The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story by Douglas Preston (Epub)

Description

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.

User’s Reviews

Amazon.com Review An Amazon Best Book of January 2017: In 2012, author Douglas Preston joined a team of explorers searching for Ciudad Blanca (“The White City”), a legendary ruin hidden in the dense jungle of eastern Honduras. To this point the city – also known as “the Lost City of the Monkey God” – was literally a legend; while various hucksters and hoaxers had claimed to have discovered the abandoned metropolis, no credible evidence had ever been presented, and its very existence remained shrouded in doubt. In addition to the objective hazards of tropical disease, wild boars, and the deadly fer-de-lance viper, locals stoked the mystique, describing various curses awaiting would-be discoverers. Don’t pick the flowers, or you’ll die. But this team had an advantage that previous searchers had lacked: LIDAR, an advanced laser-imaging technology able to penetrate the dense jungle canopy – just enough – and return detailed elevation profiles from which subtle, man-made anomalies could be identified. Almost immediately, two major sites emerged, their scale and architecture indicating a civilization to rival another local, more famous power, the Maya. The announcement had consequences. The fledgling Honduran government, having gained power through a military coup, sought to use the discovery to bolster its status with the population, while the academic community ripped the expedition with accusations of Indiana Jones-style exploitation and shoddy scientific methods, cries which could be uncharitably interpreted as sour grapes. Encroaching deforestation and the prospect of looters created urgency to conduct a ground survey, and the team ventured into the wilderness and all the hazards that awaited, including an unexpected and insidious danger that cursed the team well beyond their return home. The author of over 30 books, including number of bestselling thrillers co-written with Lincoln Child, Preston knows pace, and he packs several narratives into a taut 300 pages. Indiana Jones criticism aside, the story of the discovery and exploration of the ruin is solid adventure writing, and he walks a fine line in dealing with the archaeology community’s response, reporting on the bases for their criticism where they chose to provide it. And by invoking Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel, Preston speculates on the mysterious, sudden demise of the White City and its inhabitants, drawing ominous parallels between their fate and possibly our own. Lost City is a tale that manages to be both fun and harrowing, a vicarious thrill worthy of a place on the shelf next to David Grann’s The Lost City of Z. –Jon Foro, The Amazon Book Review –This text refers to the hardcover edition. Review “Preston builds a compelling case for the scientific significance of what the expedition unearthed….The year may still be young, but I would wager a small fortune that Douglas Preston has already written the best snake-decapitation scene of 2017….The book’s most affecting moments [center] on the otherworldly nature of the jungle itself….Memoirs of jungle adventures too often devolve into lurid catalogs of hardships [but] Preston proves too thoughtful an observer and too skilled a storyteller to settle for churning out danger porn. He has instead created something nuanced and sublime: a warm and geeky paean to the revelatory power of archaeology….Few other writers possess such heartfelt appreciation for the ways in which artifacts can yield the stories of who we are.”―The New York Times Book Review”A well-documented and engaging read…The author’s narrative is rife with jungle derring-do and the myriad dangers of the chase.”―USA Today”Deadly snakes, flesh-eating parasites, and some of the most forbidding jungle terrain on earth were not enough to deter Douglas Preston from a great story.”―The Boston Globe”Breezy, colloquial and sometimes very funny…A very entertaining book.”―The Wall Street Journal”This modern-day archeological adventure and medical mystery reads as rapidly as a well-paced novel, but is a heart-pounding true story.”―Shelf Awareness, Starred Review”A captivating real-life adventure tale… Preston deftly explains the science behind this work and makes it exciting.”―Science News”Be prepared to turn the pages furiously as the heart of every adventurer is opened wide by the thrilling journey outlined in THE LOST CITY OF THE MONKEY GOD.”―The Bookreporter”A swift and often hair-raising account… Preston pushes “The Lost City of the Monkey God” well beyond the standard adventure narrative.”―The Chicago Tribune”Packed with the power of realism and history unfolding.”―The Star Ledger”Admirers of David Grann’s The Lost City of Z will find their thirst for armchair jungle adventuring quenched here… Irresistibly gripping.”―Publishers Weekly, starred review”This nonfiction thriller about plunging into the interior of the Honduran jungle is actually true and a perfect read for armchair travelers or would-be adventurers who bemoan the fact that there’s nothing left to discover…Douglas Preston’s true-life tale includes everything from the latest technology to ancient curses to scientific backbiting and a mysterious illness that came out of the jungle and is headed your way.”