About the Authors:
Douglas Preston
Born: May 20, 1956, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Education: B.A.-English Literature, Pomona College, Claremont, CA
Lincoln Child
Born: Westport, Connecticut
Education: B.A.-English, Carleton College, Northfield, MN
Website: http://www.prestonchild.com/
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Thriller Sub-genre: Techno-thriller
Future of the series: The series is on-going and the next in the series is in the works and has been entitled The Cabinet of Dr. Leng with an expected release date of 1/17/23.
Review of the latest in the series- Crooked River
The Simon Review:
Just imagine Sherlock Holmes, James Bond and Albert Einstein all rolled up into one fictional character and you would have FBI Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast. I think that Pendergast is one of the most fun characters that has been introduced into the thriller genre and is one of my favorites. Pendergast was introduced in the first novel of the series, Relic, not as the main character but as a secondary character, however, his presence at the ending of Relic definitely stole the show. Pendergast is described as tall and lanky, but very fit, with white blond hair, pale skin, and light blue eyes. He primarily wears black suits which contrast with his pale complexion and makes him stand out in a crowd. He was born and raised in New Orleans with a gentlemanly southern accent. He is highly educated with degrees from Harvard and Oxford in the disciplines of anthropology and philosophy. He comes from a family of wealth so is independently wealthy. He is an expert in the martial arts and has significant military training. When you put this all together, it seems that this character is larger than life and more like an action figure, but Preston and Child portray him in such a way that he seems almost realistic. This is a character that as the series continues, becomes more and more likeable, so that one truly looks forward to the next installment in the series.
The series is considered a techno-thriller mainly because there are often references to genetics, computers, weaponry, and other elements of science. My take on the series is that it is more of a techno-thriller/science fiction hybrid as some of the science is a bit over the top. Additionally, there is also a certain amount of supernatural and mystical elements that normally I don’t like to see in a thriller but Preston and Child just add enough of it that it is not too distracting. The stories are also based on a criminal element usually in the form of murder, kidnappings, and terrorism which requires the services of the police force and the FBI which is how Pendergast gets involved. Even though Pendergast is FBI, he doesn’t usually follow the rules and sets his own agenda in dealing with the crimes. He often works with Lt. Vincent D’Agosta, a police officer who often puts himself on a limb to help Pendergast meet his goal in solving the crime. In order for Pendergast’s unorthodox methods of solving a crime seem somewhat realistic and preventing the stories from becoming a crime thriller parody, the character Laura Hayward is introduced in the second installment of the series, Reliquary. Police officer Hayward is a ‘by the book’ type of law enforcer and Pendergast’s methods cause her great concern primarily for D’Agosta as she has a romantic relationship with him. Her presence acts as stabilizing force that helps keep the series in check from becoming too unrealistic.
Preston and Child have developed a number of characters over the span of the series that have become significant elements to the “Pendergast phenomenon” that it makes it difficult not to develop affection for these characters. One of these recurring characters gets killed midway through the series, which gives the feeling of a certain amount of vulnerability to these characters which only adds a greater edge to the thriller aspect of the series.
Preston and Child consider five novels to be standalones, Cabinet of Curiosities, Cemetary Dance, Still Life with Crows, Wheel of Darkness, and White Fire as well as two trilogies within the series, the Diogenes Trilogy (Brimstone, Dance of Death, and Book of the Dead) and the Helen Pendergast Trilogy (Fever Dream, Cold Vengeance, and Two Graves) which must be read together. My opinion is that the whole series should be read in order mainly because of the complicated host of characters which play significant roles throughout the series.
Simon’s pick:
Most Favorite Novel in the Series- White Fire, it had an interesting storyline which ties together a historical conversation between Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Oscar Wilde and present day events that are being investigated by Corrie Swanson with some help from Pendergast (of course). Plus there was one scene that thrilled me so much that I actually said “Way to go!” out loud in a public place.
Least Favorite Novel in the Series- Wheel of Darkness-There was a little too much supernatural stuff for my liking.
What about the science? Douglas Preston’s formal training is in English Literature, but Preston is a bit of a Renaissance man, with an interest in philosophy, mathematics and science whereas Lincoln Child. whose formal education is in English, has a particular interest in computers. Combined, the two writers create a scientific viewpoint that isn’t really science but they sure make it seem that way.
The Pendergast Technical Word in Review: Thyrotropic hormone- also better known as thyroid stimulating hormone or TSH is a hormone that is released from the pituitary gland (which is located at the base of the brain) to stimulate the thyroid gland to release its hormones thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) which in turn effects the metabolic regulation of all the cells in the body. Thyroid regulation is controlled by a negative feedback loop which means that when the levels of T4 and T3 decrease, the hypothalamus (which is part of the brain) is stimulated to release another hormone known as the thyroid releasing hormone or TRH which then stimulates the pituitary to release TSH and then the cycle continues. Anytime there is a complex system as in the case of thyroid regulation, any step in within the system will cause abnormalities. There are numerous diseases that are related to malfunctions of the thyroid regulation system which include Grave’s Disease (hyperthyroidism), Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (hypothyroidism), goiters, cancers and thyroid nodule formation and all of them affect the body’s metabolism.
Logging off GenLab, she fed the data she captured into Kawakita’s program, instructing it to tell her what protein the genes coded for.
