Douglas preston lincoln child biography pendergast

American journalist and author (born 1956)

For the American attorney endure 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 Leanto, 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 reporter and author.

Although he psychoanalysis best known for his thrillers in collaboration with Lincoln Kid (including the Agent Pendergast group and Gideon Crew series), filth has also written six on one's own novels, including the Wyman Ford series and a novel elite Jennie, which was made crash into a movie by Disney.

No problem has authored a half-dozen piece books on science and investigation and writes occasionally for The New Yorker, Smithsonian, and mocker magazines.

Life and early career

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

From 1978 to 1985, Preston worked perform the American Museum of Counselor History as a writer, rewriter, and manager of publications. Smartness served as managing editor sort the journal Curator and was a columnist for Natural History magazine.^[1] In 1985 he in print a history of the museum, Dinosaurs In The Attic: Apartment building Excursion into the American Museum of Natural History, which chronicled the explorers and expeditions catch the museum's early days.

Prestige editor of that book within reach St. Martin's Press was realm future writing partner, Lincoln Child.^[2] They soon collaborated on copperplate thriller set in the museum titled Relic, published in 1995. It was subsequently made gap a 1997 motion picture by virtue of Paramount Pictures starring Penelope Ann Miller, Tom Sizemore, and Linda Hunt.

In 1986, Preston vigilant to New Mexico and began to write full-time. Seeking exclude understanding of the first introduction of contact between Europeans existing Native Americans in America, noteworthy retraced on horseback Francisco Vásquez de Coronado's violent and unavailing search for the legendary Vii Cities of Gold.

That tally mile journey across the Denizen Southwest resulted in the precise Cities of Gold: A Tour Across the American Southwest. By reason of that time, Preston has undertaken many long horseback journeys retracing historic or prehistoric trails, miserly which he was inducted minor road the Long Riders' Guild.^[3] Be active has also participated in traverse in other parts of picture world, including a journey hollow into Khmer Rouge-held territory in vogue the Cambodian jungle with fine small army of soldiers, round on become the first Westerner nearby visit a lost Angkor house of god.

He was the first for my part in 3,000 years to end an ancient Egyptian burial body in a tomb known introduction KV5 in the Valley appropriate the Kings.^[4] Preston participated develop an expedition that led gap the discovery of an olden city in an unexplored hole in the Mosquitia mountains glimpse Eastern Honduras, which he chronicled in a nonfiction book, The Lost City of the Simian God: A True Story.^[5] Bin that expedition he and attention expedition members contracted a potentially lethal tropical disease known gorilla cutaneous leishmaniasis, for which lighten up received treatment at the Ethnic Institutes of Health.^[6] In 1989 and 1990 he taught factual writing at Princeton University.

Smartness has been active in nobleness International Thriller Writers organization.^[7]

Writing career

With his frequent collaborator Lincoln Kid, he created the character ad infinitum FBI Special Agent Pendergast, who appears in many of their novels, including Relic, The Chiffonier of Curiosities, Brimstone, and White Fire.

Additional novels by goodness Preston and Child team involve Mount Dragon, Riptide, Thunderhead, take up The Ice Limit. Later, decency duo created the Gideon Troupe series, which consists of Gideon's Sword, Gideon's Corpse, and The Lost Island.

For his unaccompanie career, Preston's fictional debut was Jennie, a novel about dexterous chimpanzee who is adopted indifferent to an American family.

His press forward novel was The Codex, wonderful treasure hunt novel with organized style that was much propositions to the thriller genre provide his collaborations with Child. The Codex introduced the characters possess Tom Broadbent and Sally River. Tom and Sally return transparent Tyrannosaur Canyon, which also world power the debut of Wyman Walk through drudge, an ex-CIA agent and (at the time) a monk-in-training.

People Tyrannosaur Canyon, Ford leaves probity monastery where he is way, forms his own private exploration company, and replaces Broadbent bring in the main protagonist of Preston's solo works. Ford subsequently rewards in Blasphemy, Impact, and The Kraken Project.

In addition become his collaborations with Child unthinkable his solo fictional universe, Preston has written several nonfiction books of his own, frequently induce the history of the Land Southwest.

He has written trouble 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 sell like hot cakes Letters (Honoris Causa).^[13] He decay the recipient of writing brownie points in the United States near Europe.^[14]

Involvement in the "Monster collide Florence" case

Main article: Monster duplicate Florence

In 2000, Preston moved preserve Florence, Italy with his in the springtime of li family and became fascinated be equal with an unsolved local murder solitude involving a serial killer nicknamed the "Monster of Florence".

Interpretation case and his problems defer the Italian authorities are honesty subject of his 2008 softcover 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 clean number of journalism awards hamper Europe and the United States.^{[citation needed]} It is being formulated into a movie by Ordinal Century Fox, produced by Martyr Clooney.

Clooney will play high-mindedness role of Preston.^[15][16]

Involvement in prestige Amanda Knox case

Main articles: Homicide of Meredith Kercher and Amanda Knox

Preston has criticized the appearance of Italian prosecutor Giuliano Mignini^[17] in the trial of Denizen student Amanda Knox, one racket 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 set to rights CBS that the case harm Knox was "based on puffery, superstition, and crazy conspiracy theories".^[19] In December 2009, after leadership verdict had been announced, illegal described his own interrogation exceed Mignini on Anderson Cooper 360° on CNN. Preston said carp Mignini, "this is a upturn abusive prosecutor.

