Product Description
35 Years of Star Trek Celebration. One of 35 Covers made for this week's Issue. INCLUDES: *35 Trek-tacular Moments *Michael Douglas: Not Playing It Safe *Ted Koppel's Not So Excellent Adventure *Soap Actor Peter Noone from As The World Turns *The Early Show's Meredith Vieira *TV Guide Crossword ... Read more

Product Description
Two deadly criminals, Two-Face, a twisted former DA, and the Riddler, an evil computer genius, devise a sinister revenge plot against Gotham City, its protector, Batman, and his new partner, Robin. Movie tie-in. Book available. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

If Only They'd Filmed THIS...
Most movie novelizations are forgettable, cash-in-on-the-hype projects.Not so this one.As others have said, this book is MUCH better than the film.If the moviemakers had only used it as their script, Forever could've been the best of the original Bat films.

Peter David is a truly gifted writer, and the novel does a good job of tying the story back to what happened in the previous film, Batman Returns.He also develops the prior relationship of Batman and Harvey Dent/Two-Face and delves deeper into Bruce Wayne's personal anguish over Dent's fall from grace, as well as his feelings of guilt over his parents' deaths.The novel sheds much of the silliness in the characterizations of Riddler and Two-Face that proved distracting in the film.

Frankly, I wasn't expecting much when I picked this up, but I was very impressed.It's not just a good Batman novel.It's a good novel.

Super Reader
A solid Batman story, it only suffers from the fact that it has The Riddler shoehorned in as a second villain, when it does not seem to be necessary at all. This cramps the room for the other characters, who aren't too bad at all. Alfred is Alfred, Chase Meridian is intriguing as a psychiatrist, and the hot headed teenaged acrobat Robin isn't too horrible.

Batman here is having problems with these two new people in his life, and his mental state becomes fragile.

Better Than The Movie
I Love Batman he is my Favorite D.C. Superhero. This book is alot better than the movie more detailes about the villians & Heros. This is one of the lighter batman books not so much suspence but a lot of action.



If You Liked This Book Read Batman, Batman Returns & Batman & Robin

Excellent!A must for Batman fans.
This book blows away the movie.I could not put this book down.I'm serious; read it.

Decent
Well, the movie was not up to par with the two first classic Tim BurtonBat-flicks, but the book is good. The film was hardly a serious approach.Fluffy, with Carrey extremelly silly and unfunny and with Tommy Lee Jonessimply One-Dimensional. However, in this book, as absurd it may sound,Edward Nygma (Carrey's character) is presented as a sad person, who isfrustrated by his ruthless boss and wants to payback as the Riddler. As forTommy Lee Jones' character (Two-Face), he is presented as a tragic figurewho is not a true villain but a victim of the circumstances. All in all,the book although follows the script of the film, it is a lot better, andmakes me think that the reason that this film sucked was not itsscriptwriter but its director. ... Read more

Product Description
It is one second before midnight 1999. Cynical TV correspondent John Feldman is stationed in Jerusalem, ready to report on the letdown of the century--he firmly believes nothing momentous could possibly happen. Yet his world is rocked when something does indeed happen--a geological event of staggering proportions. Then come reports of a miraculous woman--one whose arrival promises to change the world, and John's life, forever. Simultaneous hardcover release from Warner Books. 3 cassettes.Amazon.com Review
Just in time for the millennium, Glenn Kleier mixes bioengineering and religion,miracles and modern warfare, politics and physics to produce a grippingtale set in the Middle East at the dawn of the 21st century.Whena mysterious explosion destroys a top-secret laboratory in the Negev deserton Christmas Day 1999, Jonathan Feldman, a reporter, isn't satisfied withthe official explanation. Neither is the Vatican, nor an Americanfundamentalist preacher, nor the patriarch of the Jehovah's Witnesses, allof whom believe that Armageddon may truly be at hand.After a New Year'sEve earthquake strikes the temple at the Well of David and a mysteriousfigure appears in the ruins, strange things begin to happen.Reports ofmiracles filter in from throughout the region, and the legend of Jeza takeson a life of its own.When the young miracle worker chooses Jonathan toconnect her to the world and broadcast her warning of the cataclysm to come,the world's religious leaders are plunged into conflict.Seeking todiscredit her, they spread the secret of her high-tech, bioengineeredbirth. But their actions backfire; Jeza's influence grows.Holy warsbreak outin the Middle East and chaos erupts all over the world.AsEaster 2000 approaches, the political situation grows even more tense: Willthere be another crucifixion, another resurrection? Kleier handles thiscomplicated plot with ease, and fans of futuristic thrillers won't bedisappointed. --Jane Adams ... Read more

Customer Reviews (844)

Boring, Pretentious Nonsense
Very poorly written and ridiculously plotted thriller that doesn't come close to providing any thrills.Glacially paced and over long, much of the novel is made up of silly, superficial, and boring sermons that are simply some sort of New Age nonsense.The dialogue is stiff and artificial and the characterizations are paper thin and hardly developed at all.The unique concept of a female messiah is wasted in the hands of this author and one can't help but think of the gold that could have been mined from the premise by a talented writer.This really merits the skill of a gifted writer and not a hack. Instead, the messiah character here is just a shallow, preachy lunatic with little of the charisma that would inspire the hoopla depicted.In fact, no character behaves as if anything significant is happening except some of the stock villains who seem to have escaped from a 1940's Warner Bros. movie.Considering the number of reviews on Amazon, I was very disappointed with this so-called thriller and less than impressed with the author's pretentious attitude toward readers.The number of stars it has rated is nothing less than perplexing and somewhat suspicious, but most of the positive reviews seem to be rants attacking those who dared give this trivial book less than stellar reviews.Well, it's hardly Tolstoy or Faulkner, and it isn't even close to Ludlum or even the loopey Dan Brown.In fact, Kleier makes Brown's famous opus seem like great literature and he can barely put sentences together to form a decent plot.Still, the gimmick in the Brown book worked to some extent while the gimmick in this falls completely flat.A total waste of time.

