Breakfast Tea & Bourbon by Pete
Bissonette
Publisher: Learning Strategies
Corporation
Publication Date: February 9, 2017
Genre: Adventure; Self-Help; Mystery
Pages: 208
Goodreads Synopsis: Pete Bissonette hid $50,000. He wrote a novel about a treasure hunt. Follow the hints and clues in the novel to find the $50,000.
Solve this novel’s mystery to find real treasure worth $50,000! Follow five best friends who sign up for a treasure hunt, rent a dilapidated RV, and head out on the search. This funny and quirky novel is a story within a story, because woven between the lines are clues to an actual treasure hidden for you to find.
My Review: I was super excited to read this book about friends going on a treasure hunting adventure. It sounded so cool. And the cherry on top that attracted me even more to this book, was that the book was filled with lots of hidden clues and hints that led to a REAL treasure in the U.S. for the readers to find worth $50,000 (YES that is not a typo! Can you believe that?!). So of course I had to read this book. This book got so much publicity on YouTube and real treasure hunting blogs since the book came out in February. A lot of people actively searched for this treasure.
I had so much fun trying to decipher the clues to figure out where the treasure was hidden, even though I was unsuccessful in determining the correct location. Some clues were easy and others were just too hard for me. You had to put the clues together somehow and according to the author, follow what the characters in the book did. The actual hidden treasure itself was not disclosed to the readers, so based on reading the book, you would just know it was the treasure when you saw it. So that added some extra fun by guessing what it could be. Once the item was found, it would be exchanged for $50,000 in dollar coins or a check, plus a $5000 donation to your favorite charity. How awesome is that?!
In terms of the story itself, it wasn't as great as I'd hoped, unfortunately. The story had a quirky feel to it, but that's not what disappointed me, the structure and flow did. The story jumps all over the place and I was left confused at times. The story gets pulled away from the plot through various distractions, which relate to the author's company called Learning Strategies, so at times it feels like a self-help book. On a more positive note, you are left with a bunch of good moral lessons. When the story did stick to the plot, it was an OK read. I was definitely interested in whether or not the friends would find the treasure, and appreciated the dynamic of their friendship.
I had a hard time deciding how to rate this book, because it felt like such a bipolar read, in terms of me loving the real treasure hunt solving part of it, but not loving the story as much. But at the end of the day, I had to base it on the merit of the book writing itself, and not the money that could be won from it. Although I did give the rating an extra half star just for including the actual treasure giveaway.
By the way, the REAL $50,000 treasure was found in July of this year (a few weeks after I finished reading the book). BUT, you still have a chance to win some money (possibly a reason to buy the book?). The author Pete Bissonette said he included clues to THREE real treasure hunts in this book, so there is a high likelihood that there will be a second and possibly a third REAL treasure hunt associated with this book. The author announced that the "missing chapter" of this book will be released to activate the second treasure hunt once a sponsor is found, which he is actively searching for.
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