A complicated list of the specific proteins created by each gene started to scroll down the screen.
Glycotetraglycine collegenoid (totally fictional)
Suckno’s thyrotropic hormone, 2,6 adenosine [gram positive] (thyrotropic hormone,yes – Suckno’s, no)
1,2,3, oxytocin 4-monoxytocin supressin hormone (Oxytocin is a real hormone but this term is fictional)
2,4 diglyceride diethylglobulin ring-alanine (totally fictional)
Gammaglobulin A, x-y, left positive (gammaglobulin, yes – A is a no)
Hypothalamic corticotropic hormone, left negative (ambiguous term)
1-1-1 sulphagen (2,3, murine) connective karotenoid , III-IV involution (murine is the family name for rodent, it is not a chemical term, Sulphagen is a made up drug in a Dr. Who episode, and karotenoid is Russianized for the term carotenoid)
Hexagonal ambyloid reovirus protein coat (ambyloid should have been amyloid and it wouldn’t have been placed with reovirus which is real)
Reverse transcriptase enzyme
The list went on and on. A lot of these seem to be hormones, she thought. But what kind of hormones?
She located a copy of Encyclopedia of Biochemistry that was busily gathering dust on a shelf, dragged it down and looked up glycotetraglycine collegenoid:
A protein common to most vertebrate life. It is the protein that bonds muscle tissue to cartilage.
She flipped to Suckno’s thyrotropic hormone.
A hypothalamic protein present in mammals which acts on the pituitary gland.-Relic
In Relic, Preston & Child use of the term Suckno’s thyrotropic hormone is made up, but thyrotropic hormone alone is TSH, however, the definition that Preston & Child gave it is actually a description of Thyroid Releasing Hormone (TRH). Additionally with the exception of reverse transcriptase enzyme, all other items listed on Margo Green’s list are just a jumble of technical terms mixed up, they may sound scientific but the terms are meaningless (highlighted in the list above.)
Books in the Series by Order:
Most Favorite in the series: Cabinet of Curiosities with a score of 4.26
Least Favorite in the series: Wheel of Darkness with a score of 3.93
Based on overall ratings from Goodreads, Library Thing, and Amazon (US & UK)
#1-Relic-1995
Listed #12 out of 553 on Goodreads Best Technothrillers Ever Book List
Listed #4 out of 172 on Goodreads Best Science Thrillers Book List
First Line:
At noon, the clouds clinging to the top of Cerro Gordo broke free and scattered.
Characters
Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast: Our hero in black
Margo Green: Graduate student working on her thesis
Lt. Vincent D’Agosta: Investigating officer who becomes one of Pendergast’s closest friends
William Smithback: Journalist
Dr. Ian Cuthbert: Museum scientist and curator
Gregory Kawakita: Assistant curator
Julian Whittlesey: Anthropologist that worked in South America and was responsible for sending the relic
Dr. Whitney Frock: Margo Green’s thesis advisor
Winston Wright: Museum director
The Setting
New York City
Just days before a massive exhibition opens at the popular New York Museum of Natural History, visitors are being savagely murdered in the museum’s dark hallways and secret rooms. Autopsies indicate that the killer cannot be human…
But the museum’s directors plan to go ahead with a big bash to celebrate the new exhibition, in spite of the murders.
Museum researcher Margo Green must find out who–or what–is doing the killing. But can she do it in time to stop the massacre?
Jörgensen’s smile faded. “Not exactly. But it caused all the rumors of the curse to resurface. Now everyone, they said, who had come in contact with the crates had died. Some of the guards and cafeteria employees- you know those types- said Whittlesey had robbed a temple, that there was something in the crate, a relic with a terrible curse on it. They said the curse followed the relic all the way back to the Museum.”
Kurt from Goodreads gave a poor review on Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. There are two ways you can think about this.
I hereby declare this “Excellent Commode Literature.
Looking for a review of Relic? Check out:
Amazon Rating-US: 4.40 out of 5 stars based on 1,148 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.43 out of 5 stars based on 33 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 4.02 out of 5 stars based on 81,139 ratings
Library Thing Rating: 3.87 out of 5 stars based on 1,223 ratings
Total Score 4.02 (updated 10/1/18)
#2-Reliquary-1997
First Line:
Snow tested his regulator, check both air valves, ran his hands along the slick neoprene of the suit.
Characters
Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast, Margo Green, Lt. Vincent D’Agosta, William Smithback, Gregory Kawakita, Julian Whittlesey, and Dr. Whitney Frock
Sergeant Laura Hayward: Police office working on her master’s degree, eventually becomes chief of police and close friend to D’Agosta
The Setting
New York City
Hidden beneath Manhattan is a warren of tunnels, sewers, and galleries, mostly forgotten by those who walk the streets above. There lies the ultimate secret of the Museum Beast…
When two grotesquely deformed skeletons are found deep in the mud off the Manhattan shoreline, museum curator Margo Green is called in to aid the investigation. Margo must once again team up with police lieutenant D’Agosta and FBI agent Pendergast, as well as the brilliant Dr. Frock, to try and solve the puzzle. The trail soon leads deep underground, where they will face the awakening of a slumbering nightmare.
“Could they just be pieces of garbage?” he asked. Pendergast just shook his head. “They were carefully, even lovingly arranged,” he said. “Like relics in a reliquary.”
