HERO SEEKS VENGEANCE
Book review of Preston & Child's "Cold Vengeance"
Sep 07, 2011
Fredricksburg.com
By Chelyen Davis
August 28, 2011
When fans of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child last saw Special Agent Pendergast in "Fever Dream," he had learned his wife's death was not an accident but murder, and was preparing to go hunting in Scotland with her brother, not realizing the man planned to kill him.
Quite a cliffhanger. This latest in the duo's series, picks up there. Pendergast continues delving into the circumstances around his wife Helen's death, realizing as he goes that this wasn't just one woman's murder, but a deeper conspiracy with mysterious actors and far-reaching implications. Meanwhile, he must stay a step ahead of brother-in-law Judson Esterhazy, who will stop at nothing to prevent Pendergast from getting to the bottom of things.
This is not the best of the Pendergast stories; the agent's shift from a cool, detached and courteous character to one who is desperately bent on vengeance is a bit jarring, and some of his actions seem out of character. The novel also packs a wallop of a cliffhanger. That said, Preston and Child typically deliver a fast-paced, interesting read, and "Cold Vengeance" is no different.
This is the 11th of Preston and Child's Pendergast novels, and the second in the mini-trilogy involving Helen Pendergast. While some of the past novels can be picked up by a casual reader, "Cold Vengeance" will be much more comprehensible to Pendergast fans who've read the full series, or at least the preceding book.
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Sep 07, 2011
Fredricksburg.com
By Chelyen Davis
August 28, 2011
When fans of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child last saw Special Agent Pendergast in "Fever Dream," he had learned his wife's death was not an accident but murder, and was preparing to go hunting in Scotland with her brother, not realizing the man planned to kill him.
Quite a cliffhanger. This latest in the duo's series, picks up there. Pendergast continues delving into the circumstances around his wife Helen's death, realizing as he goes that this wasn't just one woman's murder, but a deeper conspiracy with mysterious actors and far-reaching implications. Meanwhile, he must stay a step ahead of brother-in-law Judson Esterhazy, who will stop at nothing to prevent Pendergast from getting to the bottom of things.
This is not the best of the Pendergast stories; the agent's shift from a cool, detached and courteous character to one who is desperately bent on vengeance is a bit jarring, and some of his actions seem out of character. The novel also packs a wallop of a cliffhanger. That said, Preston and Child typically deliver a fast-paced, interesting read, and "Cold Vengeance" is no different.
This is the 11th of Preston and Child's Pendergast novels, and the second in the mini-trilogy involving Helen Pendergast. While some of the past novels can be picked up by a casual reader, "Cold Vengeance" will be much more comprehensible to Pendergast fans who've read the full series, or at least the preceding book.
Read more