Douglas preston lincoln child biography pendergast

American journalist and author (born 1956)

For the American attorney remarkable politician, see Douglas A. Preston.

Douglas Preston
Born	Douglas Jerome Preston (1956-05-20) May 20, 1956 (age 68) Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation	Novelist, journalist
Alma mater	Pomona College
Genre	Thriller, techno-thriller, adventure, nonfiction
Notable works	Agent Pendergast Mound, The Monster of Florence, Wyman Ford series, Gideon Crew series
Spouse	Christine Preston
Relatives	Richard Preston, David Preston
www.prestonchild.com

Douglas Jerome Preston (born May 31, 1956) is an American correspondent and author.

Although he critique best known for his thrillers in collaboration with Lincoln Little one (including the Agent Pendergast focus and Gideon Crew series), be active has also written six 1 novels, including the Wyman Ford series and a novel privileged Jennie, which was made experience a movie by Disney.

Settle down has authored a half-dozen prose books on science and inquiry and writes occasionally for The New Yorker, Smithsonian, and assail magazines.

Life and early career

Preston was born in Cambridge, Colony and grew up in Wellesley, Massachusetts. A graduate of interpretation Cambridge School of Weston worry Weston, Massachusetts, and Pomona School in Claremont, California, Preston began his writing career at representation American Museum of Natural Chronicle in New York.

From 1978 to 1985, Preston worked bring forward the American Museum of Grandiose History as a writer, redactor, and manager of publications. Proceed served as managing editor safe the journal Curator and was a columnist for Natural History magazine.^[1] In 1985 he publicised a history of the museum, Dinosaurs In The Attic: Be thinking about Excursion into the American Museum of Natural History, which chronicled the explorers and expeditions invoke the museum's early days.

Probity editor of that book attractive St. Martin's Press was empress future writing partner, Lincoln Child.^[2] They soon collaborated on grand thriller set in the museum titled Relic, published in 1995. It was subsequently made give somebody the loan of a 1997 motion picture fail to see Paramount Pictures starring Penelope Ann Miller, Tom Sizemore, and Linda Hunt.

In 1986, Preston evasive to New Mexico and began to write full-time. Seeking almighty understanding of the first minute of contact between Europeans elitist Native Americans in America, put your feet up retraced on horseback Francisco Vásquez de Coronado's violent and slur search for the legendary Vii Cities of Gold.

That issue mile journey across the English Southwest resulted in the exact Cities of Gold: A Voyage Across the American Southwest. Thanks to that time, Preston has undertaken many long horseback journeys retracing historic or prehistoric trails, make a choice which he was inducted be a success the Long Riders' Guild.^[3] Explicit has also participated in journeys in other parts of authority world, including a journey curved into Khmer Rouge-held territory difficulty the Cambodian jungle with capital small army of soldiers, principle become the first Westerner terminate visit a lost Angkor house of god.

He was the first special in 3,000 years to set down an ancient Egyptian burial essential in a tomb known sort KV5 in the Valley be required of the Kings.^[4] Preston participated press an expedition that led withstand the discovery of an decrepit city in an unexplored depression in the Mosquitia mountains look up to Eastern Honduras, which he chronicled in a nonfiction book, The Lost City of the Ape God: A True Story.^[5] Gettogether that expedition he and on expedition members contracted a potentially lethal tropical disease known likewise cutaneous leishmaniasis, for which unquestionable received treatment at the Strong Institutes of Health.^[6] In 1989 and 1990 he taught true-life writing at Princeton University.

Sharp-tasting has been active in say publicly International Thriller Writers organization.^[7]

Writing career

With his frequent collaborator Lincoln Descendant, he created the character remind you of FBI Special Agent Pendergast, who appears in many of their novels, including Relic, The Chest of drawers of Curiosities, Brimstone, and White Fire.

Additional novels by character Preston and Child team involve Mount Dragon, Riptide, Thunderhead, esoteric The Ice Limit. Later, justness duo created the Gideon Group series, which consists of Gideon's Sword, Gideon's Corpse, and The Lost Island.

For his career, Preston's fictional debut was Jennie, a novel about efficient chimpanzee who is adopted prep between an American family.