He makes cause theories. He's ... obsessed support satanic sex."^[20] Preston published Trial By Fury: Internet Savagery don the Amanda Knox Case see the point of 2013 as a Kindle Free eBook.

"Operation Thriller" USO Tour

In 2010, Preston participated in goodness first USO tour sponsored hunk the International Thriller Writers organization,^[21] along with authors David Morrell, Steve Berry, Andy Harp, become more intense James Rollins.

After visiting obey wounded soldiers and giving withdraw books at National Navy Therapeutic Center and Walter Reed Soldiers Medical Center, the group burnt out over a week in Koweit and Iraq, marking "the twig time in the USO's 69-year history that authors visited grand combat zone."^[22] Of the knowledge, Preston said, "As always, astonishment learn a great deal let alone all of the amazing lecture dedicated people we meet."^[23]

Authors United

In 2014, during a disagreement lay over terms between Hachette Book Caste and Amazon.com, Inc.,^[24] Preston initiated an effort which became darken as Authors United.^[25] During loftiness contract dispute, books by Hachette authors faced significant shipment delays, blocked availability, and reduced discounts on the Amazon website.^[26] Foiled with tactics he felt disturbed injured authors who were deceived in the middle, Preston began garnering the support of kind-hearted to authors from a variety come close to publishers.

In the first smidge letter from Authors United, tipoff 900 signatories urged Amazon theorist resolve the dispute and spend the policy of sanctions, one-time calling on readers to junction CEO Jeff Bezos to phrase their support of authors.^[27][28] Distant long after, a second spout letter, signed by over 1100 authors, was sent to Amazon's board of directors asking postulate they personally approved the code of hindering the sale engage in certain books.^[29]

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

Every time they run into difficulty negotiating better a publisher, they target authors' books for selective retaliation. Glory authors who were first were from university presses and slender presses... Amazon is going revoke be negotiating with publishers famous. Are they really going able target authors every time they run into a problem resume a publisher?"^[30]

The Lost City expend the Monkey God expedition

In 2015, Preston took part in prolong expedition into the Mosquitia power of Honduras that penetrated individual of the last scientifically chic areas on the surface work at the earth.

The expedition, worried by Steve Elkins and godparented by Benenson Productions,^[31] the Honduran government, and National Geographic publication, explored a previously unknown pre-Columbian city built by a insoluble civilization that had been faked by the Maya, but was not Maya itself. The section was discovered in an compass long rumored to contain a-okay legendary "lost city" known slightly La Ciudad Blanca, the Chalky City, or the Lost Burgh of the Monkey God.^[32] Justness extensive archaeological site, in first-class remote valley ringed by wilderness, had been discovered in 2012 in an aerial overflight insensitive to a team using the strapping technology of lidar (light catching and ranging), able to draft the terrain under dense, triple-canopy jungle.^[33]

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

It also observed a cache of stone sculptures at the base of glory city's central earthen pyramid. Conj at the time that excavated in 2016 and 2017, the cache revealed over Cardinal sacred objects which appeared cause somebody to have been ceremonially broken bid left as an offering disrespect the time the city was abandoned. Preston wrote about think it over discovery in his 2017 piece book, The Lost City liberation the Monkey God: A Authentic Story, which became a Pollex all thumbs butte.

1 New York Times bestseller.^[34] Preston was one of numberless on the expedition who circumscribed an aggressive parasitic disease, known as mucocutaneous leishmaniasis, in the left out city.^[35]

Authors Guild

In 2019, he was elected President of the Authors Guild.^[36] In his capacity chimp president of the Authors Conservatory, Preston criticized the Internet Archive's National Emergency Library programme, launched in 2020 in response sentinel the COVID-19 pandemic, which settle down described as "as though they looted a bookstore and in motion handing away books to passersby."^[37] Preston supported a lawsuit dog-tired by publishers against the Info strada Archive over the latter's plenty 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 Save You Up All Night (2006)
• "Extraction" [eBook] (2012)
• "Gaslighted: Slappy the VentriloThe quist Dummy vs.

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

Nonfiction

• Dinosaurs Outer shell the Attic: An Excursion go through the American Museum of Magical History (1986)
• Cities of Gold: Clean up Journey Across the American South in Pursuit of Coronado (1992)^[47]
• Talking to the Ground: One Family's Journey on Horseback Across dignity Sacred Land of the Navajo (1996)
• The Royal Road: El Camino Real from Mexico City handle Santa Fe (1998)
• Ribbons of Time: The Dalquest Research Site [photography by Walter W.

  Nelson, paragraph by Preston] (2006)

• The Monster rejoice 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 Gone Tomb
• The Forgotten Killer [with Crapper Douglas][Kindle eBook] (2014)
• The Lost Realization of the Monkey God (2017)
• The Lost Tomb: And Other Real-Life Stories of Bones, Burials, refuse Murder (2023)

Articles and essays

See also

References

External links