“A what?”
“A reliquary. Something used to display revered objects.”
“Well they don’t look reverential to me. They look like pieces to a dashboard.”
Looking for a review of Reliquary? Check out:
Amazon Rating-US: 4.42 out of 5 stars based on 701 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.18 out of 5 stars based on 28 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 4.01 out of 5 stars based on 33,757 ratings
Library Thing Rating: 3.78 out of 5 stars based on 781 ratings
Total Score 4.01 (updated 10/1/18)
#3-The Cabinet of Curiosities-2001
Listed #58 out of 553 on Goodreads Best Technothrillers Ever Book List
Listed #54 out of 172 on Goodreads Best Science Thrillers Book List
First Line:
Pee-Wee Boxer surveyed the jobsite with disgust.
Characters
Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast, and William Smithback
Dr. Nora Kelly: Archaeologist working with the museum and has a close relationship with Smithback
Dr. Enoch Leng: Serial killer suspect
Constance Greene: She becomes Pendergast’s ward and has an unusual physiology and history
The Setting
New York City
In the 19th century, New Yorkers flocked to collections of strange and grotesque oddities called “cabinets of curiosities.” Now, in lower Manhattan, a modern apartment tower is slated to rise on the site of one of the old cabinets. Yet when the excavators break into a basement, they uncover a charnel pit of horror: the remains of thirty-six people murdered and gruesomely dismembered over 130 years ago by an unknown serial killer.
In the aftermath, FBI Special Agent Pendergast and museum archaeologist Nora Kelly embark on an investigation that unearths the faint whisper of a mysterious doctor who once roamed the city, carrying out medical experiments on living human beings. But just as Nora and Pendergast begin to unravel the clues to the century-old killings, a fresh spree of murder and surgical mutilation erupts around them . . . and New York City is awash in terror.
Dr. Kelly, are you familiar with the term, ‘cabinet of curiosities’?
Nora wondered at the man’s ability to pile on non sequiturs. “Wasn’t it a kind of natural history collection?
“Precisely. It was the precursor to the natural history museum. Many educated gentlemen of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries collected strange artifacts while roaming the globe – fossils, bones, shrunken heads, stuffed birds, that sort of thing. Originally, they simply displayed these artifacts in cabinets, for the amusement of their friends. Later- when it became clear people would pay money to visit them- some of these cabinets of curiosities grew into commercial enterprises. They still called them ‘cabinets of curiosities’ even though the collections filled many rooms.”
Looking for a review of Cabinet of Curiosities? Check out:
Amazon Rating-US: 4.51 out of 5 stars based on 868 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.52 out of 5 stars based on 45 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 4.26 out of 5 stars based on 35,466 ratings
Library Thing Rating: 3.99 out of 5 stars based on 955 ratings
Total Score 4.26 (updated 10/1/18)
#4- Still Life With Crows – 2003
Listed #191 out of 553 on Goodreads Best Technothrillers Ever Book List
A Sample Clip of the Audiobook
First Line:
The great sea of yellow corn stretches from horizon to horizon under an angry sky.
Characters
Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast
Corrie Swanson: A rebellious teenager that Pendergast hires as an assistant
The Setting
Kansas
Medicine Creek, Kansas. In a town where nothing changes, where Main Street is a two-block stretch of old and dusty businesses, a peculiar and ghastly murder has taken place, the body mutilated and placed carefully in an elaborate tableau in the middle of the endless cornfields. Now cool-eyed and smooth FBI Agent Pendergast arrives to discover a community he must turn inside out to find the killer who can only be one of them…
Looking for a review of Still Life With Crows? Check out:
Amazon Rating-US: 4.48 out of 5 stars based on 712 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.64 out of 5 stars based on 34 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 4.18 out of 5 stars based on 27,320 ratings
Library Thing Ratings: 4.02 out of 5 stars based on 656 ratings
Total Score 4.18 (updated 10/1/18)
#5- Brimstone – 2004
Listed #46 out of 553 on Goodreads Best Technothrillers Ever Book List
First Line:
Agnes Torres parked her white Ford Escort in the parking area outside the hedge and stepped into the cool dawn air.
Characters
Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast, Lt. Vincent D’Agosta, William Smithback, Constance Greene and Sergeant Laura Hayward
Diogenes Pendergast: Aloysius Pendergast’s little brother
The Setting
New York City
Behind the gates of a fabulous Hamptons estate, FBI Special Agent Pendergast comes upon the carnage of a gruesome crime: one that recalls the legendary horrors that befall those who make a Faustian pact with the devil. Surrounded by the choking stench of brimstone, the smoldering remains of art critic Jeremy Grove are found in a locked, barricaded attic next to a hoofprint singed into the floorboards.
Unable to resist a case that defies all but supernatural logic, Pendergast reunites with police officers Vincent D’Agosta (Relic) and Laura Hayward (Reliquary) to search for a more earthly explanation. But their investigation soon takes them from the luxury estates of Long Island and penthouses of New York City to the crumbling, legend-shrouded castles of the Italian countryside, where thirty years ago four men conjured up something unspeakable.
Braskie frowned, “What’s that?”
“Brimstone Lieutenant,” said Pendergast. “Good Old Testament brimstone.”
