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.

BLOODLESS

 5 stars out of 5

Wow - this one sure took a turn for the bizarre! And the ending? Well, I'm still in shock. The ending, of course, I can't reveal. As for the bizarre, with this series - this is the 20th book - it's pretty much to be expected, although maybe not quite this much.

The story begins with the 1971 disappearance of D.B. Cooper, who, threatening the flight crew with what turned out to be a fake bomb, collected a ransom of $200,000 and parachuted from Flight 305 that started in Portland headed for Seattle (which is, for the record, a true story). Readers may (should) suspect that this has some bearing on the tale that follows, when FBI Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast and his partner, Agent Armstrong Coldmoon, are ordered to Savannah, Georgia. There, a couple of bodies have been found totally drained of blood - either a blessing or a bane, depending on who's looking to get rich or famous - in a city that's known for its ghosts and vampires.

Special interests also are at work here, in the form of a group looking to capture paranormal activity on film and a man looking to do an expose on the paranormal-filming group. While a couple of blood-let bodies may boost or hinder their causes one way or another, the same can be said of how their activities impact Pendergast's investigation. Throw in a couple more bloodless bodies, a sinister cemetery and some futuristic technology, and Pendergast and company definitely have their hands and thinking caps full.

As usual, Pendergast gets a lot of assistance from his ward with the mysterious background, Constance Greene; this time, her help not only is crucial to solving the case, but ultimately brings into question the direction future books in this series will take. For sure I'm one who will be waiting on pins and needles for the next one. As for this, well, nothing left to say but bravo (and please, please, don't waste any time getting the next installment ready).

Bloodless by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Grand Central Publishing, August 2021); 400 pp.

CROOKED RIVER

5 stars out of 5

Plots that border the implausible and characters who do the impossible make this series especially appealing to me. The star of the show, FBI special agent Aloysius Pendergast, and his young, mysterious ward, Constance Greene, are so intriguing that I simply can't get enough. In this one, it's clear from the outset that something grisly is afoot - literally; but while Pendergast performs his usual feats of mental brilliance, it is Constance who steals the action scenes this time around.

Enjoying some rare downtime, Pendergast is annoyed to get a call ordering him to a crime scene on Florida's Sanibel Island. There, he learns that dozens of identical green sneakers are floating ashore with the tide - all containing human feet. But from whence did they come? Are the rest of the bodies still intact and alive, and if so, where?

Other police and Coast Guard officers and FBI agents (the latter including Assistant Director Walter Pickett, with whom I developed an immediate affinity given that Pickett is my maiden name) are there to help. Theories run all over the map, for a time centering on a Cuban prison. But only when Pendergast commandeer's the research boat of a Dr. Gladstone and her capable tech-savvy assistant do they discover the true origin - and it's too close to home for comfort. Meanwhile, a local hot-shot reporter finds a clue and sets off on his own to get the scoop - putting his own life in peril - and Pendergast calls on another of his cohorts, Agent Coldmoon (a Native American who will be familiar to readers of previous books), to kick in his special brand of assistance.

But the more the investigation gets a leg-up on the truth, the more the powers-that-be insist that Pendergast and his team to toe the official line. Needless to say, stay the course has never been part of Pendergast's crime-solving strategy, and it certainly rankles him this time around. But this case just might the one to do him in; and it will be up to Constance, with some help from Coldmoon - to keep this, the 19th book, from becoming the end of the series. But no, I never really believed that was a possibility, and a cliffhanger at the end assured me there will be a 20th. Bring it on!

Crooked River by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Grand Central Publishing, February 2020); 416 pp.

CRIMSON SHORE

3.5 stars out of 5

Reading about the adventures of FBI Special Agent A.X.L. Pendergast and his ward, Constance Greene, always is a treat. This latest installment, though, doesn't quite measure up to its predecessors. The first two-thirds of the book is outstanding; thinking it was finished at that point, I said to myself, "Well done," only to discover that the plot veers off in another direction. That final part is where I lost interest; the whole scenario, which ended in a major cliffhanger that more than anything else smacked of future sales enticement somehow seemed disjointed and implausible even by Pendergast standards. 

The adventure begins as the duo come to Exmouth, Massachusetts, to investigate the theft of a very expensive wine collection (Pendergast agrees to take the case only because he insisted that the client give him a bottle of extremely rare wine from a case that was left behind for a fee). Early on, they discover that the wine cellar has a much darker secret; a chamber hidden behind the wine racks in which a man was chained and most likely tortured many years ago (with a nod to Edgar Allen Poe). That discovery leads to another secret: That the fishing village harbors an even darker history that includes pillaging, covens of witches who escaped the 1692 trials in Salem and, of course, murder. 

All that history might have remained the subject of conjecture, but then a newly murdered body - carved with demonic symbols, no less - is found in the salt marshes that leads Pendergast and Greene - a la Holmes and Watson - to start connecting dots to the past. That's followed by another body that's unearthed under similar circumstances, and the links to history turn even more sinister. 

Along the way, readers get in-depth looks at the personalities of the main characters; and although much of their appeal is that they're quirky to say the least, they seem to veer off the deep end here. Tossing perfectly good lobster rolls in the trash simply because they couldn't figure out how to get them to their mouths? Prim, proper and disdainful of "modern" ways I understand, but for gosh sake, if they're intelligent enough to solve complex murders (and, presumably, are hungry), surely one of them could have dredged up the intestinal fortitude to ask for a fork.

Make no mistake, though, I'm still a fan of this series (and of the authors, both individually and as a team); Pendergast and Greene's eccentricities and peccadilloes in and of themselves are enough to keep the books on my must-read list.

Crimson Shore by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Grand Central Publishing, November 2015); 337 pp.

BLUE LABYRINTH

4 stars out of 5

This is, I believe, the 14th book in the series featuring FBI Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast, who loves what he does so much - and is so independently wealthy - that he accepts a "salary" of only $1 a year. Not insignificantly, this also allows him far greater latitude as he conducts crime investigations and helps him remain more than a little bit of a mysterious streak.

For the record, I've read only one other in this series - White Fire - which is the 13th. I enjoyed it very much as well, and I remain steadfast in my belief that someday - really - I'll get around to reading a few of the earlier editions. That said, the two I've read stand alone well enough that while having a more in-depth knowledge of character development over the years would be helpful, it's certainly not necessary.

This book, too, was hard to put down, resulting in much daily grousing when other chores loomed between me and my Kindle Fire. I will, however, offer my only criticism - such as it is - that the ending is a bit over-dramatic and implausible (hence 4 stars instead of 5). But when I think about it, that's to be expected in a Pendergast book.

It begins as Pendergast opens his front door to find a body "standing" there. It's not just your average old body, though - it's the body of his worse-than-evil estranged son. There are no apparent clues until an atopsy reveals an unusual piece of turquoise in his stomach; after uncovering the probable source of the stone, Pendergast travels to an abandoned mine even though he's sure the whole thing is a set-up.

A set-up it is, and what happens to him there leads him, his close friends and FBI co-workers to a long-ago Pendergast family secret that's gone seriously awry and threatens the agent's very life. More explanation would reveal too much of the story, so I'll simply say this: Another outstanding piece of work, guys!

Blue Labyrinth by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Grand Central Publishing, November 2014); 408 pp.