The lost city of the Monkey God: a true story

Book Cover
Average Rating
Publisher
Varies, see individual formats and editions
Publication Date
Varies, see individual formats and editions
Language
English
Appears on list

Description

The #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller, named one of the best books of the year by The Boston Globe and National Geographic: acclaimed journalist Douglas Preston takes readers on a true adventure deep into the Honduran rainforest in this riveting narrative about the discovery of a lost civilization -- culminating in a stunning medical mystery.Since the days of conquistador Hernán Cortés, rumors have circulated about a lost city of immense wealth hidden somewhere in the Honduran interior, called the White City or the Lost City of the Monkey God. Indigenous tribes speak of ancestors who fled there to escape the Spanish invaders, and they warn that anyone who enters this sacred city will fall ill and die. In 1940, swashbuckling journalist Theodore Morde returned from the rainforest with hundreds of artifacts and an electrifying story of having found the Lost City of the Monkey God-but then committed suicide without revealing its location.Three quarters of a century later, bestselling author Doug Preston joined a team of scientists on a groundbreaking new quest. In 2012 he climbed aboard a rickety, single-engine plane carrying the machine that would change everything: lidar, a highly advanced, classified technology that could map the terrain under the densest rainforest canopy. In an unexplored valley ringed by steep mountains, that flight revealed the unmistakable image of a sprawling metropolis, tantalizing evidence of not just an undiscovered city but an enigmatic, lost civilization.Venturing into this raw, treacherous, but breathtakingly beautiful wilderness to confirm the discovery, Preston and the team battled torrential rains, quickmud, disease-carrying insects, jaguars, and deadly snakes. But it wasn't until they returned that tragedy struck: Preston and others found they had contracted in the ruins a horrifying, sometimes lethal-and incurable-disease.Suspenseful and shocking, filled with colorful history, hair-raising adventure, and dramatic twists of fortune, THE LOST CITY OF THE MONKEY GOD is the absolutely true, eyewitness account of one of the great discoveries of the twenty-first century.

More Details

Contributors
ISBN
9781455540006
9781478964513
9781455540150
9781455540020
9781478964520
9781455540013
UPC
9781478964520
Appears on list

Table of Contents

From the Book - First edition.

The Gates of Hell
Somewhere in the Americas
The Devil Had Killed Him
A Land of Cruel Jungles
One of the Few Remaining Mysteries
The Heart of Darkness
The Fish That Swallowed the Whale
Lasers in the Jungle
Something Nobody Had Done
The Most Dangerous Place on the Planet
Uncharted Territory
No Coincidences
Fer-de-Lance
Don't Pick the Flowers
Human Hands
"I'm Going Down"
A Bewitchment Place
Quagmire
Controversy
The Cave of the Glowing Skulls
The Symbol of Death
They Came to Wither the Flowers
White Leprosy
The National Institutes of Health
An Isolated Species
La Ciudad del Jaguar
We Are Orphans.

Discover More

Author Notes

Loading Author Notes...

Similar Titles From NoveList

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for titles you might like if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
These books have the subjects "jungles," "rain forests," and "jungle survival."
These books have the appeal factors disturbing, and they have the genres "adventure writing -- exploration" and "life stories -- people in history -- explorers"; and the subject "violence."
The last of the tribe: the epic quest to save a lone man in the Amazon - Reel, Monte
These books have the genres "adventure writing -- exploration" and "adventure writing -- survival"; and the subjects "jungles," "jungle survival," and "indigenous peoples of brazil."
These books have the genres "adventure writing -- exploration" and "history writing -- latin america"; and the subjects "indigenous peoples of central america," "archaeological expeditions," and "maya (central american people)."
The jungles of Central America are deep and wild, hiding unknown peoples, wild animals, and lost cities, which courageous explorers are determined to find in these dramatic and fast-paced books of exploration, danger, and suspense. -- Melissa Gray
These books have the appeal factors cinematic and strong sense of place, and they have the genres "adventure writing -- exploration" and "adventure writing -- adventure travel"; and the subjects "jungles," "rain forests," and "jungle survival."
These books have the appeal factors cinematic, suspenseful, and fast-paced, and they have the genres "adventure writing -- exploration" and "history writing -- exploration."
The white rock: an exploration of the Inca heartland - Thomson, Hugh
These books have the genres "travel writing -- central and south america" and "history writing -- latin america -- south america"; and the subjects "extinct cities," "antiquities," and "indigenous history."
These books have the genres "adventure writing -- exploration" and "travel writing -- central and south america"; and the subject "indigenous peoples of brazil."
Nothing like a good story about the search for a lost city to get the brain working and the blood pumping, as these dramatic and fast-paced books dramatically demonstrate. -- Melissa Gray
Follow intrepid explorers into the hazard- and wonder-filled wildernesses of Honduras (The Lost City of the Monkey God) and the Amazon Basin (River of Doubt), where they face wild animals, potentially hostile natives, and life-threatening illness. -- Melissa Gray
These books have the genre "travel writing -- central and south america"; and the subjects "jungles," "rain forests," and "jungle survival."

