THE CABINET OF DR. LENG

5 stars out of 5

Spoiler that's not a spoiler: Prepare yourself for a doozy of a cliffhanger. Otherwise, just sit back and enjoy a ride that will take you - together with mysterious FBI agent A.X.L. Pendergast, his beautiful ward, Constance Green and his occasional investigative partner Lt. Vincent D'Agosta - back to a time, and a deadly nemesis, they'd all prefer to forget.

Actually, there are two other stories here, broadening the appeal and giving extra page time to D'Agosta and Special Agent Armstrong Coldmoon, both of whom will be familiar to followers of this series (of which this is the 21st). D'Agosta finds himself cooling his heels in a New York museum, where a body was found frozen in one of the preservation rooms - clearly not an accident. Coldmoon, who transfers to the Denver office, gets called in to investigate the murder of a prominant Lakota artist on the Rosebud Reservation. Pendergast, understandably, is distraught that Constance has left him - faithful readers will recall her exit in the previous book, Bloodless - and he's painfully aware of where she's gone and why. She hasn't asked for his help - in fact, she would be irrevocably upset if he gave it - so he must proceed with caution if he proceeds at all.

The whole thing is, obviously, very other-worldly, but I'm sure those who have been following the stories will "get" it. Providing more details on what happens and how wouldn't be prudent on my part, so I'll just say it's well-thought-out and a delight to read. And oh, did I mention a doozy of a cliffhanger? Extra thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review this pre-release copy. Next, please? And soon?

The Cabinet of Dr. Leng by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Grand Central Publishing, January 2023); 416 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.

THE OBSIDIAN CHAMBER

5 stars out of 5


The most recent book in the long-running series featuring Special Agent A.X.L. Pendergast, Crimson Shore, ended with the eccentric, almost other-worldly agent missing and presumed dead. This one, not surprisingly, picks up where that one left off. And because it's the next in a series, it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that Pendergast somehow survived his ordeal on the shores of Exmouth, Massachusetts. 

Admittedly, the previous book didn't thrill me as much as I'd hoped; still, when I got a chance to read an advance copy of this one in exchange for an honest review, I jumped at it. And boy, am I glad I did; any shortcomings in that last one are made up for here in spades. It's not a short book at 560 pages, but I polished it off in three days just because it was too hard to put down.

It begins two weeks after Pendergast is lost, and his ward, the ageless Constance Greene, is beside herself with grief. She retreats to the catacombs beneath the house she shares with the agent, thinking life as she'd come to know it is over. Suddenly, she's apparently taken captive by someone familiar with the Pendergast mansion on Riverside Drive - someone thought to have been killed by Constance almost three years earlier. As Pendergast's "man" Proctor begins to track her down, he's attacked as well; when he picks up the chase once again, he follows "clues" that could lead him to Constance or, more likely, to meet his maker. 

As always, though, nothing is written in stone (well, actually, some of it is; the "obsidian" referred to in the book title is a glass-like volcanic rock formed by rapid solidification of lava without crystallization). Needless to say, it plays a central part in the story, which takes the characters and readers halfway around the world and back before coming to an end - with the requisite cliffhanger, of course. I wish I offer more details, but doing so undoubtedly would spoil things for those familiar with the series. 

For those who haven't yet had the pleasure, I'll say this can be read as a standalone, but your enjoyment will be enhanced if you read at least a few of the books that came before it (this is, I believe, the 16th in the series). In any event, kudos to the authors for dreaming up yet another intricate, intriguing plot!

The Obsidian Chamber by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Grand Central Publishing, October 2016); 560 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.