike, I'd like to address the lack of clarity in the photos within the book. Jack shipped you a "galley print", or "advanced reader copy" of the book(s). These books are printed digitally but the final book will be printed with traditional offset printing. This includes the color cover as well. The final version will contain last minute corrections and reviews before printing. I think you will find the quality and the density of photographs better. I too was disappointed at the color on the cover and was reassured that it would pop on the final printing.

I knew you would "get" this book and appreciate the work that Jack put in it. Perhaps the others that can't tell the difference between research and a "Noss spin" should have someone read it to them, they are missing some important words. I provided Jack with hundreds of hours of video interviews I had taken during the project in the 1990"s when most of the family members were still alive. This along with hundreds of hours of interviews with Terry Delonas the keeper of the family story. Jack's work above and beyond the family archives is staggering. He traveled all over the USA to collect this information. It clearly ends with this and these books.

Book 2 is whole different ball game though. The information contained in that is not public knowledge, it's an expose of sorts. Please check the victoriopeak.com website often for updates. Thanks to all for being patient, well almost all.

-alex

Obviously you need to keep public interest up on this thing - it's a business promotion, after all. The website and forum presences have been well-executed, albeit the countdown clock does seems a little overdramatic - it's a book, not the end of the Mayan calendar.

The Hembrillo Basin incident was not an isolated event but a piece in a much larger puzzle, IMHO, and I'm hoping for clarification about this and also about Noss' life and associations prior to his 'discovery' in 1937. You have sent copies to your pals to review and now we're hearing feedback, at least a little from Mike. Eventually the book will be released and the public will respond. Not all readers will be your pals, but I for one will be honest, fair and objective - let's hope the book is too. Once it's in the public's hands, it will stand on it's own. By the way, when will that be?

Spring,

You couldn't be more correct. The gold under VP was indeed a small part (although large in size) of much larger story. Book 1 goes into much of that story.

Mike
 

Re: "The Gold House Trilogy" Victorio Peak Book# 1

Hey Alex,

Thanks for popping in and dropping some knowledge. LOL

As I am not on the REAL inside of this whole project, my personal knowledge of everything in the books is limited to what I have been provided with.

I don't know if sfloto was the one responsible for loading this into Bit Torrent sites, but the fact that only one download was performed does make one wonder. He mentioned it in a previous post, and I PM'ed him asking that he remove the reference so as not to make it any easier for thieving dirtbags to steal y'alls years of work. He did as I asked right away. I wasn't even going to say anything, but since you did ..................

I can only warn others to be careful of viruses and trojans that are all over those BT Sites.

Mike
 

Re: "The Gold House Trilogy" Victorio Peak Book# 1

gollum said:
Spring,

You couldn't be more correct. The gold under VP was indeed a small part (although large in size) of much larger story. Book 1 goes into much of that story.

Mike

Yeah, that's what I'm hoping for - to be able to 'compare notes' with a completely different source. That's why I'm interested in Book 1. The other two books (2 and 3) are irrelevent to my interests, although I may change my mind next year. By the way, didn't you mention that you were going to post a comprehensive review of Book 1 on your website?
 

Re: "The Gold House Trilogy" Victorio Peak Book# 1

Yes I will. My job is taking up too much of my time to get that part done yet. Funny how real life gets in the way of things you like to do! LOL

Mike
 

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