The Lost City of Z by David Grann

A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon

4.5 stars
nonfiction

This was really interesting.  Took me forever (well, for me) to read, but nonfiction is like that.

In 1925, Colonel PH Fawcett disappeared, along with his oldest son, Jack, and his son's best friend, Raleigh Rimmel.

I had never heard of Fawcett, but apparently this was a HUGE media sensation.  He'd been sending dispatches from the Amazon which were published in newspapers all over the world.... until they stopped. 

At first, this wasn't too concerning.  Everyone knew that at some point the group would be out of contact for a time.  But months passed, then years.  And soon it was clear that something had happened to the Colonel everyone thought was invincible.

This book tells the tale of Fawcett, as well as various searchers that went looking for him and the "Lost City of Z" which was the aim of his final expedition.  Those searchers include the author, who started out researching a story and soon found himself sucked into it.

I had a little bit of a hard time following the book at first.  It jumps back and forth between one story and another, not always in chronological order, but I soon found the rhythm of it and really enjoyed it.

One thing's for sure-- I NEVER need to visit the Amazon.  Thanks anyway.  Yikes.

But armchair travel with books like this-- that I can do.  :)

If you're interested in the Amazon or just exploration in general, I'd recommend this one!

Counts for the Support Your Local Library and Reader's Choice challenges.