Mimi's Bookcase

Synopsis: "In the exciting eighth supernatural thriller from bestsellers Preston and Child (after 2006's The Book of the Dead), FBI agent Aloysius Pendergast and his ward, Constance Greene, seek peace of mind at a remote Tibetan monastery, only to fall into yet another perilous, potentially earthshaking assignment. The monastery's abbot asks them to recover a stolen relic, the cryptic Agozyen, which could, in the wrong hands, wipe out humanity. The pair follow the trail to a luxury cruise ship, where a series of brutal murders suggests the relic's evil spirit might already have been invoked. Fans of earlier books focused on a thinly disguised American Museum of Natural History may find less at stake among the new cast of secondary characters, but the fate of Constance, who claims to have aborted the child of Pendergast's villainous younger brother, remains a potent subplot. While not as frightening as others in the series, this entry still shows why the authors stand head and shoulders above their rivals in this subgenre." (From Amazon.com)


My Opinion: I've been meaning to write about this series for so long but always forgot even though I love it so much. Written by 4 hands, the character of the FBI agent Pendergast and his adventures are among my favourite readings. I discovered them by chance 2 years ago when I was checking Amazon for some recommended books to bring with me for the summer holidays. I ended buying the 3rd book "The Cabinet of Curiosities" without even knowing it was part of a series and that it contained fantastic elements. That was the biggest surprise for me as I was only expecting a "normal" thriller novel and then found mentions of an immortal serial killer. I read that book in 2 days and ended being so frustrated because I didn't have more and especially the first 2 books. Don't get me wrong you can still understand even without the 2 first but it's better to start a series by its beginning, right? Once I was back home I bought and read all the other available books and I'm still in love with Preston & Child's stories.
Aloysius Pendergast is one of the most interesting character I've read about. He's not your typical FBI agent, his physical appearance and his intelligence are one of a kind. He's mostly interested in the most strange cases and he's always aware of them before even being called by authorities to help which doesn't help him being liked by other agents and cops who find him rather weird. But what I like in Pendergast is that despite his brains, he still makes mistakes and that is much more enthralling that the perfect character who finds all the solutions without many difficulties.

This 8th book is another interesting read which involves much more characters than usual and a new sitting in a luxury cruise ship that doesn't offer many ways out. Pendergast and his "protégée" Constance Greene have to find a stolen relic that may bring the end of the world.
The different points of view adopted make it more complex and allow 2 exciting stories to take place at the same time. The ghost of Pendergast's brother met in books 5, 6 & 7 can still be felt as even in death he manages to remind them of what he did, not allowing the living to forget.

Preston & Child are the parents of an always gripping and rather unique series of thriller books to which they don't hesitate to add some fantastic elements in order to make their plots even better.


To summarize: I TOTALLY RECOMMEND THIS SERIES ^___^