Similar Authors From NoveList

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for other authors you might want to read if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
Jack Du Brul's series featuring geologist (and ex-CIA commando) Philip Mercer is just the thing for readers who crave testosterone-rich tales of danger like those crafted by Douglas J. Preston and Lincoln Child. -- Krista Biggs
Whether writing together or separately, Douglas J. Preston and Lincoln Child create stories featuring exotic and dangerous settings, as does Clive Cussler in his Dirk Pitt series. These novels contain similar elements - treasure or secrets or other intriguing backgrounds, adventure, and high-tech toys. -- Shauna Griffin
Chris Kuzneski and Douglas J. Preston write compelling, intricately plotted, action-packed books filled with nail-biting suspense. Their clear and direct prose, breakneck pacing, and exciting adventures involve ancient archaeological secrets, modern political conspiracies, and gritty violence. -- Derek Keyser
F. Paul Wilson and team authors Douglas J. Preston and Lincoln Child write in the genres of horror, suspense, and science fiction, often within the space of one novel. Their plots are inventive, adventurous, and filled with action and intrigue. Wilson incorporates supernatural elements more often than Preston and Child. -- Jessica Zellers
The adventures are non-stop and the body counts are high in the novels of Scott Sigler and co-authors Douglas J. Preston and Lincoln Child. Their books blur the distinctions between science fiction, suspense, and horror. -- Jessica Zellers
Action, adventure, ancient civilizations, modern-day science, and some creative genre-blurring are all part of Douglas J. Preston and Lincoln Child's irresistible, adrenaline-rich books. Their novels are excellent suggestions for readers who like James Rollins' genre-blending suspense stories and vice versa. -- Krista Biggs
These authors' works have the appeal factors intricately plotted, and they have the genre "thrillers and suspense"; and the subjects "fbi agents," "murder investigation," and "secrets."
These authors' works have the appeal factors suspenseful, fast-paced, and intricately plotted, and they have the genre "thrillers and suspense"; and the subjects "secrets," "serial murder investigation," and "serial murders."
These authors' works have the genre "thrillers and suspense"; and the subjects "fbi agents," "serial murder investigation," and "government investigators."
These authors' works have the appeal factors suspenseful, gritty, and plot-driven, and they have the genres "thrillers and suspense" and "mysteries"; and the subjects "serial murder investigation," "murder," and "serial murders."
These authors' works have the appeal factors gritty, plot-driven, and intricately plotted, and they have the subjects "murder investigation," "secrets," and "serial murder investigation."
These authors' works have the appeal factors plot-driven and intricately plotted, and they have the genre "thrillers and suspense"; and the subjects "murder investigation," "secrets," and "serial murder investigation."

Published Reviews

Booklist Review

For centuries a legend has been making the rounds in Central America about a monolithic lost Ciudad Blanca, or White City, hidden deep in the primeval rain forests of Honduras. So when Preston, a best-selling crime-fiction and nonfiction author and frequent National Geographic contributor, was given the opportunity to join an archaeological mission tasked with uncovering the truth behind these rumors, he knew it would yield a gripping true-life adventure story. Led by nature-documentary filmmaker Steve Elkins, the team included photographers, assorted experts on pre-Columbian ruins, and a trio of ex-military, jungle-warfare veterans. Buoyed by tantalizing findings from a Honduran flyover using cutting-edge and classified lidar mapping technology, Preston and company trekked deep into treacherous, virtually untouched, jungle-shrouded terrain to verify the stunning discovery of vast indigenous settlements abandoned over 500 years ago. Replete with informative archaeology lessons and colorful anecdotes about the challenges Elkins' crew faced during the expedition, including torrential rains and encounters with deadly snakes, Preston's uncommon travelogue is as captivating as any of his more fanciful fictional thrillers.--Hays, Carl Copyright 2016 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Powered by Syndetics

Publisher's Weekly Review

Mumy's lovely, low-key narrative style gives him ample scope to intensify the many magical, fearful, exciting, painful, intriguing, and panicky moments in this hair-raising adventure tale about the author's recent expedition to locate an ancient city in the Honduran mountains. Mumy's reads the first-person account with a great command of the language and story, giving listeners the impression that Preston is there directly relating his experiences deep in the magnificent but snake-infested wilderness. Mumy's vocal agility and conversational pacing make this captivating book a terrific listen. A Grand Central hardcover. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Powered by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

National Geographic and New Yorker writer and novelist Preston shares the story of his involvement in the search for a historic lost city in the rainforests of Honduras. Preston is one member of a team that managed to use a combination of historical research and state-of-the-art technology to examine the rainforests in the Mosquitia region, an area filled with all manner of dangers, from disease to drug traffickers. Preston's writing brings the reader along with the team as they discover 500-year-old artifacts, encounter huge and deadly snakes, and face the political and academic fallout the search brings with it. Listeners hear several interesting side stories, such as the discovery of historical fraud in their research and the battle half the team had with a deadly parasite picked up at the ruins. Preston's journalistic experience is on full display as he gives not only the viewpoint of those in the expedition but also those on the outside. Bill Mumy's reading is straightforward and engaging. The final disc includes 16 pages of photos. Verdict A great story with many paths to interest fans of history, archaeology, adventure, environmentalism, South America, or diseases.-Tristan M. Boyd, Austin, TX © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Powered by Syndetics