―The Huffington Post”Let author Douglas Preston give testimony to the old adage: Truth is stranger than fiction…The Lost City of the Monkey God is more than just an adventure story. It examines such modern issues as the ethics of archeological expeditions, man’s destruction of the rainforest and the incessant creep of technology and its effects on indigenous peoples. Readers will find themselves both shocked and captivated by this account of mysteries old and new.”―Bookpage”The Lost City of the Monkey God is a superior example of narrative nonfiction, an exciting, immersive tale of modern science and ancient mythology. Preston captures the complexity of his subject without bogging down in the details, presenting scenes with clarity, purposefulness and wit. It’s a great story for a snowy day, an action-packed journey into a hot zone of scientific intrigue.”―The Portland Press Herald”A story that moves from thrilling to sobering, fascinating to downright scary–trademark Preston, in other words, and another winner.”―Kirkus, starred review”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.”―Booklist”Best-selling journalist and thriller author Douglas Preston stars in his own true-story page-turner about the discovery of a lost city deep in the Honduran jungle…giving readers an Indiana Jones style adventure that’s history, not Hollywood.”―Virtuoso Life”For anyone who dreams of lost times and places–and who doesn’t?–this is the book. Revelatory, chilling, creepy, and alive with deadly snakes and insects bearing incurable disease, it’s high adventure at its best, and all true.”―Erik Larson, New York Times bestselling author of Dead Wake and The Devil in the White City”What reader could resist a new book by Douglas Preston called THE LOST CITY OF THE MONKEY GOD? Not this reader. Preston’s book offers rewards for both the mystery fan and the nonfiction aficionado. THE LOST CITY is addictive-fast-paced and riveting, but it’s also important. We mustn’t repeat the cataclysmic mistakes of the past. Ironically-as THE LOST CITY illustrates-that’s exactly what our short-sighted civilization is doing right now.”―James Patterson”If you’re going to explore a lost city-in this case one that vultures, poisonous snakes, sand flies, and mudholes have protected for 500 years-you really only want to do it with Douglas Preston. A tale of bravado, chicanery, and impossible dreams, arresting at every turn, no less so in its unexpected, pulse-racing coda.”―Stacy Schiff, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Witches: Salem, 1692, and Cleopatra: A Life”Douglas Preston, at great risk to his own life, has produced a thrilling and powerful adventure story. Not only does he leave the reader fitfully turning the pages, he sheds an important light on what the Americas looked like before the arrival of Christopher Columbus and on the fragility of our own civilization.”―David Grann, New York Times bestselling author of The Lost City of Z”Douglas Preston is one of the most adventurous figures in American letters today. Inured to personal danger, braving venomous snakes and lethal pathogens, he somehow gets it all–the science, the history, the intrigues, the obsessive characters, the electric moment of discovery, and the haunted cries of a once-powerful civilization. Preston’s marvelous story is made all the more potent by the astonishing fact that, from beginning to end, it happens to be true.”―Hampton Sides, New York Times bestselling author of In the Kingdom of Ice”A great true adventure, filled with danger, close calls, better-than-Hollywood characters, and a lost world that reaches through time and into everyone’s future. One of the best nonfiction books I’ve read.”―Robert Kurson, New York Times bestselling author of Shadow Divers and Pirate Hunters”The Lost City of the Monkey God is a throwback to the golden age of adventure archaeology, the thrilling true story of a group of explorers penetrating one of the toughest jungles on earth in search of a lost city…and finding it. Preston is a terrific writer of both non-fiction books and bestselling novels, and makes you feel the dark heart of this lost Honduran wilderness.”―John Sandford, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Prey series of novels”One of the best reads so far this year.”―The Sacramento Bee#11 on Amazon’s Best 100 Books of The Year List!―AmazonOne of Publishers Weekly’s Best Books of 2017 in Fiction!―Publishers WeeklyOne of Shelf Awareness’s Best Books of the Year―Shelf AwarenessIncluded in The Texas Library Association’s Texas Topaz Nonfiction Reading List for 2017―TLANAMED A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2017#1 New York Times and #1 Wall Street Journal bestseller!A Best Book of 2017 from the Boston GlobeOne of the 12 Best Books of the Year fromNational GeographicIncluded in Lithub’s Ultimate Best Books of 2017 ListA Favorite Science Book of 2017 from Science News –This text refers to the hardcover edition.

