The Lost Tomb
Author: Douglas Preston
Douglas Preston is one of my favorite authors. He reminds me a bit of Clive Cussler -- an author who wrote exciting, thrilling books and also did The Things in real life. Having been an investigative journalist, Preston has looked into, researched and written about all sorts of weird, mysterious, and downright scary events and places. I love how he (and co author Lincoln Child) weave some of these real occurrences into their Agent Pendergast and Nora Kelly books, adding their own twists to make the story their own.
I read Preston's 2017 non-fiction book The Lost City of the Monkey God with fascination when it came out. I could only imagine the excitement and uncertainty of searching the Honduran rain forest with LIDAR to find a legendary lost city.
When this book - The Lost Tomb - popped onto my radar before its publication, I knew I had to read it. I read part of the digital arc I requested from the publisher -- and stopped. Not because I didn't want to finish the book, but because I was enjoying it so much I wanted to wait....to slow down....to wait until I had the audio book to listen while reading the words, and a bit more time to read/listen, look up facts on the real events online as I read, and just savor this book. I have a almost obsessive love for mystery, the unexplained, and the strange directions real events can take. And, this collection of stories hits all the buttons for me. I didn't want to just read this for pre-publication review purposes -- I wanted to completely enjoy this book!
So I stopped reading. And waited. Christmas holiday. Several days off of work. No place I need to be. And, I loaded up my digital print copy of this book and bought the audio book.
I was ready to enjoy Douglas Preston's stories.
I'm glad I waited.
The stories are from journalistic pieces he researched and published, and tales he and Lincoln Child wove into their books. Everything from an Italian serial killer case that spanned decades to Dyatlov Pass - the stories are varied and each as interesting as the next.
For readers who love mysteries, interesting and intriguing tales and books like the Agent Pendergast and Nora Kelly series -- you really need to read this book!
Loved it! And, Douglas Preston is firmly situated right at the tippy-top of my favorite authors list. Not only that, I think he would be an interesting person to spend time with, to have dinner with, to have real conversation with. An interesting person, who has led an interesting life. I've met a number of authors in my years as a reviewer. Most were very nice people who I enjoyed speaking to and spending time with...and a couple were incredible douchemeister asshats (not naming names). My intuition tells me that Preston would be a wonderful member of the former, and not the latter. If he ever does an event near Denver I will be there to thank him for his work, and to also see if I'm right. :)
I'm definitely in line for his next non-fiction book. He has me hooked!
The audio book is just over 12 hours long and narrated by Will Collyer. This is the first audio book I've listened to that was narrated by Collyer. He has a pleasant voice, reads at a good pace, and is easily understandable. Great job of narration! The audio book is very enjoyable!
I highly recommend this book! I bought a copy, so I don't have to add a disclaimer that I received a free review copy and that all opinions are strictly my own, yadda yadda yadda....but I will just out of habit....
**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Grand Central Publishing. All opinions expressed are entirely my own**
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