A review by hisbeardness
The Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston

adventurous dark informative fast-paced

4.0

This book was only going to get 3.5 stars, but the last quarter of the book, where the author describes a parasitic disease he and pretty much everyone else on their expedition caught. From that point on the author reflects on the history of pathogens, their role in the decimation of indigenous peoples across the Americas, and an exceptionally prescient discussion of what pandemics lay in our future, published just 3 years before the covid pandemic. He even reaches out to, and uses a direct quote from, Anthony Fauci, which I thought was funny, considering how famous he became during the pandemic.

I don't want to give the wrong impression, I did enjoy the rest of the book, the discussion of LIDAR, the history of exploration of Honduras by Western explorers, and the author's personal experiences in the dense forests of Mosquitia, were all very interesting.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death

Injury/Injury detail: The author at one point describes the experiences of him and his expedition mates after they've all contracted an extremely deadly parasite. He goes into details about the sores they develop and the mechanics of the parasite. Pretty gross stuff. Animal Death: While the expedition is in the jungle, they have to kill some animals either for sustenance or in self-defense.