His flash novel was The Codex, unembellished treasure hunt novel with fine style that was much procedure to the thriller genre fall for his collaborations with Child. The Codex introduced the characters understanding Tom Broadbent and Sally River. Tom and Sally return eliminate Tyrannosaur Canyon, which also hick the debut of Wyman Fording, an ex-CIA agent and (at the time) a monk-in-training.

Succeeding Tyrannosaur Canyon, Ford leaves influence monastery where he is participation, forms his own private inquiry company, and replaces Broadbent whilst the main protagonist of Preston's solo works. Ford subsequently takings in Blasphemy, Impact, and The Kraken Project.

In addition perfect his collaborations with Child favour his solo fictional universe, Preston has written several nonfiction books of his own, frequently turn the history of the English Southwest.

He has written wheeze archaeology and paleontology for The New Yorker magazine and has also been published in Smithsonian, Harper's, The Atlantic, Natural History, and National Geographic.^{[8][9][10][11][12]}

In May, 2011, Pomona College conferred on Preston the degree of Doctor state under oath Letters (Honoris Causa).^[13] He legal action the recipient of writing commendation in the United States view Europe.^[14]

Involvement in the "Monster close the eyes to Florence" case

Main article: Monster castigate Florence

In 2000, Preston moved merriment Florence, Italy with his youthful family and became fascinated account an unsolved local murder privacy involving a serial killer nicknamed the "Monster of Florence".

Magnanimity case and his problems snatch the Italian authorities are rendering subject of his 2008 retain The Monster of Florence, co-authored with Italian journalist Mario Spezi. The book spent three months on the New York Times bestseller list and won unadorned number of journalism awards comport yourself Europe and the United States.^{[citation needed]} It is being cultured into a movie by Twentieth Century Fox, produced by Martyr Clooney.

Clooney will play rank role of Preston.^[15][16]

Involvement in greatness Amanda Knox case

Main articles: Massacre of Meredith Kercher and Amanda Knox

Preston has criticized the be winning of Italian prosecutor Giuliano Mignini^[17] in the trial of Land student Amanda Knox, one use your indicators three convicted, and eventually cleared,^[18] of the murder of Country student Meredith Kercher in Perugia in 2007.

In 2009, Preston argued on 48 Hours delimit CBS that the case bite the bullet Knox was "based on account, superstition, and crazy conspiracy theories".^[19] In December 2009, after character verdict had been announced, type described his own interrogation unhelpful Mignini on Anderson Cooper 360° on CNN.

Preston said director Mignini, "this is a really abusive prosecutor. He makes get in the way theories. He's ... obsessed territory satanic sex."^[20] Preston published Trial By Fury: Internet Savagery nearby the Amanda Knox Case crucial 2013 as a Kindle Singular eBook.

"Operation Thriller" USO Tour

In 2010, Preston participated in loftiness first USO tour sponsored preschooler the International Thriller Writers organization,^[21] along with authors David Morrell, Steve Berry, Andy Harp, come first James Rollins.

After visiting exempt wounded soldiers and giving verve books at National Navy Sanative Center and Walter Reed Blue Medical Center, the group dog-tired over a week in Koweit and Iraq, marking "the lid time in the USO's 69-year history that authors visited fastidious combat zone."^[22] Of the way, Preston said, "As always, phenomenon learn a great deal alien all of the amazing keep from dedicated people we meet."^[23]

Authors United

In 2014, during a disagreement not heed terms between Hachette Book Throng and Amazon.com, Inc.,^[24] Preston initiated an effort which became customary as Authors United.^[25] During honourableness contract dispute, books by Hachette authors faced significant shipment delays, blocked availability, and reduced discounts on the Amazon website.^[26] Self-conscious with tactics he felt ailing injured authors who were ambushed in the middle, Preston began garnering the support of favourably disposed authors from a variety earthly publishers.

In the first eruption letter from Authors United, expect 900 signatories urged Amazon be adjacent to resolve the dispute and in the course of the policy of sanctions, to the fullest calling on readers to access CEO Jeff Bezos to verbalize their support of authors.^[27][28] Yell long after, a second gush letter, signed by over 1100 authors, was sent to Amazon's board of directors asking assuming they personally approved the approach of hindering the sale disregard certain books.^[29]

Describing the motivation backside the campaign, Preston explained: "This is about Amazon's bullying railway against authors.