I am a fan of shenanigans
The Last Day by Glenn Kleier

Good read, thriller variety. Shenanigans at the Vatican, not to mention within The so called Holy Land, AND all sort of goings on in Salt Lake City. A Messiah..fire from the sky.. you name it and this book has it. Malarkey enough for everyone.
I loved it! Lots of religious references.. and and earthquake and lightening strike or two for spice. Even a bit of romance!

4 stars for shenanigans!

a good read
This novel is not my normal type of book.It is a very unusual book and I liked it.It had to overcome my skepticism about the topic of the book but it did and I thought the book was a good read.

I think that mystery readers and sci-fi readers and some religious people interested in the end of things will find this an interesting read.

J. Robert Ewbankauthor "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the 'Isms'"

Great riff on traditional religion
The book is hilarious. Kleier takes shots at the pomposity of religious groups and hits the mark each time. Jeza is a wonderful creation....too bad that the zealot leaders and their flocks just don't get it.
Please, Mr. Author....a sequel!

Edit....I increased my rating to Five Stars.
And please, again, a sequel is much desired.

Disjointed storytelling
This book came highly recommended to me, and by the virtue of the glowing reviews here on Amazon, I thought this story would be riveting, interesting, and worth the time it would take to read it. Unfortunately, that's not what happened as I trudged through to the end of this book.

This book is already quite dated - we miraculously survived the turning of the new millenium without so much as a cosmic peep, and much more horrific things have happened since that time. The story takes us through the events leading up to January 1, 2000, with a fantastic explosion, a mysterious, covert experiment, and an even more mysterious young woman who may or may not be the messiah. What ensues is chaos as the world begins to divide itself into the "we believe she's the messiah" and "we think it's a hoax" camps of thought.

First, I like that the author brings in the media frenzy that would undoubtedly occur with this type of event. However, the fact that it took what felt like about 5 minutes for everyone in the world to take a side on the messiah issue was far too forced and unbelievable. In short, although I can read almost anything and find something to like about it, I was bored by this story. The characters were very one-dimensional, the action seemed forced, and I never read anything that had me on the edge of my seat. In fact, if this book had not been recommended to me by a fellow book lover, I doubt I would have finished it at all.

Based on all the positive reviews of this book here on Amazon, I can concede that this simply was not the right kind of story for me. However, I can forgive almost anything while I'm reading a book (poor editing, bad grammar, inconsistencies, etc.), but I can't forgive a story that doesn't pique my interest at least slightly, and this particular book was a chore to read. ... Read more

Product Description
2 cassettes; 2 hours 30 minutes approx. runtime; Dolby. ... Read more

Product Description
Unaabridged on 12 CDS in library edition. Mystery, thrilller and suspense set on a luxury ocean liner on its maiden voyage across the North Atlantic, awash in wealth and decadence. An ancient Tibetian box forces an FBI agent to confront what he fears most -- himself. ... Read more

Product Description
An anonymous note sends Arthur Conan Doyle--rising young surgeon and demystifier of the occult--on the trail of a dangerous group of elite Satanists. 2 cassettes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (94)

List of Seven
As a fan of Sherlock Holmes, and Victorian era mysteries in general, I was looking forward to reading this book. The story took some time to get started, but once it did, it was very close to epic in scale (which surprised me). Some of the notable historical personalities are used wisely(Bram Stoker et. al). The "off-screen" ending was a bit of a let down. All in all good stuff in this one. I would also highly recommend the "Alienest" series by Caleb Carr.

A 3-P Special
Ever watch one of those movies that is so bad you almost can't stop watching it?This is the non-literary equivalent of such an event, a book that is a preposterously, puerile, purple-prosed claptrap with a supposedly surprise ending that is reallya rather funny one-line joke. Interspersed with the totally unbelievable goings-on that insist on dragging in some historical characters whose families ought to hire PR people to keep them free of such ill-usage are occasional. random theological and philosophical ramblings that mean zippo for this hippo, although they do offer some relief from the gobbledegookish goings on that should make a reader of graphic novels blush . . . and not with envy. You want to read a good book that has the same focus, covers much the same ground, includes historical personages (in a very clever way) and is witty, urbane, sophisticated and propulsive?Try "The Somnambulist'. . .which is what one should label the readers of this verbal version of a third-run SyFy Channel movie.

Richard Berg

Holmsian Inspiration
Did you see the 2009 Sherlock Holmes movie and wish that the super natural-esque things that went on were actually real and not just concoctions of science? If you did, then The List of Seven is definitely the book for you (even if you didn't like the movie, but love Holmes, read this). Certainly, when I picked up the book, I thought it sounded a little silly. I wanted to read the sequel first. Thankfully, this book didn't disappoint.

The story focuses around a young Arthur Conan Doyle, who is on the run from a "Dark Brotherhood" that seems to think his recent manuscript is a little too similar to their plans for comfort. They spare no expenses trying to track him down and kill him in order to stop the manuscript from being published. He meets Jack Sparks, a character that just screams Sherlock Holmes in all of his characteristics. Looking at Doyle and Sparks, you can see how Frost used the well-known Watson and Holmes dynamic to shape this partnership.

Reviews on the back of the book say that the plot drives along like a speeding train, and it most certainly does--but in all the best ways possible. Filled with Holmsian logic and disguises, Frost does an excellent job shadowing the original canon. Strong characters and outrageous leaps of deduction fill each chapter. It's hard not to love Doyle and Sparks, mirrors of the Watson and Holmes duo, as well as the twins Barry and Larry that follow Sparks and the late addition of Eileen as a strong and clever woman (not quite Irene Adler status, but close to it). The story takes the reader on a tour of England in the late 19th century, and Frost leaves more than a few interesting tidbits of food-for-thought along the way (some of which I'm not entirely too sure are true, but spark an interesting line of thought).

But in the end, the book doesn't quite leave you with a satisfied feel. True to the Holmes canon, Sparks and his nemesis (a character just as intimidating as Moriarty, though I'll leave the relationship for you to figure out) make their final stand on Reichenbach Falls. After learning this, Doyle sits down to write a story about his friend and their adventures--and you just know that the result is Sherlock Holmes. Still, the last few pages leave you going "OH MY GOD WAIT--DID THAT JUST--DID HE JUST--OHMAN." I have yet to read the second book (The Six Messiahs), but I'm hoping it will answer some of those open-ended questions from the first one.

