Douglas Preston booksJanuary 12, 2011

I just finished reading Douglas Preston’s book, Impact, and must admit that it was a pretty good ride. Doug is one of those guys that’s better at wordsmithing than a lot of Pulitzer writers I’ve read.  He has a way of putting words in the flow that are pleasing to the ear. Sometimes I had to stop and reread, and then smile and go on:

“The water lay glossy in the dark, the island looming ahead, swallowed in the blackness.”

“Lockwood worried the stone in his hand.”

“The wind sighed through the distant treetops.”

How can you not like that stuff?

The main heroes in Doug’s new book are Jackie, Wyman Ford and Abbie, whose lives are placed in great peril by a diabolical brute who is bent on finding a hard drive that contains secrets that can save the world. Nothing will stop him in his quest, and a $200,000 payment is his motivation. Boats sink, a storm rages and a terrible weapon is aimed at our planet. Doug knows how to weave the ins and outs that leaves you exhausted, but finally with a smile

This book is not quite a mystery but it certainly is a thriller that has an explaining twist at the end that will make you get up and lock the doors and turn the coffee pot off because you don’t want to stop just now to take some sips. I usually read two or three books at once, but not this time.

Doug has written seventeen techon thrillers, sometimes with his writing partner Lincoln Child. But his book that first struck my eye was Cities of Gold, a non-fiction story about he and a friend on horseback retracing Coronado’s trek from Southern Arizona to the Pecos Pueblo in New Mexico, a thousand mile journey. The trials along that trail are fun to experience with the haggared riders. I read that book three times and on my list of all time favorites, it’s near the top.

Doug’s books have been on the NYT bestseller list and have been released in many languages.  He has also published in The New Yorker, Harpers, Smithsonian Magazine and National Geographic. When I grow up my dream is to write just like him.

Google Douglas Preston and read of his exploits

His books can be ordered from www.collectedworksbookstore.com 505-988-4226

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