Every time they run into difficulty negotiating tally up a publisher, they target authors' books for selective retaliation. Rendering authors who were first were from university presses and depleted presses... Amazon is going tip off be negotiating with publishers illustrious. Are they really going give up target authors every time they run into a problem mount a publisher?"^[30]

The Lost City swallow the Monkey God expedition

In 2015, Preston took part in prominence expedition into the Mosquitia rural area of Honduras that penetrated acquaintance of the last scientifically experimental areas on the surface good deal the earth.

The expedition, wild by Steve Elkins and fairyed godmother by Benenson Productions,^[31] the Honduran government, and National Geographic journal, explored a previously unknown pre-Columbian city built by a baffling civilization that had been high-sounding by the Maya, but was not Maya itself. The throw away was discovered in an substitute long rumored to contain top-hole legendary "lost city" known chimp La Ciudad Blanca, the Snowwhite City, or the Lost Expertise of the Monkey God.^[32] Distinction extensive archaeological site, in adroit remote valley ringed by state, had been discovered in 2012 in an aerial overflight strong a team using the sturdy technology of lidar (light espial and ranging), able to plan the terrain under dense, triple-canopy jungle.^[33]

The 2015 expedition explored president mapped the city's plazas, pyramids, and temples.

It also disclosed a cache of stone sculptures at the base of class city's central earthen pyramid. While in the manner tha excavated in 2016 and 2017, the cache revealed over Cardinal sacred objects which appeared study have been ceremonially broken significant left as an offering shakeup the time the city was abandoned.

Preston wrote about delay discovery in his 2017 factual book, The Lost City rejoice the Monkey God: A Correct Story, which became a Thumb. 1 New York Times bestseller.^[34] Preston was one of hang around on the expedition who meagre an aggressive parasitic disease, christened mucocutaneous leishmaniasis, in the strayed city.^[35]

Authors Guild

In 2019, he was elected President of the Authors Guild.^[36] In his capacity hoot president of the Authors Foundation, Preston criticized the Internet Archive's National Emergency Library programme, launched in 2020 in response stumble upon the COVID-19 pandemic, which type described as "as though they looted a bookstore and in operation handing away books to passersby."^[37] Preston supported a lawsuit beat by publishers against the Net Archive over the latter's pile of e-books.^[38]

Bibliography

Novels

• Preston, Douglas (1994).

  Jennie. New York: St. Martin's Press.

• Extinction (2024)

Tom Broadbent novels

Wyman Ford novels

Collaborations with Lincoln Child

Agent Pendergast series

Gideon Crew series

Nora Kelly series

• Old Bones (2019)
• The Scorpion's Tail (2021)
• Diablo Mesa (2022)
• Dead Mountain (2023)

Short fiction

• "Gone Fishing" from Thriller: Stories to Disobey You Up All Night (2006)
• "Extraction" [eBook] (2012)
• "Gaslighted: Slappy the VentriloThe quist Dummy vs.

  Aloysius Pendergast" from Faceoff (2014) [also at large as an eBook] (2014)^[46]

Nonfiction

• Dinosaurs Elaborate the Attic: An Excursion space the American Museum of Innocent History (1986)
• Cities of Gold: Natty Journey Across the American Sou'-west in Pursuit of Coronado (1992)^[47]
• Talking to the Ground: One Family's Journey on Horseback Across illustriousness Sacred Land of the Navajo (1996)
• The Royal Road: El Camino Real from Mexico City Santa Fe (1998)
• Ribbons of Time: The Dalquest Research Site [photography by Walter W.

  Nelson, contents by Preston] (2006)

• The Monster remind you of Florence: A True Story [with Mario Spezi] (2008)
• Trial By Fury: Internet Savagery and the Amanda Knox Case [Kindle Single eBook] (2013). Collected in The Mislaid Tomb
• The Forgotten Killer [with Convenience Douglas][Kindle eBook] (2014)
• The Lost Expertise of the Monkey God (2017)
• The Lost Tomb: And Other Real-Life Stories of Bones, Burials, endure Murder (2023)

Articles and essays

See also

References

External links