Long review short, if you're looking for a good period mystery-thriller (I was when I went to the book store), go for this. It keeps you turning the pages, and going "Okay, I'll put it down at the end of the chapter" (even though the chapters are long). If you like Sherlock Holmes--the movie, the books, what have you--you'll most certainly love this book. Familiar characters appear with different faces, but it's very clear on how Mark Frost made their influences on Doyle in order to influence his creation of Sherlock Holmes. There is no end to the suspense, and certainly no end to the supernatural that follows along behind Sparks and Doyle.

A List to Remember
OK.So its dark and stormy night and I am ordering books and working my way through the wrong end of a pitcher of Maragaritas when somehow Amazon brings me back to a title I vaguely recall from a decade ago.No one likes to be manipulated, but, I gladly hand over the reins to the the shopper in the sky.

I am glad I did.

I mainly read books that are not fun hoping they might be.This book is enough fun to make up for all of that futile discipline.Its everything you need with Conan Doyle and cross references to Bram Stoker.It is an implausible story with plausible characters laden with references to great fiction to come.

It seems Mark Frost no longer publishes.Encourage him by purchasing this book in its original edition.We need someone who is willing to take up the challenge thrown down by the hacks that now crowd this genre.

Excellent!
Expecting a typical whodunit I was surprised by this excellent book. The writing is a pleasure to let wash over you and I find myself (as I do with books I really like) taking time to enjoy the prose. Apart from the story itself, his writing contains lots of interesting...stuff which would fill plenty of time at a book club seance. The story line is fast paced with just the right amount of uncertainty as it regards the outcome. Definitely recommended. ... Read more

Product Description
The descendants of the house of Shannara have all completed their perilous quests, but the arrival of Rimmer Dall poses the greatest challenge yet to the three heroes. By the author of the The Druid of Shannara. 250,000 first printing. $100,000 ad/promo. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (48)

Great sum of the prevoius books
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3JEGR0W4JPSA7 I was glad to see the final outcome and what was really attacking and killing the earth.Great final story in this series

Fast-paced, good read
The conclusion to the four-book series wraps up the quests of all three main characters and their quests. Par has the Sword of Shannara...only he can't use it. Wren, now Queen of the Elves, has returned the Elves to Westland...only Arborlon is about to be attacked by a Federation and Seeker army ten times its size. And Walker Boh has transformed into a Druid and restored Paranor. The quests Allanon set for them have been fulfilled. Only problem? The Federation is still in power, the Shadowen are still killing people and the land is still dying. The charges have been met, but none of the characters actually know what fulfilling them was supposed to do to help. And now they have new sets of problems to deal with. Rimmer Dall, nonplussed about the fact that the trio completed their charges, has decided to send all three a special gift. For Walker, he releases the Four Horsemen (War, Pestilence, Famine and Death--VERY cool monsters!) who trap him in his castle at Paranor. For Wren, who lost her best friend Garth, he sends a Shadowen guised as a new "friend." And for Par he sends, let's just say, a sort of mental manipulation basically intended to drive the poor boy nuts. So all three not only have to overcome these obstacles, but at the same time also figure out what, exactly, their talismans are supposed to do to stop the Shadowen. And even worse, none of the three knows if the other has even completed their quest, as they've been separated this entire time.
As the final book in the series, this is definitely a good one. Now that we're back to covering all the different characters again, the pace is generally fast. Characters are captured and recaptured within pages of each other. Battles are fought, lost, refought and won in relatively short span. It gives less time for characters to brood and whine and overthink and spends a lot more time with the action.
All in all, I have to say, I do like Brooks work. He's definitely not my favorite fantasy writer, and I do need a break now after reading seven in a row, but I'm very excited to get started on his "modern" books and see how those are.I think any lover of fantasy should give Brooks a try if you haven't already, and I don't think you could be disappointed. I'd be curious as to why he'd be anyone's favorite, but certainly not why he'd be amongst the collection of authors you'd, at the very least, read and recommend.

great end, but i didnt think we got all our answers
I thought the "stolen magic" was a little stupid and the shadowen we not explained as well as i would have liked. The battle with the Elves and the Federation was rushed, i did not feel i got all the answers but it was still a great book.

Decent book but you're glad the series is over when it's done
I overall enjoyed this series (I did prefer SofS triology a lot better though). However, I felt it went on a little long; by the time you're done with this book you'll be more than ready.

Brooks does a wonderful job tying everything together. The characters, plot etc. was interesting enough and the book and series are entertaining. I did think the ending was a little weak (with how they destroyed Rimmer Dahl and the Shadohaven) and I think the series would have been better if he cut a few things out and condenced it to three books.

The book and the series overall are pretty clean although there is lot of disturbing talk in this book and especially the Druid of Shannara (with Pel El) about murdering people and the joy or pain they get from doing it that could be disturbing for some people.

Overall, a good book, a good series.... one I will probably read again in a few years.

"Some of Us Listened to the Earth's Whisper..."
The forth and final installment in "The Heritage of Shannara" quartet, preceded by the "Scions", "Druid" and "Elf Queen" of Shannara. The premise is that the Four Lands are dying under both the totalitarian Federation and the sinister Shadowen, and the shade of the Druid of Allanon has called together three scions who can put an end to the entropy. Par is sent in search of the Sword of Shannara, Walker to bring back the Druid Keep of Paranor, and Wren to discover the missing race of Elves and restore them to the Four Lands. As the story starts, all these tasks have been completed, though with a heavy toll. Walker is trapped in Paranor by four Shadowen assuming the shape of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse; Wren is now the untested Queen of the Elves, facing an approaching army; and Par still believes he is responsible for the death of his brother, unaware that Coll is alive and well, but under the control of the Federation-leader and Shadowen Rimmer Dall.

Now our heroes are gradually reunited (sometimes in rather ingenious ways, such as Morgan and Wren's serendipitous meeting ) in order to join forces against the Shadowen once and for all. There is a strange power growing in the undergrounds of the Federation Tower that may be the key to their undoing. Slowly the pieces of the puzzle fit together as the Four Lands gradually unite under the Scions.