Looking for a review of Brimstone? Check out:
Amazon Rating-US: 4.29 out of 5 stars based on 606 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.10 out of 5 stars based on 23 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 4.13 out of 5 stars based on 29,790 ratings
Library Thing Ratings: 3.86 out of 5 stars based on 715 ratings
Total Score 4.13 (updated 10/1/18)
#6- Dance of Death – 2005
Listed #45 out of 553 on Goodreads Best Technothrillers Ever Book List
First Line:
Dewanye Michaels sat in the second row of the lecture hall, staring at the professor with what he hoped passed for interest.
Characters
Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast, Margo Green, Lt. Vincent D’Agosta, William Smithback, Constance Greene, Laura Hayward, Nora Kelly and Diogenes Pendergast
The Setting
New York City
Two brothers.
One a top FBI agent.
The other a brilliant, twisted criminal.
An undying hatred between them.
Now, a perfect crime.
And the ultimate challenge:
Stop me if you can..
Looking for a review of Dance of Death? Check out:
Amazon Rating-US: 4.35 out of 5 stars based on 458 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.11 out of 5 stars based on 19 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 4.17 out of 5 stars based on 23,898 ratings
Library Thing Ratings: 3.92 out of 5 stars based on 594 ratings
Total Score 4.17 (updated 10/1/18)
#7- The Book of the Dead – 2006
Listed #75 out of 553 on Goodreads Best Technothrillers Ever Book List
First Line:
Early-morning sunlight gilded the cobbled drive of the staff entrance at the New York Museum of Natural History, illuminating a glass pillbox just outside the granite archway.
Characters
Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast, Margo Green, Lt. Vincent D’Agosta, William Smithback, Constance Greene, Laura Hayward, Nora Kelly and Diogenes Pendergast
The Setting
New York City
The New York Museum of Natural History receives their pilfered gem collection back…ground down to dust. Diogenes, the psychotic killer who stole them in Dance of Death, is throwing down the gauntlet to both the city and to his brother, FBI Agent Pendergast, who is currently incarcerated in a maximum security prison.
To quell the PR nightmare of the gem fiasco, the museum decides to reopen the Tomb of Senef. An astounding Egyptian temple, it was a popular museum exhibit until the 1930s, when it was quietly closed. But when the tomb is unsealed in preparation for its gala reopening, the killings–and whispers of an ancient curse–begin again. And the catastrophic opening itself sets the stage for the final battle between the two brothers: an epic clash from which only one will emerge alive.
“I’ve heard about the Book of the Dead,” Nora said, “but I don’t know much about it.”
“It was basically a group of magical invocations, spells, and incantations. It helped the dead make the dangerous journey through the underworld to the Field of Reeds-the ancient Egyptian idea of heaven. People waited in fear during that long night after the burial of the pharaoh, because if he buggered up somehow down in the underworld and wasn’t reborn, the sun would never rise again. The dead king had to know the spells, the secret names of the serpents, and all kinds of other arcane knowledge to finish the journey. That’s why it’s all written on the walls of his tomb- the Book of the Dead was a set of crib notes to eternal life.”
Looking for a review of The Book of the Dead? Check out:
Amazon Rating-US: 4.40 out of 5 stars based on 538 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.37 out of 5 stars based on 24 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 4.14 out of 5 stars based on 27,496 ratings
Library Thing Ratings: 3.85 out of 5 stars based on 730 ratings
Total Score 4.14 (updated 10/1/18)
#8- The Wheel of Darkness – 2007
First Line:
The only thing moving in the vastness of the Llölung Valley were two black specks, barely larger than the frost-split boulders that covered the valley floor, inching along a faint track.
Characters
Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast, Constance Greene, and Diogenes Pendergast
The Setting
Tibet and Atlantic Ocean
“Lest into the Dharma you unchain
An uncleanness of evil and pain,
And darkness about darkness wheel,
The Agozyen you must not unseal.”
Pendergast has taken Constance Greene on a whirlwind Grand Tour, hoping to give her closure to recent unpleasant events, as well as a sense of the world that she’s missed. They head to Tibet, where Pendergast intensively trained in martial arts and spiritual studies. At a remote monastery, they learn that a rare and dangerous artifact the monks have been guarding for generations has been mysteriously stolen. Pendergast agrees to take up the search.
The trail leads him and Constance to the maiden voyage of the Britannia, the world’s largest and most luxurious passenger liner–and to an Atlantic crossing fraught with terror..
Looking for a review of Wheel of Darkness? Check out:
Amazon Rating-US: 4.12 out of 5 stars based on 481 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 3.68 out of 5 stars based on 21 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 3.93 out of 5 stars based on 22,709 ratings
Library Thing Ratings: 3.73 out of 5 stars based on 601 ratings
Total Score 3.93 (updated 10/1/18)
#9- Cemetery Dance – 2009
First Line:
“Can you believe it, Bill?”
Characters
Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast, Margo Green, Lt. Vincent D’Agosta, William Smithback, Laura Hayward and Nora Kelly
The Setting
New York City
William Smithback, a New York Times reporter, and his wife Nora Kelly, a Museum of Natural History archaeologist, are brutally attacked in their apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
Eyewitnesses claim, and the security camera confirms, that the assailant was their strange, sinister neighbor-a man who, by all reports, was already dead and buried weeks earlier.