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ I love history and archaeology, so was excited for this book. I had previously encountered The Monster of Florence by this author, and enjoyed it, so felt safe in purchasing this as an audiobook. I was completely dismayed, however, by the frequent foul language – the f word occurs with disturbing regularity. I kept hoping it would improve, but only made it partway through the 4th cd before giving up. It’s unfortunate that the author felt the need to use such foul language while describing such an interesting endeavor (the search for lost cities in the Honduran jungle). I’d love to know more about it, but cannot recommend this book.

⭐ Having been fortunate enough to travel to Central America to see the Mayan ruins at Copan, Tikal, Coba, and Chichen Itza I really connected with this story. The basic story line (based on true events) is about the discovery of the long lost “City of the Monkey God” (AKA “White City”, etc.) after failed attempts during the 19th and 20th centuries. A technology breakthrough in radar, through combining of Laser and Radar technologies, finally enabled explorers/archeologists to “see” through the dense tropical jungle of central Honduras and see evidence of man-made structures, plazas, and other features that literally would have been next to impossible in “on the ground” expeditions. With support of the Honduran government, the U.S. led multi-national team uses helicopters to get to the site and make discoveries of artifacts. Without adequate time (or funding, or the ability to endure the dangers (disease, wild animals, pests, etc.) of the jungle) they make only two short trips (a couple of weeks each), and while no pyramids or dwellings are uncovered, they focus on the finding of a huge cache of highly valuable (archeologically and financially) carved items, vessels, altars, and other rare items. These two expeditions, and the planning activities leading up to them, comprise the bulk of the story. The follow-on is the formation of an organized Honduran national effort to protect and explore the find. Unfortunately, about half of the original team comes down with a rare tropical disease (internal parasites – ugh!) which can only be treated in a few locations around the world, and the treatment has painful side effects and only mitigates the disease without totally curing it. Also, the academic Archeological community is highly critical of the expeditions, terming them as more “Indiana Jones” adventuring than true ‘on the ground’ Archeological work. Nevertheless, the find is historic, and helps to shed light on the rather sudden demise and disappearance of the once mighty and numerous Latin American cultures. I found it a fascinating read (a page turner) and also very enlightening and educational. While many of us (at some point in our lives) probably dreamed of archeological and/or jungle adventure, this book opens your eyes to the dangers involved. Highly recommend.

⭐ Do want to see some terrific photos of ancient artifacts? Want to be gripped by a fast-paced journey into the vivid, lush world of exotic animals? Action? Giant spiders? Do you want to hold your breath in anticipation of the next sentence? If your answer is yes to any of this, don’t bother buying this book. It is a self-indulgent journal about middle-aged men who love to recite the scientific names of machines and make check marks on their bucket lists. And of all the nerve! Helicopters and planes? I wanted bushwhacking and balancing on logs in rivers with crocodiles. You will read hungrily hoping for something to happen, without peeking at the glossy pages in the middle, and–finally!–after slogging through dry meaningless chapters–there they are! Who among us wouldn’t want to see grainy old photos of small groups of men? Thanks for the couple of pics of artifacts, but they’re not worth the pulp they’re printed on.

⭐ Interesting book and in some part it does slow down as it gets bogged down into technicalities about the scientific methods used. I was interested in reading it since I was born in the Mosquito coast which is the indigenous region that covers Honduras and Nicaragua. The book almost fell from my hand when the white American author kept implying the Miskito Indians weren’t really indigenous and just came up with their own language a few hundred years ago. The other implication was they weren’t indigenous because of strains of African or European was mixed in. Its so offensive I can’t even put into words but I would recommend Russell Means book “Where White Men Fear to Tread” to get the real (& much more interesting) take on the Mosquito coast.

⭐ The story starts off well and by and large moves apace and is interesting for the most part. As the author takes us through the history of the search for Cuidad Blanca, the ride keeps your interest. When the actual exploration begins you are keenly engaged in the search, and the author keeps your interest throughout. The largest critique is that the exploration phase of the book is short lived. The end of the book is largely a long description of infectious disease and a reiteration of the story of the Europeans bringing disease to the New World, and frankly gets a little tedious. Overall a good read and a good story.