Kirkus Book Review

"Once again I had the strong feeling, when flying into the valley, that I was leaving the twenty-first century entirely": another perilous Preston (The Kraken Project, 2014, etc.) prestidigitation.The noted novelist and explorer is well-known for two things: going out and doing things that would get most people killed and turning up ways to get killed that might not have occurred to readers beforehand but will certainly be on their minds afterward. Here, the adventure involves finding a lost civilization in the heart of the Honduran rain forest, a steaming-jungle sort of place called La Mosquitia that saw the last gasps of a culture related, by ideas if not blood, to the classic Maya. That connection makes archaeological hearts go pitter-patter, and it sets archaeological blood to boiling when well-funded nonarchaeologists go in search of suchlike things, armed with advanced GPS and other technological advantages. Preston, who blends easily with all camps, braves the bad feelings of the professionals to chart out a well-told, easily digested history of the region, a place sacred to and overrun by jaguars, spider monkeys, and various other deities and tutelary spirits. Finding the great capital known, in the neutral parlance of the scholars, as T1 puts Preston and company square in various cross hairs, not least of them those of the Honduran army, whose soldiers, he divines, are on hand not to protect the place from looters but to do some looting themselves. "I've seen this kind of corruption all over the world," says one member of the expedition, "believe me, that's what's going to happen." Yes, but more than thatand the snakes and spiders and vengeful spiritsthere's the specter of a spectacularly awful, incurable disease called leishmaniasis, on the introduction of which Preston goes all Hot Zone and moves from intrepid explorer to alarmed epidemiologist. A story that moves from thrilling to sobering, fascinating to downright scarytrademark Preston, in other words, and another winner. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Powered by Syndetics

Booklist Reviews

For centuries a legend has been making the rounds in Central America about a monolithic lost Ciudad Blanca, or White City, hidden deep in the primeval rain forests of Honduras. So when Preston, a best-selling crime-fiction and nonfiction author and frequent National Geographic contributor, was given the opportunity to join an archaeological mission tasked with uncovering the truth behind these rumors, he knew it would yield a gripping true-life adventure story. Led by nature-documentary filmmaker Steve Elkins, the team included photographers, assorted experts on pre-Columbian ruins, and a trio of ex-military, jungle-warfare veterans. Buoyed by tantalizing findings from a Honduran flyover using cutting-edge and classified lidar mapping technology, Preston and company trekked deep into treacherous, virtually untouched, jungle-shrouded terrain to verify the stunning discovery of vast indigenous settlements abandoned over 500 years ago. Replete with informative archaeology lessons and colorful anecdotes about the challenges Elkins' crew faced during the expedition, including torrential rains and encounters with deadly snakes, Preston's uncommon travelogue is as captivating as any of his more fanciful fictional thrillers. Copyright 2016 Booklist Reviews.

Copyright 2016 Booklist Reviews.
Powered by Content Cafe

PW Annex Reviews

Novelist Preston's irresistibly gripping account of his experiences as part of the expedition to locate an ancient city in the Honduran mountains reads like a fairy tale minus the myth. "There was once a great city in the mountains," he writes, "struck down by a series of catastrophes, after which the people decided the gods were angry and left, leaving their possessions. Thereafter it was shunned as a cursed place, forbidden, visiting death on those who dared enter." In 2012, Preston was present as the expedition team attempted to use light detection and ranging technology to identify the city's location in the uncharted wildernesses of Honduras; they " billions of laser beams into a jungle that no human beings had entered for perhaps five hundred years." The effort succeeded in locating two large sites, apparently built by the civilization that once inhabited the Mosquiteria region. The discovery led to a return trip in 2015 to explore the sites on foot, a physically and emotionally draining experience that resulted in remarkable archeological finds, specifically a cache of stone sculptures. Preston, author of The Monster of Florence and co-author with Lincoln Child of the bestselling thriller series featuring FBI agent Pendergast, brings readers into the field while enriching the narrative with historical context, beginning with 16th-century rumors of the city's existence reported by explorer Hernán Cortés after his conquest of Mexico. Along the way, Preston explains the legendary abandonment of the City of the Monkey God and provides scientific reasoning behind its reputation as life-threatening. Admirers of David Grann's The Lost City of Z will find their thirst for armchair jungle adventuring quenched here. (Jan.)

Copyright 2017 Publisher Weekly Annex.

Copyright 2017 Publisher Weekly Annex.
Powered by Content Cafe

Reviews from GoodReads

Loading GoodReads Reviews.

Staff View

Loading Staff View.