While Captain Laura Hayward leads the official investigation, Pendergast and Lieutenant Vincent D’Agosta undertake their own private-and decidedly unorthodox-quest for the truth. Their serpentine journey takes them to an enclave of Manhattan they never imagined could exist: a secretive, reclusive cult of Obeah and vodou which no outsiders have ever survived.
A review by Eric from Goodreads on Douglas Preston and Lincoln Childs’ Cemetery Dance. Need I say more.
This book made me regret ever having learned how to read.
Looking for a review of Cemetary Dance? Check out:
Amazon Rating-US: 4.07 out of 5 stars based on 438 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.33 out of 5 stars based on 21 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 4.00 out of 5 stars based on 20,136 ratings
Library Thing Ratings: 3.75 out of 5 stars based on 481 ratings
Total Score 4.00 (updated 10/1/18)
#10- Fever Dream – 2010
First Line:
The setting sun blazed through the African bush like a forest fire, hot yellow in the sweltering evening that gathered over the bush camp.
Characters
Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast, Lt. Vincent D’Agosta, Constance Greene, Laura Hayward, and Diogenes Pendergast
Helen Esterhazy Pendergast: Aloysius Pendergast’s wife
Judson Esterhazy: Helen’s brother
The Setting
New York City, Louisiana, Zambia Africa, and Georgia
At the old family manse in Louisiana, Special Agent Pendergast is putting to rest long-ignored possessions reminiscent of his wife Helen’s tragic death, only to make a stunning-and dreadful-discovery.
Helen had been mauled by an unusually large and vicious lion while they were big game hunting in Africa. But now, Pendergast learns that her rifle-her only protection from the beast-had been deliberately loaded with blanks. Who could have wanted Helen dead…and why?
With Lieutenant Vincent D’Agosta’s assistance, Pendergast embarks on a quest to uncover the mystery of his wife’s murder. It is a journey that sends him deep into her past, where he learns much that Helen herself had wished to keep hidden.
Helen Pendergast had nursed a secret obsession with the famed naturalist-painter John James Audubon, in particular a long-lost painting of his known as the Black Frame.
As Pendergast probes more deeply into the riddle-the answer to which is revealed in a night of shocking violence, deep in the Louisiana bayou-he finds himself faced with an even greater question: who was the woman he married?
Looking for a review of Fever Dream? Check out:
Amazon Ratings-US: 4.32 out of 5 stars based on 560 ratings
Amazon Ratings-UK: 4.36 out of 5 stars based on 21 ratings
GoodReads Ratings: 4.10 out of 5 stars based on 26,450 ratings
Library Thing Ratings: 3.86 out of 5 stars based on 451 ratings
Total Score 4.10 (updated 10/1/18)
#11- Cold Vengeance – 2011
First Line:
As they mounted the barren shoulder of Beinn Dearg, the great stone lodge of Kilchurn vanished into the darkness, leaving only the soft yellow glow of its windows tingeing the misty air.
Characters
Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast, Lt. Vincent D’Agosta, Corrie Swanson, Constance Greene, Enoch Leng, Laura Hayward, Diogenes Pendergast, Helen Esterhazy Pendergast, and Judson Esterhazy
Mime: A computer genius that often helps Pendergast
The Setting
New York City, Louisiana, Zambia Africa, Germany, Scotland and Georgia
Nothing is what it seems…
Devastated by the discovery that his wife, Helen, was murdered, Special Agent Pendergast must have retribution. But revenge is not simple.
As he stalks his wife’s betrayers-a chase that takes him from the wild moors of Scotland to the bustling streets of New York City and the darkest bayous of Louisiana-he is also forced to dig further into Helen’s past. And he is stunned to learn that Helen may have been a collaborator in her own murder.
Peeling back the layers of deception, Pendergast realizes that the conspiracy is deeper, goes back generations, and is more monstrous than he could have ever imagined-and everything he’s believed, everything he’s trusted, everything he’s understood . . . may be a horrific lie.
Looking for a review of Cold Vengeance ? Check out:
Amazon Rating-US: 4.05 out of 5 stars based on 614 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.32 out of 5 stars based on 19 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 4.09 out of 5 stars based on 18,438 ratings
Library Thing Ratings: 3.80 out of 5 stars based on 328 ratings
Total Score 4.08 (updated 10/1/18)
#11.5- Extraction – 2012 (Novella)
First Line:
Three people occupied the large, dimly lit library within the mansion that stood alone and aloof at 891 Riverside Drive, New York City.
Characters
Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast, Constance Greene, and Diogenes Pendergast
The Setting
New York City, and New Orleans
In New Orleans’ French Quarter, the Tooth Fairy isn’t a benevolent sprite who slips money under your pillow at night….he’s a mysterious old recluse who must be appeased with teeth–lest he extract retribution. When young Diogenes Pendergast loses a tooth, however, his skeptical older brother Aloysius is determined to put the legend to the test…with dire consequences.
Looking for a review of Extraction? Check out:
Amazon Rating-US: 4.18 out of 5 stars based on 900 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.16 out of 5 stars based on 22 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 3.97 out of 5 stars based on 5,493 ratings
Library Thing Ratings: 3.72 out of 5 stars based on 61 ratings
Total Score 4.00 (updated 10/1/18)
#12- Two Graves – 2012
A Sample Clip of the Audiobook
First Line:
The woman with the violet eyes walked slowly beneath the trees of Central Park, hands deep in the pockets of her trench coat.