The problem is, there is a lot of exposition and action leading up to this main event. The characters have to be re-established and to meet up with each other and in this regard Brooks is in danger of running out of ideas. This volume in particular suffers from an excess of main characters getting captured by the bad guys and the need for elaborate escape plans to be drawn up by those who've managed to escape the authorites: there's five examples of this throughout the book (count `em: Damson, Par, Coll, Padishar and Wren all managed to get kidnapped throughout the course of the book). Apart from getting repetitive, it also holds off the climatic ending, causing it to seem somewhat rushed by comparison.

There is one other major problem, that in hindsight, stretches over the entire series: the nature and purpose of the Shadowen. In my opinion, they make for weak antagonists. Admittedly, some are genuinely scary. Others, not so much. None of them - not even Rimmer Dall - become three-dimensional characters. Their origins (explained in "Elf Queen" and elaborated on here) are not particularly original, interesting or properly explained. Although there is a half-hearted attempt to explain why there are so many different types of Shadowen, it ultimately rings false. The weirdest example of this is when Walker is held captive in Paranor by four Shadowen who take on the form of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Read carefully; they are not the Biblical Horsemen, but simply Shadowen taking on their form. If this is the case, then why only send four? Why not a whole army? Why don't all Shadowen take this form and by doing so imbue themselves with the power of the Four Horsemen?

My point is that the Shadowen come across as too arbitrary, too random. Brooks gives himself the power to make them whatever he wants them to be, whether humanoid, animalistic, or mythological and they only as powerful as they need to be to defeat/be defeated by the protagonists - whatever the story calls for at that particular moment. Furthermore, the origins of the Shadowen is painfully plagiaristic of Tolkien (something I had hoped the Heritage series was drawing away from) as well as reminiscent of his own work in the original Shannara trilogy.

But for all of this, "Talismans" is a satisfying end to the story that was started way back in "Scions". All the major plot threads are wrapped up and all the questions answered (though some better than others). By now the characters are established enough for their personalities and actions to really shine, and the reader is fully invested in their fate. Par, Coll, Walker, Wren, Damson, and newcomer Matty are nice, normal people who do extraordinary things, a concept that never fails to entertain. ... Read more

Product Description
he New York Museum of Natural History receives their pilfered gem collection back....ground down to dust. Diogenes, the psychotic killer who stole them in Dance of Death, is throwing down the gauntlet to both the city and to his brother, FBI Agent Pendergast, who is currently incarcerated in a maximum security prison. To quell the PR nightmare of the gem fiasco, the museum decides to reopen the Tomb of Senef. An astounding Egyptian temple, it was a popular museum exhibit until the 1930s, when it was quietly closed. But when the tomb is unsealed in preparation for its gala reopening, the killings--and whispers of an ancient curse--begin again. And the catastrophic opening itself sets the stage for the final battle between the two brothers: an epic clash from which only one will emerge alive. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (214)

WELL WORTH THE READ
A fine read that concludes the Pendergast trilogy.This was my first read in the series but it made enough sense with the hints and backstory.By far the best part was the escape from a maximum prison facility.The ending and the fate of the villain was disappointing for a number of reasons (no spoilers).There are a lot of sub tales taking place and most of them revolve around the NY museum but that's okay, especially if you like Egyptian History and all its mysteries.Pendergast is a compelling character and probably the main one in the series but he seems to have equal screen time compared to some of the other main characters.WHEN READ: July to August 2010; OVERALL GRADE: B.

awful
Awful and dragged out. If done in half the pages it may have been a decent book.

An awesome finale !!
The Book of the Dead is worthy being the finale and conclusion of the Diogenes trilogy ! It carried over the excitement from the previous Dance of Death and builds up to an mouth-watering conclusion . Maybe the only negative part was how the final fight comes about , but that is a minor glitch . Overall a wonderful read , and I finished it in one day !!!

Great read, kept me engrossed
I discovered Preston and Child not too long ago, and I am now in love! The Pendergast series has been my favorite...I couldn't put this last book down. Pendergast is like a modern day Sherlock. Kept me engrossed from the very beginning, the short chapters gave it a fast move, which I always love. Just wanted to keep turning those pages. Enjoyed the detailed descriptions of the characters and surroundings, colorful visuals... as good as watching a movie.

The Best Pendergrast Yet
I have to confess I prefer Preston & Child's stand-alone novels to their Pendergast series, which leaves me going against the popular grain, ha ha.Having said that, The Book Of The Dead is a great thriller.I really enjoyed the evil brother, his evil plot, and his evil techno tricks.Other characters like Smithback and Nora Kelly are also very engaging.The Egyptian background is fascinating.

As for Agent Pendergast himself, I'm still not sure why I haven't warmed to this guy.It might be because he's so stiff.I understand this is supposed to be his appeal, that he's a super genius, but I just don't feel any connection to him.Fortunately, the rest of the story more than carried the day.

Four and a half stars.
... Read more

Product Description
Pendergast has taken Constance on a whirlwind Grand Tour, hoping to give her closure and a sense of the world that she's missed. They head to Tibet, where Pendergast intensively trained in martial arts and spiritual studies. At a remote monastery, they learn that a rare and dangerous artifact the monks have been guarding for generations has been mysteriously stolen. Pendergast agrees to take up the search. The trail leads him and Constance to the maiden voyage of the Queen Victoria, the world's largest and most luxurious passenger liner-and to an Atlantic crossing fraught with terror. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (215)

Absolute drival.
I listened to the audio book version of this disaster on loan from a friend, so I have no monetary investment.
However I feel as if I've been robbed of twelve hours of my time.
Sad that Preston/Child are allowed to foist this garbage on the public as 'literature/entertainment'.

Horror on the High Seas
Agent Pendergast and his sidekick, Constance, find themselves deep in a mystery that takes them from the mountains of Tibet to a dangerous rocky reef in the Atlantic ocean. They are aboard the world's largest passenger ship on its maiden voyage. While Pendergast searches for a strange object stollen from a monastery that could destroy all of mankind, the ship is plagued with horrific murders and strange personality changes in some of the crew and passengers. When Pendergast is possessed by the object he came to find, who can possibly save the ship and its 5000 passengers?

