by David Grann
352 pages, Doubleday

Once upon a time, before radios, satellites or airplanes, there were parts of the world that had yet to be explored. Vast expanses of land were identified on maps as simply “uncharted.” Thrill seekers and adventurers, real-life Indiana Jones-type explorers, were sent on sponsored expeditions to travel these areas and report back with their findings. Some lost their way, some lost their minds and many lost their lives.

The first thing “New Yorker” writer David Grann’s awe-inspiring book “The Lost City of Z” teaches readers is that you really, really don’t want to go into the Amazon. There are so many things waiting to get you. There are the natives, who may shoot you with poisoned-tipped arrows or silently carry you off into the night while the rest of your party sleeps. Then there are the malaria-carrying mosquitoes and eyeball-licking bees. And dangers in the water. When crossing a river, you may fall prey to piranhas or crocodiles. And there are the candiru to be wary of—little translucent fish with barbs that swim up your... well, it’s too horrible to mention. If you manage to avoid these, there is still fever, broken limbs, gangrene, starvation or delirium. If you’re still not deterred by any of those threats, then you may be right for the job of explorer.

One of the better known souls unafraid of the uncharted jungle was Percy Fawcett. An explorer for the Royal Geographic Society and minor celebrity, Fawcett made several successful trips into the Amazon and helped map out hundreds of miles of land. But one place he had heard of had eluded him: the lost city of gold, a place he believed really existed (Fawcett named the mythical city Z). And Fawcett thought he knew where to find it. After several years of delays and a world war, he was able to organize his expedition.

Fawcett was so worried that another explorer would locate the famed city before he did that he kept the coordinates of his search a secret from everyone, save his two traveling companions: his son Jack, and Jack’s best friend Raleigh. In 1925, the group set off into the Mato Grosso region of Brazil in search of treasure, leaving behind a letter imploring that no one should come looking for them if anything unfortunate were to happen. After a few months of correspondence and sightings, all traces of Fawcett’s expedition party vanished. The men were never heard from again. Apparently unable to follow instructions, hundreds of people would themselves go on to lose their lives trying to discover Fawcett’s fate.

David Grann readily admits that he is not the adventurous type, but in deciding to investigate the Fawcett mystery, he has written an incredibly suspenseful and educational book. Grann recounts his trip into the Amazon to find the city of Z for himself, and his humorous takes on his excursion are recounted between amazingly researched chapters about the missing explorer. Grann visited relatives of Fawcett and pored over hundreds of documents at the Royal Geographic Society relating to the doomed expedition, looking for clues to Z’s whereabouts before heading out to discover if the city really exists. The results are spectacular and spine-tingling. Or that could just be a candiru.