Characters
Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast, Lt. Vincent D’Agosta, Corrie Swanson, Constance Greene, Laura Hayward, Diogenes Pendergast, Helen Esterhazy Pendergast, Judson Esterhazy and Mime
The Setting
New York City, Brazil, and Mexico
After his wife, Helen, is brazenly abducted before his eyes, Special Agent Pendergast furiously pursues the kidnappers, chasing them across the country and into Mexico. But then, things go terribly, tragically wrong; the kidnappers escape; and a shattered Pendergast retreats to his New York apartment and shuts out the world.
But when a string of bizarre murders erupts across several Manhattan hotels–perpetrated by a boy who seems to have an almost psychic ability to elude capture–NYPD Lieutenant D’Agosta asks his friend Pendergast for help. Reluctant at first, Pendergast soon discovers that the killings are a message from his wife’s kidnappers. But why a message? And what does it mean?
When the kidnappers strike again at those closest to Pendergast, the FBI agent, filled anew with vengeful fury, sets out to track down and destroy those responsible. His journey takes him deep into the trackless forests of South America, where he ultimately finds himself face to face with an old evil that-rather than having been eradicated-is stirring anew… and with potentially world-altering consequences.
Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves. – Confucius
Looking for a review of Two Graves? Check out:
Warren’s Wide World of Randomness
Amazon Rating-US: 4.32 out of 5 stars based on 1,703 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.46 out of 5 stars based on 42 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 4.04 out of 5 stars based on 17,386 ratings
Library Thing Ratings: 3.77 out of 5 stars based on 294 ratings
Total Score 4.06 (updated 10/1/18)
#13- White Fire – 2013
A Sample Clip of the Audiobook
First Line:
The young doctor bid his wife good-bye on the Southsea platform, boarded the the 4:15 express for London, and arrived three hours later at Victoria Station.
Characters
Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast, and Corrie Swanson
The Setting
Roaring Fork, Colorado
Corrie Swanson sets out to solve a long-forgotten mystery. In 1876, in a remote mining camp called Roaring Fork in the Colorado Rockies, several miners were killed in devastating grizzly bear attacks. Now the town has become an exclusive ski resort and its historic cemetery has been dug up to make way for development.
Corrie has arranged to examine the remains of the dead miners. But in doing so she makes a shocking discovery that threatens the resort’s very existence. The town’s leaders, trying to stop her from exposing their community’s dark and bloody past, arrest and jail her.
Special Agent Pendergast of the FBI arrives to help–just as a series of brutal arson attacks on multimillion dollar homes terrify the town and drive away tourists.
Drawn irresistibly into the investigation, Pendergast discovers an unlikely secret in Roaring Fork’s past, connecting the resort to a chance meeting between Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Oscar Wilde. With the town under siege, and Corrie’s life in desperate danger, Pendergast must solve the riddle of the past… before the town of the present goes up in flames.
Looking for a review of White Fire? Check out:
Warren’s Wide World of Randomness
Amazon Rating-US: 4.36 out of 5 stars based on 2,042 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.59 out of 5 stars based on 59 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 4.08 out of 5 stars based on 18,014 ratings
Library Thing Ratings: 3.84 out of 5 stars based on 264 ratings
Total Score 4.11 (updated 10/1/18)
#14- Blue Labyrinth – 2014
A Sample Clip of the Audiobook
Click here for my review on Blue Labyrinth
First Line:
The stately Beaux-Arts mansion on Riverside Drive between 137th and 138th Streets, while carefully tended and impeccably preserved, appeared to be untenanted.
Characters
Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast, Lt. Vincent D’Agosta, Constance Greene, Margo Green, Enoch Leng, Laura Hayward
Alban Pendergast: Pendergast’s son
The Setting
New York City, Brazil and Switzerland
A long-buried family secret resurfaces when one of Aloysius Pendergast’s most implacable enemies shows up on his doorstep as a murdered corpse. The mystery has all the hallmarks of the perfect murder, save for an enigmatic clue: a piece of turquoise lodged in the stomach of the deceased. The gem leads Pendergast to an abandoned mine on the shore of California’s desolate Salton Sea, which in turn propels him on a journey of discovery deep into his family’s sinister past. But Pendergast learns there is more at work than a ghastly episode of family history: he is soon stalked by a subtle killer bent on vengeance over an ancient transgression. In short order, Pendergast is caught in a wickedly clever plot, which will leave him stricken in mind and body…and may well end with his death.
Looking for a review of Blue Labyrinth? Check out:
Warren’s Wide World of Randomness
Amazon Rating-US: 4.56 out of 5 stars based on 2,147 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.39 out of 5 stars based on 56 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 4.12 out of 5 stars based on 14,654 ratings
Library Thing Ratings: 3.94 out of 5 stars based on 218 ratings
Total Score 4.17 (updated 10/1/18)
#15- Crimson Shore – 2015
A Sample Clip of the Audiobook
Click here for my review on Crimson Shore
First Line:
When the doorbell chimed, Constance Greene stopped playing the Flemish virginal and the library fell silent and tense.