I have read all of the Pendergast novels and thought this was on of the best. It is more like the orginal stories where believable demons were all part of the fun.
Johnny's Jacket

Please, Please save your money
Though I bought this book at a sale price, I still request my money back if I could.Never have I read a book that so intellectually and on a basic entertainment level disappointed me more than this novel.Preston and Child try to combine Sherlock Holmes with any Dan Brown novel you have read.Their ideas are underdeveloped, while they try to pass off the little knowledge they research for the given subject as a complete and thorough researched topic.They randomly pick up topics that are current with whatever they were writing and believe that by not explaining it in the book, they can get away with passing it off as information they extensively looked up.The conversations between characters were so predictable and shallow, that as you are reading it, you are wondering why you haven't finally given up and moved onto a new book.The topic of the book started out as promising, which is why I was attracted to it in the first place, but it failed to deliver on a creative idea.The Wheel of Darkness

Fun and Exciting Book
What a fun and exciting book!The Wheel of Darkness by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child continues the story of FBI agent Pendergast and his amazing exploits against the supernatural.Though most of the action is set during the cross-Atlantic maiden voyage of an ocean liner (a cruise from Hell if ever there was one), we start out with Tibetan monks protecting the people of Earth from an anciet and overwhelming evil that has just escaped.When Pendegast steps forward to stop it, murder, mayhem and madness follow.

2 stars for correct grammar
I came to this book with no prior knowledge of our protagonist, FBI agent Pendergast... nor should I have to. He is a cardboard character in a sea of stereotypes from ancient monks tohotel desk clerks to villains. Many scenes write themselves and the verbiage is ponderous. You want everyone to be just a little bit smarter than they are. Everyone sounds as if they are in a pretentious play. Not to my taste. But then, I hated "The Da Vinci Code", so I am a minority voice. But again, their grammar is nearly impeccable. ... Read more

Product Description
New York Times bestselling authors Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child return with a suspenseful midwest Gothic thriller about a serial killer who terrorizes a small town. Medicine Creek, Kansas, has been slowly dying for the last century. A small, quiet place, the primary occupation is still farming, Main Street is a stretch of old and dusty businesses, and the nearest mall is 200 miles away. In a town where nothing changes, the community is terrified after a series of grisly murders takes place. Even more alarming, the bodies are displayed in bizarre tableaus. With the entire town in shock, FBI Agent Pendergast arrives from New Orleans to investigate. From the fields to the local caves, Pendergast discovers the remnants of a Prohibition-era moonshine operation and the truth behind one of the town's greatest mysteries: who was behind the Medicine Creek Massacre of 1865. Now, Pendergast must discover the twisted secret hiding within a four-generation Kansas family--before someone else is murdered. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (230)

A fun ride - until ... (warning : major spoilers inside)
"Still Life with Crows" was my first book by Preston and Child (I listened to it on CD), and I was hooked ... until they succumbed to trying to point out what wonderful screenplay it would make, instead of completing an otherwise potentially good book. The painfully drawn-out scenes in the cavern -- with everyone but the main characters getting killed by the monster (or by accident), and the abysmally clichéd horror movie ending of the "monster" getting 'killed' with no remains to be found .. only to reappear for one last rampage with one of the protagonists as she relaxes after the ordeal .. just too ridiculous for words! I must admit the final revelation of the monster's true motivation for constructing his gruesome tableaux took me by surprise (probably because I was unfamiliar with most of the nursery rhymes referenced) and went a tiny way toward erasing the sense of being betrayed by the authors' blatantly obvious aspirations to Hollywood.

If you like the Pendergast novels...
...you'll like this one. Not the best story in the Pendergast series, but plenty good. Definitely better than Reliquary which was just a lame rewrite of Relic.

Pendergast Shines
I have never thought much of the secondary characters in this series (especially the oddball ward) so I was happy to find out this book is all Pendergast all the time. It is sent in rural Kansas and has a lot of interaction between Pendergast and small town law enforcement which was an interesting touch.The main story is eerie even by this series' standards.It starts as a presumed serial murder spree but takes an unusual turn as it progresses. Pendergast teams up with a local goth teen which is a bit of a precious plot twist but turns out OK in the end. A good example of the series.

The best from these authors.
I have read several of the Preston and Child's books and one thing always pop into my head.They really are the most pretentious, pompous, and self-indulgent authors I have ever read.Having read some interviews with them that opinion is only reinforced.Seriously, how self indulgent do you have to be to have a major character from your book READING another book you have written?That just strikes me as ridiculously self-serving.I would think they were poking fun at themselves, but from what I know of them they take themselves way to seriously to do that.They main protagonist, Pendergast, is an elitest, pompous, ass to put it bluntly, and I can only believe they they are channeling a bit of how they wish they could be into that character.Regardless, it has a decent story, although as with most of their stuff it is only moderately well written, as they use a style in this book that keeps the point of view away from Pendergast at all points except for a few chapters.Of course they probably think this adds to the mystique, but in reality it just makes it nigh impossible to get behind him and makes him look like more of an ass.If you see it around as a cheap paperback pick it up and read it, but if your looking for something well written then look elsewhere.I would only recommend it if you are a fan.

