The Lost City of the Monkey God

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Since the days of conquistador Hernan Cortes, rumors have circulated about a lost city of immense wealth hidden deep in Honduras. Indigenous tribes speak of ancestors who fled there to escape Spanish invaders, warning that the legendary city is cursed: entering it is a death sentence. They call it the Lost City of the Monkey God. In 1940, journalist Theodore Morde claimed to have found the city, returning with artifacts but later committing suicide without revealing its location. More than seventy years later, bestselling author Doug Preston joined a team of scientists on a groundbreaking quest. In 2012, he boarded a single-engine plane equipped with advanced technology to map the terrain beneath the dense rainforest canopy. This flight revealed the unmistakable image of a sprawling metropolis in an unexplored valley, suggesting not only an undiscovered city but also a lost civilization. To confirm the discovery, Preston and his team faced torrential rains, quickmud, swarms of insects, jaguars, and deadly snakes. They emerged with proof of the legend—and the curse—having contracted a horrifying, incurable disease. Filled with history, adventure, and dramatic twists, this account details one of the great discoveries of the twenty-first century.