Douglas Preston Popular Books
Douglas Preston Biography & Facts
Douglas Jerome Preston (born May 31, 1956) is an American journalist and author. Although he is best known for his thrillers in collaboration with Lincoln Child (including the Agent Pendergast series and Gideon Crew series), he has also written six solo novels, including the Wyman Ford series and a novel entitled Jennie, which was made into a movie by Disney. He has authored a half-dozen nonfiction books on science and exploration and writes occasionally for The New Yorker, Smithsonian, and other magazines. Life and early career Preston was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts and grew up in Wellesley, Massachusetts. A graduate of the Cambridge School of Weston in Weston, Massachusetts, and Pomona College in Claremont, California, Preston began his writing career at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. From 1978 to 1985, Preston worked for the American Museum of Natural History as a writer, editor, and manager of publications. He served as managing editor for the journal Curator and was a columnist for Natural History magazine. In 1985 he published a history of the museum, Dinosaurs In The Attic: An Excursion into the American Museum of Natural History, which chronicled the explorers and expeditions of the museum's early days. The editor of that book at St. Martin's Press was his future writing partner, Lincoln Child. They soon collaborated on a thriller set in the museum titled Relic, published in 1995. It was subsequently made into a 1997 motion picture by Paramount Pictures starring Penelope Ann Miller, Tom Sizemore, and Linda Hunt. In 1986, Preston moved to New Mexico and began to write full-time. Seeking an understanding of the first moment of contact between Europeans and Native Americans in America, he retraced on horseback Francisco Vásquez de Coronado's violent and unsuccessful search for the legendary Seven Cities of Gold. That thousand mile journey across the American Southwest resulted in the book Cities of Gold: A Journey Across the American Southwest. Since that time, Preston has undertaken many long horseback journeys retracing historic or prehistoric trails, for which he was inducted into the Long Riders' Guild. He has also participated in expeditions in other parts of the world, including a journey deep into Khmer Rouge-held territory in the Cambodian jungle with a small army of soldiers, to become the first Westerner to visit a lost Angkor temple. He was the first person in 3,000 years to enter an ancient Egyptian burial chamber in a tomb known as KV5 in the Valley of the Kings. Preston participated in an expedition that led to the discovery of an ancient city in an unexplored valley in the Mosquitia mountains of Eastern Honduras, which he chronicled in a nonfiction book, The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story. On that expedition he and other expedition members contracted an incurable tropical disease known as mucocutaneous leishmaniasis, for which he received treatment at the National Institutes of Health. In 1989 and 1990 he taught nonfiction writing at Princeton University. He has been active in the International Thriller Writers organization. Writing career With his frequent collaborator Lincoln Child, he created the character of FBI Special Agent Pendergast, who appears in many of their novels, including Relic, The Cabinet of Curiosities, Brimstone, and White Fire. Additional novels by the Preston and Child team include Mount Dragon, Riptide, Thunderhead, and The Ice Limit. Later, the duo created the Gideon Crew series, which consists of Gideon's Sword, Gideon's Corpse, and The Lost Island. For his solo career, Preston's fictional debut was Jennie, a novel about a chimpanzee who is adopted by an American family. His next novel was The Codex, a treasure hunt novel with a style that was much closer to the thriller genre of his collaborations with Child. The Codex introduced the characters of Tom Broadbent and Sally Colorado. Tom and Sally return in Tyrannosaur Canyon, which also features the debut of Wyman Ford, an ex-CIA agent and (at the time) a monk-in-training. Following Tyrannosaur Canyon, Ford leaves the monastery where he is training, forms his own private investigation company, and replaces Broadbent as the main protagonist of Preston's solo works. Ford subsequently returns in Blasphemy, Impact, and The Kraken Project. In addition to his collaborations with Child and his solo fictional universe, Preston has written several nonfiction books of his own, frequently about the history of the American Southwest. He has written about archaeology and paleontology for The New Yorker magazine and has also been published in Smithsonian, Harper's, The Atlantic, Natural History, and National Geographic.In May, 2011, Pomona College conferred on Preston the degree of Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa). He is the recipient of writing awards in the United States and Europe. Involvement in the "Monster of Florence" case In 2000, Preston moved to Florence, Italy with his young family and became fascinated with an unsolved local murder mystery involving a serial killer nicknamed the "Monster of Florence". The case and his problems with the Italian authorities are the subject of his 2008 book 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 a number of journalism awards in Europe and the United States. It is being developed into a movie by 20th Century Fox, produced by George Clooney. Clooney will play the role of Preston. Involvement in the Amanda Knox case Preston has criticized the conduct of Italian prosecutor Giuliano Mignini in the trial of American student Amanda Knox, one of three convicted, and eventually cleared, of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher in Perugia in 2007. In 2009, Preston argued on 48 Hours on CBS that the case against Knox was "based on lies, superstition, and crazy conspiracy theories". In December 2009, after the verdict had been announced, he described his own interrogation by Mignini on Anderson Cooper 360° on CNN. Preston said of Mignini, "this is a very abusive prosecutor. He makes up theories. He's ... obsessed with satanic sex." Preston published Trial By Fury: Internet Savagery and the Amanda Knox Case in 2013 as a Kindle Single eBook. "Operation Thriller" USO Tour In 2010, Preston participated in the first USO tour sponsored by the International Thriller Writers organization, along with authors David Morrell, Steve Berry, Andy Harp, and James Rollins. After visiting with wounded soldiers and giving away books at National Navy Medical Center and Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the group spent over a week in Kuwait and Iraq, marking "the first time in the USO's 69-year history that authors visited a combat zone." Of the experience, Preston said, "As always, we learn a great deal from all of the amazing and dedicated people we meet." Authors United In 2014, during a disagreement over terms bet.... Discover the Douglas Preston popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Douglas Preston books.