Nice To Get Away from The NY Scene
First off a lot of Pendergast novels deal with the same characters.While I enjoy the usual New York group of friends he calls on or rescues multiple times over, I really liked the fact that this book takes him away from all of that.This is a nice stand alone case that isn't tying into several other story lines/previous characters.It's a real gripping murder mystery that leaves you contemplating what kind of monsters are out there.It truly creeped me out.This story really holds it's own and it is one of my top recommendations to friends who have not yet had the fun of getting to know Agent Pendergast. ... Read more

Product Description
Art critic Jeremy Grove is found dead, his face frozen in a mask of terror and his body temperature grotesquely high, the acrid smell of Brimstone hangs heavy in the air. Agent Pender-gast, an old acquaintance of the victim, arrives to investigate. Within a week, new bodies are discovered, and their only connection is this bizarre but identical manner of death. Teaming with Police Officer Vincent D'Agosta (Relic), Agent Pendergast is determined to solve a case that appears to defy all supernatural logic. Their investigation takes them deep into Italy, where they learn about a dangerous pact a group of young men made 30 years ago. It seems as though these men summoned the devil in their youth - and now he's come to claim his due... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (223)

Fire and Brimstone, Thrills, Chills and Mucho Suspense
Agnes Torres is notorious art critic Jeremy Grove's maid. She comes to work at Grove's Southampton, Long Island Estate in the opening of this spine-chiller and immediately senses, or rather smells, that something is wrong. Clutching her rosary, she follows her nose and finds her boss's body. He'd been burned from the inside out, there is the smell of sulphur in the air and some brimstone in the room, plus there is a cloven hoof burned into the floor and that's enough to upset a religious woman to no end. Plus he was killed in a room barricaded from the inside. She knows the Devil did this thing, but she calls the police anyway.

Vincent d'Agosta of RELIC and RELIQUARY fame is back on the force, only he's a sergeant now. FBI Agent Pendergast is also back and he wants d'Agosta to act as liaison. In short order they find out that Grove had a dinner party the night he bought it. His guests were: his former lover Lady Milbanke; an artist named Vilnus, who he once savaged in print; Rival art critic Jonathan Frederick and Count Fosco, all men who he had offended in the past, so d'Agosta and Pendergast have plenty of suspects. Plus Grove borrowed a crucifix from Fosco before his guests left that evening, so it seems that perhaps Satin himself really may be a suspect as well.

I loved this book, but then I can't get enough of Messrs. Preston and Childs. I love all their books, the ones they've written together and their solo efforts as well. They are meticulously researched and I really get off on the different locals. BRIMSTONE had me up two nights in a row, Friday night to read the book and Saturday night to read it again. I don't do that very often. This one's a keeper, try it, you won't be.

Good prequel to the Diogenes series
As with other Pendergast books, I could not put this down once I started reading it. Suspenseful as usual, this book begins with a most amusing appearance of Pendergast, and re-introduces D'Agosta and Laura Hayward, who are both characters in Relic and its sequel. This book, being the first in the Diogenes series, promises to open up the world of Pendergast like never before. The ending was especially excruciating for loyal Pendergast fans, so beware.

Saw in one of the reviews about Pendergast being a drag and being overly-mysterious...I think that's the whole idea...of introducing his background bit by bit while keeping readers at the edge of their seats. We all know that he's close to indestructible, but the whole Diogenes series shows him as close to vulnerable as he can get. A must-read.

The demise of Pendergast?
Finally finished Brimstone. Once again these authors jump right to the action in what seems a stellar plot. Then the read bogs down with information overload and descriptive passages, IMHO - and I'm a huge Pendergast fan. It was nice that the rogue agent had a romantic interest in this book - however slight. The novel ended with a cliffhanger, another plus. But come on . . . we know Pendergast isn't dead. LOL. D'Agosta, our favorite beat cop, carried his weight throughout. In fact, Vincent flexed muscles we'd not seen before. But I didn't really get the sidebar re: Reverend Buck. Perhaps a lead into another novel?

Giving this one four stars and passing it onto a friend, along with the bulk of this series.

Superstitions
A mystery centered around an exceptionally perceptive sleuth sets the tone of this fast moving thriller. The detailed historical information brings authenticity to this adventure and shows the influence and power that superstition can and has had in escalating the fears of society.
The main character dodges many life-threatening events, but leaves the reader questioning whether he was able to do it the final time. The authors, cleverly leaves the reader to create his own climax. An interesting approach.

Great Book
This Book is very nice. The shipping was fast and well packed. I would highly recomend this book as well as the seller to everyone.
... Read more

Product Description
Pendergast-the world's most enigmatic FBI Special Agent-returns to New York City to investigate a murderous cult.

William Smithback, a New York Times reporter, and his wife Nora Kelly, a Museum of Natural History archaeologist, are brutally attacked in their apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Eyewitnesses claim, and the security camera confirms, that the assailant was their strange, sinister neighbor-a man who, by all reports, was already dead and buried weeks earlier. While Captain Laura Hayward leads the official investigation, Pendergast and Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta undertake their own private-and decidedly unorthodox-quest for the truth. Their serpentine journey takes them to an enclave of Manhattan they never imagined could exist: a secretive, reclusive cult of Obeah and vodou which no outsiders have ever survived. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (172)

Zombies in New York
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child turn their hands to writing a zombie novel. "Zombies in New York" is a brilliant pitch, but unfortunately this isn't the best in the Pendergast series.

It's a rather groundbreaking move to introduce zombies in the hyperthriller genre but perhaps not surprising given the enduring popularity of zombies in horror and comedy.

Cemetery Dance doesn't feature your mainstream Hollywood zombie hordes, however: the revenants in the novel are more of your old-school, bespoke zombies turned out one by one by traditional voodoo artisans. The insistence on spelling zombie as `zombii' seemed like needless pedantry, despite Preston-Child's well-known love of obscure words.

The novel stays in the hyperthriller genre without crossing the line into horror (my humble opinion), and even though the Pendergast series took a turn for the supernatural in The Wheel of Darkness, I was convinced that there'd be a pseudo-scientific explanation for all the undead mayhem.

Pendergast and D'Agosta investigate the murder of one of their friends (the death of reporter William Smithback at the beginning of the novel is shocking for long-time fans). It seems that the main suspect has been dead for a couple of weeks however.

Investigations lead the pair to a sinister, animal-sacrificing voodoo cult squatting in a forgotten corner of Manhattan. As always, the investigation is surrounded by the politics of New York.

I found the sequences that focus on D'Agosta's relationship with Hayward to be a little tedious. Maybe it would have been better to kill off D'Agosta instead of Smithback, forcing Pendergast to work with the hostile Hayward.

The ending felt a little "Scooby Doo" for my liking. The villain wasn't particularly interesting either. And what happened to the Kline storyline in the end?

We learn some more intriguing details of the freelancing FBI agent's childhood (how do you get that job again?), so fans of the Pendergast series will enjoy the book for that insight.

