Monte Reel

The Last of the Tribe (Scribner, 2010) focuses on the search and discovery of the last surviving member of an uncontacted indigenous tribe in the Brazilian Amazon. The San Francisco Chronicle called it "Avatar for grown-ups” and praised the book for being “expertly told: perfectly timed, thoroughly researched and descriptively written."[6] The story was optioned for the screen by Chockstone Pictures and is currently in development.[7][8]

Between Man and Beast (Doubleday 2013) tells the story of Paul Du Chaillu, a young 19th century explorer who emerged from expeditions in Africa with the first specimens of the gorilla – an animal that previously was the subject of myth and legend. Du Chaillu’s adventures, both in the jungle and in the showrooms of Europe and America, coincided with the publication of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, and they helped ignite the evolution debate.[9] The book was selected as one of the Best Books of 2013 by Amazon,[10] and Barnes & Noble chose it as a “Discover Great New Writers” selection.[11] Nature called it “a supremely entertaining, enlightening and memorable read,”[12] and the San Antonio Express-News remarked that “the mind staggers to recall that this story is a work of nonfiction.” [13]

A Brotherhood of Spies (Doubleday 2018) tells the story of the U-2 spy plane and explores how it forever changed the nature and scope of American espionage. The story focuses on four individuals involved in the plane’s development: Edwin Land, the founder of Polaroid; CIA officer Richard M. Bissell Jr.; Clarence “Kelly” Johnson, Lockheed’s chief engineer; and Francis Gary Powers, a pilot recruited by the CIA to fly the U-2. In a pre-publication review, Publishers Weekly wrote that “this exemplary work provides a wholly satisfying take on a central chapter of the Cold War – a dramatic story of zeal and adventure.”[14]