ANGEL OF VENGEANCE

5 stars out of 5

Right up front I'll say this: if you haven't read at least a couple of other recent books in this series, it's likely you won't "get' much of this one. If what I've read is correct, it closes the books, so to speak, on the efforts of FBI Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast and his ward, Constance Greene, to defeat the evil Dr. Enoch Leng - this time on the doctor's own turf, New York City, in the late 1880s. But those who have been following the action will, I think, agree that it's a zinger.

There has been, you see, a "portal" that leads from the present to that 19th century past; in the previous book, Constance - partly for personal reasons and mostly to save her family (including herself as a child) from certain torture and death at the hands of Leng - made her way through. She was followed by Pendergast and Vincent D'Agosta, after which - whoops - the portal slammed shut, perhaps never to open again. The questions at the start are many: Will Constance get Leng before he gets her? Will Pendergast be able to save her (if, in fact, he finds her at all)? If any or all survive, will they find a way to get back to the present? 

Those questions, as well as some readers won't even think to ask, will be answered as the protagonists plot their moves through the underbelly of a city in which Uber's pick-up and delivery vehicles have four legs. There are many twists, turns and narrow escapes, but there's no escaping that it's a riveting adventure. But to get the details, you'll just have to read it for yourself. As for me, I'll just say Wow! and thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the privilege of reading a pre-release copy. 

Angel of Vengeance by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Grand Central Publishing, August 2024); 346 pp.