⭐ 3.5 stars.THE LOST CITY OF THE MONKEY GOD: A True Story, by Douglas Preston is a nonfiction account of an expedition to the deepest jungles of Honduras, in an attempt to find the legendary “White City”, or “The Lost City of the Monkey God”.I am familiar with this author through his fictional works mainly, including his collaborative efforts with Lincoln Child. If anyone could make a true story of this incredible find come alive on the pages, it is Douglas Preston. The author, personally, went on this dangerous expedition, so much of what he tells us is first hand information.”A land of cruel jungles within almost inaccessible mountain ranges.”I was glued to this book all day–carrying it with me wherever I went. The parts of the actual arrival into the jungle, the various deadly animals, insects, weather, and elements they faced was fascinating to read about. Coming directly from someone who was there, it was even more impressive. Honestly, I can say with certainty that–lost city or not–I would not want to be caught up in the conditions they were for ANY length of time.Although I only gave this one a 3.5 rating, it has nothing to do with the writing or expedition itself. This was more based on the “history” lesson that started us off. We were tantalized with the building of the team, and then given background information on previous attempts to find this legendary city. At the beginning, this was interesting too, but the further into the book I got, the more impatient I became for them to get into the thick of things, themselves. Overall, the book’s section on them being IN the actual jungle was so fluidly written that I felt as if I was watching it on a movie screen. Preston was THERE, this wasn’t fiction–it was reality!After the, unfortunately shorter portion of the book that dealt with the discovery, something just as captivating came. Members of the expedition were coming down with a rare–sometimes fatal–disease called leishmaniasis. Of the three different “varieties” of this, the team had contacted the third, and most difficult to cure, form. The descriptions of what this could do–think of it by the nickname of “white leprosy”–were absolutely nauseating.The ending focused on the difficulty of treatment for many, and then a bit of commentary about climate change and other factors that could be contributing to diseases (such as Leish) migrating to other locations.Overall, a lot of history into the past expeditions that eventually failed, but the actual CURRENT expedition, was positively absorbing. Likewise, the thought of diseases like this one that morph over time, and are capable of wiping out a civilization, had me cringing in my seat.”No civilization survived forever. All move toward dissolution, one after the other, like waves of the sea falling upon the shore. None . . . is exempt from the universal fate.”Recommended!

⭐ If you are looking for an Indiana Jones type of adventure story, this is not the book for you. If you want a thoughtful, detailed account of a real expedition into the Honduran rainforest and the travails, roadblocks, and unexpected consequences encountered by that expedition, then this book would be of interest. Archaeology is a painstaking, thoughtful process, which the book makes clear. Using the latest technology, the expedition endeavors to find the fabled lost City of the Monkey God, also known as the White City, purported to exist in the Honduran rainforest. What they discovered was evidence of not just a city but of a complex, ancient civilization.The author details their use of technology on the expedition, the discovery to which it led, the cache of artifacts discovered, and what they experienced during their sojourn in the rainforest. The book details various political squabbles and jealousy in academic circles that reflect quite poorly on certain, otherwise respected, academicians. The contraction by expedition members of a disease that affected various participants of the expedition in different ways is thoughtfully presented, giving a thorough explanation in the context of its historical underpinnings. It also gives an intriguing explanation on the migration of disease in the context of climate change.This is a well-written, three dimensional account of a real-life expedition into the Honduran rainforest that was successful on many fronts, giving a revelatory description on the family of man.

⭐ I finished this book but really only because it was the only one I had brought along on a camping trip. From early in the book I was really grossed out by the cavalier, colonialist attitude of the author and his compatriots. The dude who bragged of shooting lots of people “in the face” and spying on “Sandinista encampments” for the CIA? The endless descriptions of the “inscrutable” Honduran landscape which is conflated with Honduran history and politics? The author even talks about how indigenous groups were opposed to this project and its racist language…for example they were opposed to the term “Monkey Gods.” Obviously didn’t take that criticism very seriously. There is a lot of interesting description and history in this book but the author is completely blind to the way his own biases come into play.There’s a very interesting story to be told here about who gets to record and share a country’s history. Preston dances around this question but doesn’t take it seriously enough to realize just how badly he’s missing the mark.

⭐ I get it. I may be only human that didn’t like this book. But I didn’t like it. I liked a few parts but overall it is very boring and this tale could be told in about one third the time. Starts out great. Bogs down some. Then really bogs down. Then puts you to sleep. When you wake up you should be on the part about disease and how white Europeans ruined the planet. And how we neglect poor people. Maybe your in the microbiology section and learning about “leish” over and over. Could wake up where you learn its all global warming fault. Oh, and yours. Especially if of European descent. Such an absolute let down. Great job with describing the scenery. I mean I felt like I was there. Book just seems like it goes off on too many tangents

⭐ I’m a big fan of the Preston & Child books, but I didn’t know what to expect of Doug Preston as a journalist. After reading this, I think he’s at least as talented with non-fiction as he is as a novelist. This book is terrific. It’s a great story, and he manages to make it feel exciting, creating a nice sense of suspense thought the first 2/3 of the book. Most of the last 1/3 is fairly technical material related to medicine, but he communicates this material in a very reader-friendly manner. Bill Bryson is the master of this, but Preston here is nearly as skilled.

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