Characters
Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast and Constance Greene
The Setting
New York City, Exmouth, Massachusetts
Special Agent Pendergast takes on a private case in Exmouth, Massachusetts-an ancient village on the coast north of Salem-to investigate the theft of a valuable wine cellar. He travels to the seaside town with his ward, Constance Greene, where they quickly discover something far more sinister: a bricked-up niche in the wine cellar that held the remains of a man, tortured and then entombed alive 150 years ago. But why? The puzzle is compounded when they discover a murdered body-covered with mysterious symbols-in the salt marshes behind Exmouth…the place where, legend has it, the real witches of Salem took refuge after fleeing the 1692 witch hunts….
Looking for a review of Crimson Shore? Check out:
Through Raspberry Colored Glasses
Amazon Rating-US: 4.28 out of 5 stars based on 1,649 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.19 out of 5 stars based on 32 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 4.00 out of 5 stars based on 13,025 ratings
Library Thing Ratings: 3.69 out of 5 stars based on 165 ratings
Total Score 4.03 (updated 10/1/18)
#16- The Obsidian Chamber – 2016
My review of the The Obsidian Chamber
First Line:
Proctor eased open the double doors of the library to allow Mrs Trask to pass through with a silver tray laden with a midmorning tea service.
Characters
Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast, Lt. Vincent D’Agosta, Constance Greene, Laura Hayward, and Diogenes Pendergast
Proctor: Pendergast’s butler and bodyguard
A TRAGIC DISAPPEARANCE
After a harrowing, otherworldly confrontation on the shores of Exmouth, Massachussetts, Special Agent A.X.L. Pendergast is missing, presumed dead.
A SHOCKING RETURN
Sick with grief, Pendergast’s ward, Constance, retreats to her chambers beneath the family mansion at 891 Riverside Drive–only to be taken captive by a shadowy figure from the past.
AN INTERNATIONAL MANHUNT
Proctor, Pendergast’s longtime bodyguard, springs to action, chasing Constance’s kidnapper through cities, across oceans, and into wastelands unknown.
BUT IN A WORLD OF BLACK AND WHITE, NOTHING IS AS IT SEEMS
And by the time Proctor discovers the truth, a terrifying engine has stirred-and it may already be too late.
Constance looked around again. The morning sun was hitting one side of the temple, the light diffusing in, cool and gray, seemingly coming from everywhere, and nowhere at once. The opposite side of the temple was dark, but not black. Neither pure white nor black was present in the room-everything was in infinite gradations of gray.
“So this is your obsidian chamber.”
“Obsidian chamber…you might call it that. Yes, you could very well call it that.”
Looking for a review of The Obsidian Chamber? Check out:
Warren’s Wide World of Randomness
Amazon Rating-US: 4.06 out of 5 stars based on 1,398 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 3.97 out of 5 stars based on 37 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 3.97 out of 5 stars based on 10,337 ratings
Library Thing Ratings: 3.71 out of 5 stars based on 119 ratings
Total Score 3.98 (updated 10/1/18)
#16.5- Gone Fishing – 2017 (Novella)
First Line:
The Ford Taurus hissed along the slick road, topped the hill and emerged from the woods.
Originally published in THRILLER (2006),
edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author James Patterson.
New York City policeman Vincent D’Agosta, who becomes involved with the theft of an ancient Incan sacrificial knife. But before D’Agosta can apprehend the thieves, they meet an untimely death. The particularly gruesome nature of the murders will leave D’Agosta longing for his more conventional villains—heat-packing crackheads, Hummer-driving pimps, two-dollar murderers, subway turnstile jumpers and the assortment of other freaks and bad guys he knows so well from the streets of New York City. His instincts tell him two things for certain: the inexplicable violence of this case has nothing to do with the original heist, and there are going to be more murders.
“Look, will you lighten up? In case you hadn’t noticed it’s over. We did it. Quit worrying and enjoy the vacation. When the heat’s off, we can figure out how to fence it, or melt it down, or whatever. In the meantime, we’ve gone fishing.
Amazon Rating-US: 3.45 out of 5 stars based on 102 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 3.00 out of 5 stars based on 1 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 3.61 out of 5 stars based on 464 ratings
Library Thing Ratings: 4.40 out of 5 stars based on 5 ratings
Total Score 3.59 (updated 10/1/18)
#17- City of Endless Night – 2018
My review of City of Endless Night
First Line:
Jacob walked fast, ahead of his brother, hands stuffed into his pockets, breath flaring in the frosty December air.
Characters
Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast, Lt. Vincent D’Agosta, Constance Greene and Laura Hayward
The Setting
New York City
It begins as a manhunt for Grace Ozmian, the missing daughter of a wealthy tech billionaire. At first, the NYPD assumes Grace, beautiful, reckless, and a regular feature of the local tabloids, has simply sped off on another wild adventure. But the case becomes something altogether different when the young woman’s body is discovered in an abandoned warehouse in Queens, the head nowhere to be found.
Lieutenant CDS Vincent D’Agosta quickly takes the lead. He knows his investigation will attract fierce scrutiny, so D’Agosta is delighted when FBI Special Agent A.X.L. Pendergast shows up at the crime scene also assigned to the case. “I feel rather like Brer Rabbit being thrown into the briar patch,” Pendergast tells D’Agota, “because I have found you here, in charge. Just like when we first met, back at the Museum of Natural History.”
