Blindly leaping off the edge of the cliffhanger which Preston and Child left us poised upon at the end of "Brimstone", "Dance of Death" quickly moves the rivalry and hatred between FBI Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast and his demented brother Diogenes to centre stage. Pendergast has come to the realization that Diogenes' plan is to utterly destroy his life by killing anyone near and dear to him - colleagues, mentors, friends, his fragile ward, Constance Green and, God forbid, Viola Maskelene, the lady who appears to have stolen Pendergast's heart!
Like any good thriller, the novel entertains us in passing with some red herring sub-plots - the Dangler affair, a sad-sack perv who exposes himself to the security cameras at bank ATMs; and the rather more topical and interesting Sacred Images exhibition at the New York Museum of Natural History that highlights the ongoing conflict between modern man and aboriginal cultures and religions. But centre stage is reserved for Diogenes' evil machinations and Pendergast's efforts to thwart his plans!
With every page turned, Preston and Child's uncanny characters will move further and further into the realm of reality in the minds of a reader. In an almost eerie re-incarnation of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, invested by fans to this very day with a life well beyond Doyle's writings, Pendergast too becomes warm-hearted and human as his affection for Lieutenant D'Agosta, his very own Watson, rises to the surface. That Pendergast (like Holmes) is devastated and grief-stricken over his own failures is obvious as he drives himself to extreme personal sacrifice to protect Lady Maskelene, his own Irene Adler. One can almost imagine Pendergast, in a refined Southern drawl, referring to her as "that woman"!
Preston and Child's almost trademarked diverting sidebars into science and beyond - details of the forensic investigation into the minutiae of murder scene clues; the disturbing ethical conflicts faced by modern anthropologists and museums; the trivia of diamond classification, colours, cuts and values; the technology of modern building security; and legal requirements for the involuntary commitment of the mentally ill, for example - are not neglected ... and I, for one, enjoy these well placed sidelines of fascinating detail. But, as the three-part story picks up pace, plot and character development, driven by sparkling dialogue, grab the lion's share of the novel's pages!
The break between "Dance of Death" and "The Book of the Dead" is natural enough but - make no mistake - it is little more than a pause in the action. I turned the final page on one, took a sip from my martini and immediately cracked the cover on the next to continue the story. I'm sure you will too!
Paul Weiss
(It's an uphill battle to overtake Harriet Klausner at Amazon but maybe, just maybe, with your votes and support it might be possible ... the review is located at http://tinyurl.com/yzhq4z )
1 comment:
I have never read any books by Preston and Childs. But after reading your review, I just might! Great Review!
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