Good introduction to these series
I was introduced to this series by my mother, who recommended it based on my love of all things zombie.This is the first book I have read by these authors.

While this book certainly isn't a typical zombie book, it was very interesting and very well written.I did not like a few of the plot twists as I felt they were there simply to make a ruckus with the characters, but overall it was a very good book.

My only recommendation is to make sure to have a dictionary nearby.I had to look up a word almost every chapter, and I don't consider myself to have an incredibly small vocabulary.If nothing else, I learned a lot!

Some of the character development, and how the author tried to tie all of the characters together left a bad taste in my mouth.However, the book was still an enjoyable and fast read (other than the dictionary pauses, haha.)

As good as any of the Pendergast novels
With 170 reviews of "Cemetery Dance" already posted, almost anything I can say is going to be repetitive. So I'll write the substantive review in one sentence and say that I found "Cemetery Dance" engaging, suspenseful, entertaining, and every bit as good as any of the other Pendergast novels.

I'd like to thank the authors for improving my vocabulary by introducing me to these words: gambrel (the type of roof characteristic of some Dutch houses and barns, and similar to mansard), glabrous (of skin, smooth and hairless), divagation (going adrift or off-topic), book signatures (individual book folios that are bound together to form a book), and adipocere (a fatty and waxlike substance resulting from postmortem effects on body tissues).I also appreciated the novel's occasional French or Creole terms or phrases, well rendered until page 416, where "C'est suffice" should have been "Ça suffit" and "N'est-ce envoi pas!" would be correctly rendered "Ne les envois pas!"

It helps to visit Inwood Hill Park on Google Earth or Microsoft's Bing Maps to get a sense of Manhattan's far northern tip, where much of the story takes place.

Another Great Pendergast Adventure
Special Agent Pendergast has developed quite a large following all over the world. Why?
The man is an extremely rich, impossibly smart Southern Gentleman who seems to have unlimited resources in the mundane protocols of crime fighting but also esoteric knowledge about the unknown and strange. Pendergast is enigmatic; ethereal and one of the more interesting characters to come out in "crime novels" for a very long time. In this 9th Pendergast novel, "Cemetery Dance", the charm and creativity never wanes.

In this novel, the story centres around a mysterious place called the Villa; a so-called haven for a secret cult that uses animal sacrifices as part of their rituals.

People are being murdered by so-called certified "dead individuals"; thus Pendergast joins the case with his charming yet rough around the edges, Detective D'Agosta - an over emotional Detective with a heart of gold.

At first the novel seems to go over the top, at times the reader losing their "suspension of disbelief", however, as the mystery unfolds, logic prevails, but only at the very end.

This reviewer's only criticism about "Cemetery Dance" is it is slightly over-written - some chapters could have been easily discarded without hindering the tale in the slightest.

That said, "Cemetery" kept this reader riveted from start to its unusual ending.

Come to think of it, this reader was slightly disappointed, too, that there wasn't more "Pendergast" in the story, because the character D'Agosta fills most of the novel.

This reader has been following the adventures of Special Agent Pendergast from the beginning. "Cemetery Dance" does not lose the magic of these pure entertainment novels.

The next in the series, "Fever Time", has received great reviews and luckily, this reader has the opportunity to read the text next week.

Watch this space.

"Cemetery Dance" is at least 4 stars.

Excellent.

Zombie Thriller
This is the first of the Preston and Child collaborative efforts that I have read. The book is what I like to refer to as a supernatural thriller, although by the end of the story you will find out that maybe everything is not supernatural after all.

The book starts off with a terrible murder and voodoo paraphanelia is left at the scene by a zombie no less.Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta and FBI Agent Aloyisus Pendergast are called to the scene to investigate.They are both emotionally tied to the murder since the murder involves somebody who is known to them.

It is the proverbial cannot put it down novel- gruesome, macabre and scary.I actually was getting a bit shookup when reading it at night.Had to keep telling myself that it was really just a story!

There is alot of history here about NYC centered around the oldest Dutch farmhouse in NYC (still standing and part of the NYC Parks System today), and the New York Museum of Natural History.A scene in the museum had me gasping when a zombie starts chasing a victim in the whale basement.

The reason I did not give this 5 stars is that I am a very practical person and the ending was just a bit over the top.If you are looking for a page turner and don't mind some murder and mayhem and a few zombies, then check this out.
... Read more

Product Description

Many unanswered questions remain about the terrible Eugenics Wars that raged on Earth during the 1990s, an apocalyptic conflict that brought civilization to the brink of a new dark age. Centuries later, as Capt. James T. Kirk and the crew of the Starship Enterprise™are forced to defend a colony of genetically enhanced humans against Klingon aggression and sabotage, Kirk must probe deeper into the past -- and into the glory days of one of the greatest adversaries he has ever faced.

1992. Almost twenty years ago, Gary Seven and Robeta Lincoln, undercover operatives for an unknown alien civilization, failed to prevent the Chrysalis Project from creating an entire generation of supermen and women. Now, the children of Chrysallis are adults and rapidly demonstrating that superior abilities spawn superior ambition.

Perhaps the most formidable of this new breed of supermen is the charismatic Khan Noonien Singh. Head of a vast global conspiracy, Khan's power stretches across a quarter of the planet. Khan dreams of leading his fellow superhumans to complete and total domination of the world. But serveral of his gene-engineered brothers and sisters have equally grandiose visions for the future, visions that recognize no one but themeselves as supreme ruler. Gary Seven and Roberta watch in horror as the children of Chrysalis wage a covert war against one another, threatening the safety of millions and the future of the entire world! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (45)

The Eugenics Wars Vol 2
I'm a huge Science Fiction and Star Trek fan ( read over 3,000 sf fantasy and mythology books in my life).This book, set in the 1980s and 1990s is about Khanand Gary Seven and Roberta , characters from the classic 60s Star Trek TV show,and the movie "Wrath Of Khan ". There is a side story about Kirk and a colony of genetically engineered people in Kirks era.
It is great mind candy, I enjoyed it increadibly.Closest thing I have to a complaint is that it did one thing I liked to excesss; making references to historic events outside the ST universe, other popular culture, and items from the ST universe that dont really effect the plot.For example Gary Seven and Roberta run a used book store as a cover.Roberta needs incapicatate someone, so she picks up a heavy leather bound book and hits him in the head with it.The book was " Chicago Gangs Of The Twenties ".He over did that type of things , but most of them were individually amusing.
Anyway I definitely liked it. Two-three hundred years from now no one may remember it,but I'll remember 2-3 happy eveings reading it.

