Preston describes the unknown and dangerous La Mosquitia region of Honduras, and notes the general danger in Honduras itself, which has “one of the highest murder rates in the world” (2). Preston, a journalist, is in a conference room in Catacamas, Honduras, in 2015, with a diverse group of scientists, archaeologists, and media. Andrew “Woody” Wood, an ex-sergeant major with the British Special Air Service (SAS), presents to the group the countless lethal dangers of the jungle and establishes military-strict rules over them. Preston muses that the unexplored valley they will be investigating, called Target One (T1), did not look so foreboding from the air.

In the book and in this study guide, the terms “Lost City,” “White City,” “Ciudad Blanca,” and “Lost City of the Monkey God” are used interchangeably. Preston recounts how he first heard the legend of the Lost City in 1996 while working on an aerial radar imagery project to find archaeological sites in Cambodia. Ron Blom, the leader of the project, hints to Preston that he is working on locating a legendary lost city in Central America. The project is secret, but Blom agrees to discuss Preston’s interest with his employer.