The Lost City of the Monkey God

A True Story

By: Douglas Preston

Narrated by: Bill Mumy

Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

A 500-year-old legend. An ancient curse. A stunning medical mystery. And a pioneering journey into the unknown heart of the world's densest jungle.

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, best-selling 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 21st century.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2017 Douglas Preston (P)2017 Hachette Audio

The most hyperbole since dawn of Western Civ.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

This is an engaging book and the author does a good job drawing out a timeline that at times moves forward in line with the author's experiences and at others backwards to provide historical context, but his need to punctuate points with hyperbole is at times exhausting. He often indulges similar tendencies in how he describes individuals, where so many of the people are an "only," a "most" and almost assuredly a "very." A copy-editor with an adjective eraser could have helped, considerably.

thoughtful

this book gives a variety of different world views to think about. some rather scary.
I enjoyed both the book and the reader.
think I might have to pick up a hard copy.

Interesting Story, Atrocious Narrating

The story itself is fascinating if a bit esoteric and even pedantic at times. If you like highly detailed accounts of rather obscure methods and fields of study, you’ll get a lot out of this book. If you’re looking for heart-pounding adventure, you should probably look elsewhere. There is excitement in the book but not of the somewhat swashbuckling variety as found in a book such as, say, “The Lost City of Z”, for instance. Still, it’s a rich and interesting read for the curious mind.

The narrator, on the other hand...not my favorite. First of all, his whispering, public radio commentator drone is downright sleep-inducing. Second: his pronunciation is generally awful and downright bizarre at times. He doesn’t just struggle with the Spanish bits either (though that’s bad enough, trust me, but somewhat forgivable as it’s obviously not his first language); even his English at times is so strange as to drive one to distraction. At times it’s almost as if he’s an American impersonating an Englishman impersonating an American...or something. Like I said: bizarre. Ultimately, it comes off rather amateurish. Is there really no one on a professional production to coach the narrator on something as crucial as pronunciation? Maybe I’m just more pretentious than I realize and it wouldn’t bother most people but I literally will avoid books in the future which use the same narrator.

narrator did no homework and mispronounces

the narrator does a good job overall but he clearly didn't do any research and he mispronounces Spanish left and right
... badly.
it's not like the book is in Spanish, just periodic Spanish words once in a while. what a lazy guy. he could have literally looked up the 10 or 15 words that they use over and over so you can at least say them right. Very unprofessional.
the book is really well written although they spend a little too much time going on and on about infectious disease. And on, and on, and on. Like, we get it.
I would still say that this is pretty exciting at times and worthe the listen or the
read.

Exciting read full of adventure and insight

The book does a great job weaving together adventure, interesting characters, story, legend, science and warning for the future. Thrilling!

Riveting story - and true!

This story is fascinating from an archaeological an answer from logical point of you but also from in environmental and global do.

Douglas Preston certainly lived an Adventure!

The Lost City of the Monkey God was a very interesting real life adventure with potential risks and deadly consequences.
Billy Mummy's reading made a rather dry topic interesting and engaging.

That said, the book isn't exactly what I expected. I was looking forward to the "hunt" of archeological discovery and finding deep secrets of a lost society. I believe that this book describes the beginning of this story with so many unanswered questions still remain.
So without the end story, most of the second have of the book was about the contracting an exotic disease and the curing and research of it. Although this was interesting in itself and enlightening, it just wasn't what I was expectung.
Overall this was a very good read. Readers should just know what they are about to read so as to not be disappointed.

Would recommend

Other than the narrators raspy voice a little hard to listen to, it is a good listen.

Surprised

Judging from the title I did not think I'd like this book. It ended up being a terrific book with a wonderful ending that I never would've expected

NEVER going into a jungle after this!

Would you listen to The Lost City of the Monkey God again? Why?

Yes. It was a fascinating true-life adventure of jungle exploration and discovery.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Lost City of the Monkey God?

There is a memorable moment when the author spots his first snake that really sticks with you. There are plenty of other memorable moments in there too, but that one really caught me.

Which scene was your favorite?

Less of a scene as the authors review of the previous exploration attempts in the area and how INCREDIBLY difficult it was.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Honestly, it was too stressful to listen to in one sitting. Riveting, but stressful

Any additional comments?

Listening to this book makes you really wonder how the jungles ever got explored. These people had to be crazy to go through this. In the past as well as in modern times.