D’Agosta hopes the case will give Pendergast an opportunity to demonstrate his considerable abilities back in the city he has made home. But neither Pendergast nor D’Agosta are prepared for what lies ahead. It quickly becomes clear that a diabolical presence is haunting the greater metropolitan area, and Grace Ozmian was only the first of many victims to be murdered…and decapitated. Worse still, there’s something unique to the city itself that has attracted its evil eye of the killer–or killers.
As mass hysteria sets in, Pendergast and D’Agosta find themselves in the crosshairs of an opponent who has threatened the very lifeblood of the city. It’ll take all of Pendergast’s skill to unmask this most dangerous foe–let alone survive to tell the tale.
So what is the motive to murder three such people? That now seems obvious. These killings may well be the work of a person who has taken upon himself the role of judge, jury, and executioner; a killer who is certainly a lunatic, perhaps also a religious or moral absolutist, who chooses his victims precisely because they embody the most depraved and dissolute aspects of our contemporary world. And what better place to find such icons than among the one percenters of New York City? And what better place to sow vengeance-to literally, turn Gotham into aCity of Endless Night?
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Amazon Rating-US: 4.20 out of 5 stars based on 894 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.46 out of 5 stars based on 27 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 4.09 out of 5 stars based on 8,918 ratings
Library Thing Ratings: 3.84 out of 5 stars based on 83 ratings
Total Score 4.10 (updated 10/1/18)
#18- Verses for the Dead – 2018
My review of Verses for the Dead
First Line:
Isabella Guerrero–known to her friends and fellow bridge club members as Iris–made her way demurely through the palms of Bayside Cemetary.
Characters
Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast, and Constance Greene
A.B Coldmoon: A new partner for Pendergast
Walter Pickett: Assistant FBI director
The Setting
Miami and south Florida
After an overhaul of leadership at the FBI’s New York field office, A. X. L. Pendergast is abruptly forced to accept an unthinkable condition of continued employment: the famously rogue agent must now work with a partner.
Pendergast and his new teammate, junior agent Coldmoon, are assigned to Miami Beach, where a rash of killings by a bloodthirsty psychopath are distinguished by a confounding M.O.: cutting out the hearts of his victims and leaving them-along with cryptic handwritten letters-at local gravestones, unconnected save in one bizarre way: all belonged to women who committed suicide.
But the seeming lack of connection between the old suicides and the new murders is soon the least of Pendergast’s worries. Because as he digs deeper, he realizes the brutal new crimes may be just the tip of the iceberg: a conspiracy of death that reaches back decades.
Looking for a review of Verses for the Dead? Check out:
Amazon Rating-US: 4.27 out of 5 stars based on 637 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.37 out of 5 stars based on 11 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 4.24 out of 5 stars based on 5,244 ratings
Library Thing Ratings: 3.97 out of 5 stars based on 48 ratings
Total Score 4.24 (updated 4/9/19)
#19- Crooked River – 2020
First Line:
Ward Persall walked along the narrow beach in a deliciously cool strip where the waves slid up and down on the glittering sand.
Characters
Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast, and Constance Greene, A.B Coldmoon, and Walter Pickett
Commander Baugh: Lead Coast Guard investigator of the missing feet case
The Setting
Captiva Island
Dozens of identical blue shoes are found in the ocean off the southwestern coast of Florida, all with a severed human foot inside, all exhibiting unmistakeable signs of violence. They appear out of nowhere one day, floating in on the tide as if appearing out of nowhere.
“Perhaps, but recall the missing factor. Let us look at extreme weather events–on land. Specifically, did the Crooked River flood at the time period when the feet would have entered the water and that illegal dredging was still in effect?
#20- Bloodless – 2021Agent Pendergast faces his most unexpected challenge yet when bloodless bodies begin to appear in Savannah, GA, in this next installment of the #1 NYT bestselling series.
A legendary heist:
On the evening of November 24, 1971, D. B. Cooper hijacked Flight 305 — Portland to Seattle — with a fake bomb, collected a ransom of $200,000, and parachuted into the night, never to be seen again… Perhaps.
A brutal crime steeped in malevolence:
Fifty years later, Agent Pendergast takes on a bizarre and gruesome case: in the ghost-haunted city of Savannah, Georgia, bodies are found completely drained of blood–sowing panic and reviving the infamous legend of the Savannah Vampire.
A case like no other in Pendergast’s career:
Through twists and turns, Pendergast and his partner, Agent Coldmoon, race to understand how these murders are connected to the most mystifying hijacking in American history. Together, they discover not just the killer-but an unearthly evil beyond all reckoning.
Looking for a review of Bloodless? Check out:
#21- The Cabinet of Dr. Leng – (Expected release date 1/17/23)Against all odds, Constance has found a way back to the place of her origins, New York City in the late 1800s, and sets off on a quest to prevent the events that lead to the deaths of her sister and brother, and stop Manhattan’s most infamous serial killer, Dr. Enoch Leng of the seminal Pendergast novel The Cabinet of Curiosities, before his nefarious experiments come to fruition.
Meanwhile, in present-day New York, Pendergast is desperate to find a way to reunite with Constance—but will he find a way before it’s too late?
A-Thrill-A-Week 
Excellent!
🙂