Lost City of the Monkey Gold

I knew Douglas Preston wrote thrillers but imagine my surprise when I started this book and found out it was a true account of the discovery of a lost civilization in the unexplored jungles of Honduras. Not only is Preston a prolific and accomplished non-fiction writer, but also an intrepid explorer. Since the time of Cortes, there have been stories about a prosperous ancient city often referred to as the "White City" or the "City of the Monkey God." There were claims in the 1940's by journalist Theodore Morde that he had found the lost city, but he killed himself without revealing the location. Preston was offered the chance by "nature-documentary filmmaker Steve Elkins" (Booklist) to join a team of archaeologists, photographers, botanists and other experts to try and locate the city. In 2012, using cutting edge and, at that time, highly classsified technology--lidar--they located not just once city but several settlements, strung along a river valley in the mountainous jungles of Honduras. Finally in January of 2015, they had gathered the resources to investigate on foot. Enlisting the help of the newly elected Honduran president and his minister of the interior and population, they were given permission. They were accompanied by "a trio of ex-military, jungle-warfare veterans" (Booklist)., as there were also drug dealers known to be working in the surrounding area. It was a grueling trek to reach the targeted location, and the camp they established was as challenging as the worst sort of survival test. It often rained ceaselessly for days, turning the camp into ankle-deep mud, the surrounding jungle was filled with lethally poisonous snakes (fer-de-lance) as well as disease carrying mosquitos and sandflies. Nevertheless, they persisted in some basic exploration, uncovering several partial structures and numerous artifacts, which they jointly agreed should be left in situ. By the time they had to leave and then return to the U.S. to regroup, half the team had starting showing signs of a potentially fatal type of parasitic disease, leishmaniasis. Fortunately for them, it was the variety for which some treatment options were available; although these could be as lethal as the disease itself.  Remarkably, most of the party returned to the site one year later to document their findings and to retrieve and preserve any visible artifacts that might be looted. 

Kirkus calls the book "A story that moves from thrilling to sobering, fascinating to downright scary—trademark Preston, in other words, and another winner." Library Journal says "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....A great story with many paths to interest fans of history, archaeology, adventure, environmentalism, South America, or diseases." Booklist closes their review by asserting "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."

Publishers Weekly elaborates:"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.'... Preston...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.”