Best Seller Douglas Preston Books of 2024
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Dead Is Dead
John LansingFrom the “pulse pounding” (Kirkus Reviews) writer of TV hit Walker, Texas Ranger comes a riveting Hollywood thriller that will keep you captivated until the shocking conclusion.Ret...
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The Promise of Canada
Charlotte GrayWhat does it mean to be a Canadian? What great ideas have changed our country? An awardwinning writer casts her eye over our nation’s history, highlighting some of our most importa...
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The Paleontologist
Luke DumasUSA TODAY BESTSELLERA haunted paleontologist returns to the museum where his sister was abducted years earlier and is faced with a terrifying and murderous spirit in this chilling ...
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The Fourth Gunman
John LansingFrom the bestselling author of The Devil’s Necktie and Blond Cargo comes the latest title in the Jack Bertolino series.Retired inspector Jack Bertolino straddles two perilous world...
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Gaslighted
Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child & R. L. StineIn this entry from the thrilling short story anthology FaceOff, bestselling authors Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child along with R.L. Stine team up for the first time ever, pitti...
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Relentless
Simon KernickThe #1 international bestseller.One day Tom Meron, a happily married father of two who’s never been in trouble, receives a phone call that will change his life forever: his friend ...
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Dark Shadows
Gayle Lynds & Sepp LeebKann nur sie die Welt vor dem Untergang retten? Der Verschwörungsthriller »Dark Shadows« von Bestsellerautorin Gayle Lynds als eBook bei dotbooks. Sie hat alles getan, um ihr alte...
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The Stowaway
Laurie Gwen ShapiroThe spectacular, true story of a scrappy teenager from New York’s Lower East Side who stowed away on the most remarkable feat of science and daring of the Jazz Age, The Stowaway is...
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Burning Angels
Bear GryllsA prehistoric corpse entombed within an Arctic glacier, crying tears of blood.A jungle island overrun by rabid primates escapees from a research laboratory's Hot Zone.A massive se...
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The Catalyst
Boyd MorrisonAn exhilarating thriller from the internationally bestselling author of The Ark and The Vault!Chemistry grad student Kevin Hamilton is sure his advisor Michael Ward's death in a su...
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Summary of The Lost Tomb by Douglas Preston and David Grann
GP SUMMARYDISCLAIMERThis book does not in any capacity mean to replace the original book but to serve as a vast summary of the original book.Summary of The Lost Tomb by Douglas Preston and D...
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Ultimatum
Simon Kernick#1 bestselling author Simon Kernick will leave you breathless with his sheer storytelling power in this raceagainsttime thriller about a terrorist threat in London.An explosion bla...
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The Last 10 Seconds
Simon Kernick#1 bestselling author Simon Kernick weaves a masterful plot in this raceagainsttime thriller that puts Detective Inspector Tina Boyd in the middle of a criminal conspiracy and up a...
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Mysteries of the Tayos Caves
Alex Chionetti & Javier SierraA detailed examination of the controversial expeditions to the Tayos Cave complex in Ecuador and the treasures glimpsed in its depths Reconstructs the expeditions from the 1960s a...
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Mount Dragon
Douglas Preston & Lincoln ChildIn this thriller from authors Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, a genetically engineered virus threatens to wipe out humanity Mount Dragon: an enigmatic research complex hidden i...
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Kartell der Angst
Gayle Lynds & Jens PlassmannDer Krieg von sechs TopSpionen legt die Welt in Schutt und Asche: Der Agententhriller »Kartell der Angst« von Gayle Lynds als eBook bei dotbooks. Wer wird auf dem Spielfeld der Ma...
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A Dream of Ice
Gillian Anderson & Jeff RovinFrom Gillian Anderson, acclaimed actress and XFiles star, and New York Times bestselling coauthor Jeff Rovin comes the second book in the thrilling paranormal EarthEnd Saga that Fl...
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Dinosaurs in the Attic
Douglas J. PrestonDinosaurs in the Attic is a chronicle of the expeditions, discoveries, and scientists behind the greatest natural history collection ever assembled. Written by former Natural Histo...
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Old Bones - Die Toten von Roswell
Douglas Preston & Lincoln ChildWas geschah 1947 wirklich in Roswell?Im 3. Teil der ThrillerReihe »Old Bones« verschlägt es Archäologin Nora Kelly und FBIAgentin Corrie Swanson an einen der geheimnisumwittertsten...
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Siege
Simon KernickFrom the #1 internationally bestselling author of Relentless, Stay Alive, and Ultimatum, a heartpounding, raceagainsttime thriller about a carefully orchestrated hostage takeover a...
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Love Letters of Great Men
Ursula DoyleRemember the wonderfully romantic book of love letters that Carrie reads aloud to Big in the recent blockbuster film, Sex and the City? Fans raced to buy copies of their own, only...
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Raising Atlantis
Thomas GreaniasExperience the first “outrageous adventure with a wild dose of the supernatural” (Clive Cussler, New York Times bestselling author) in the New York Times bestselling Atlantis trilo...