Khans Epic Departure
I had read that many did not like this volume as much as the first and I can certainly understand why they feel that way. I felt some deviations like Roberta's infiltrating the American Militia compound, took too much time away from the story at hand. But Khan is still the focus and Greg Cox truly creates a materful story bridging the gap between what is real and what isnt. You half wonder if there arent some 80 or 90 napoleons still unaccounted for- drifting out towards Ceti Alpha. These have truly become my favorite Trek novels!

Part 2 of the history of Khan on Earth
Khan Noonian Singh, a character expertly portrayed by Ricardo Montalban on Star Trek (The Space Seed) has appeared in 1 movie and at least 3 novels. Khan and a small group of genetically enhanced humans decide that they should rule earth.In this story, we see Kahn at the height of his power back in the 1990's.Due to the efforts of Gary Seven (Assignment Earth) and Roberta Lincoln, who foil his attempts to create chaos, Kahn's empire collapses and his effort to rule the earth fails.

The STTOS bookends, in which Kirk and McCoy interact with a colony of genetically enhanced people, lend nothing to the history.They do however provide a device for an evaluation of DNA tinkering and what is really important about mankind.

The person who is unfamiliar with Khan might enjoy experiencing this part of the Star Trek Universe chronologically.



Star Trek episode #55 "Assignment Earth" (DVD TV ) (b/g for The Eugenics Wars)
The Eugenics Wars Vol I: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh(Book: Greg Cox)
The Eugenics Wars Vol II: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh(Book: Greg Cox)
Star Trek Enterprise episode 80 "Borderland" (DVD TV)
Star Trek Enterprise episode 81 "Cold Station 12" (DVD TV)
Star Trek Enterprise episode 82 "The Augments" (DVD TV)
Star Trek episode #22 "Space Seed" (DVD TV )
To Reign In Hell: The Exile of Kahn Noonien Singh(Book:Greg Cox)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (DVD Movie)
Star Trek III: The Search For Spock (DVD Movie)
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (DVD Movie)

Not what one thinks
Let me start by saying I am a fan of Star Trek. I've seen the moives and most of the shows (all series). I have not read any of the Star Trek books, before now at least.

"Wrath of Khan" is one of my all-time favorite movies and "Space Seed" is one of the better Star Trek TV episodes. So when I saw there were some books about the Eugenics Wars and Khan I was intrigued. And, after reading them, rather disappointed.

The books were written well enough. They are fast paced and easy to read. The back story with Kirk and the Enterprise are actually enjoyable and my favorite part of these books. Greg Cox shows time and time again, and again, and again, and again, he knows his Star Trek. And that is part of the problem.

It seems in every chapter there is some reference to something Star Trek but not directly related to Khan. And, in every other chapter, he seems to connect the current event in the book to some event in either one of the TV series or movies. It gets old, fast. It is like he has to keep reminding us he knows his Star Trek. Whenever I pondered Khan in the past, I never once thought of zombies, the Borg, or immortals. Here, I seem to encounter these odd ball things more then Khan.

This leads to another thing that bothers me - the focus of the book. It is not Khan, as one might expect. But it is really Ms Kennedy and Seven (and the cat) that the books focus on. Khan is there, of course, and the plot does deal with him and his schemes. But he is relegated to a single dimension character - a villain only worthy of one of the Brosnan James Bond films.

And that is what these books are like - bad spy novels with space death rays, micro spy gadgets, and teleporters. And it is more like the Eugenics COLD War. I understand that Space Seed had set the Eugenics Wars in the 1990s and that poses a problem. But I would rather have read an alternate history or somehow explained that the dating of the Eugenics was incorrect. Granted, Cox does a good job of mixing in real world events, but the story still ends up flat.

Going into this, I was hoping for story that could develop Khan's character instead of turning him into a shallow one. I had hoped Cox could do what Lucus couldn't do with Darth Vadar and that is come up with a compelling story for one of the archetypical villains of post modern sci-fi. But he didn't.

And though I dislike the books, there seems to be a good number of positive reviews of the books. I found them to be misleading. It is possible these reviewers did actually like the novels. And after reading the books, I think I can present a little test for other people to see if they would like the books. Here it is: If you liked the Star Trek episode with Seven and this *cat* and you think that style of episode fits well with Khan, you will like this book. If you used a laser etcher to remove the Seven episode from the DVD that contains it, you will not like this book.

AN AWESOME BOOK!!!!
Sorry... but... I'm lying. This book is PATHETIC! REALLY! I know I put 5 stars, but this is to warn thoes who only look at the 5 star ratings. For anyone who wishes to read about the exciting exploits of Khan... look elsewhere.

Essentially, 1/2 of this book is devoted to Khan and the other half to almost completely unrelated plots surrounding two lame characters re-hashed from previous novels: Agent Gary Sevan and Roberta. Much like the previous book, most of the action revolves around these two cardboard-quality "super spys" with the actions of Khan serving as a kind of supporting "character" in a supporting story line. Much like the previous "novel" (and I do use that term loosely!), Kahn is just the "super villian" who Seven and Roberta are charged to depose.

More or less... this book reads like a cheapened (and unimaginative) James Bond book where Seven and Roberta are Bond-like and Khan is the super villian. Given that Seven and Roberta could not be added and rehashed in this novel if it were written (even closely) according to Trek-cannon, the novel was forced to take on a spy-vs.-spy approach. For thoes of you wishing to see Khan's great rise and fall (as suggested in the reviews, cover page, etc.), FORGET IT!!! This story is RARELY even told from the perspective of KHAN!!!... the supposed main character! Mostly, it is drivel!!!

please Please PLEASE DO **NOT** BUY THIS BOOK!!!

You will only be dispointed at the flimsly "plot", the cheesey and campy wording, the over-abundance of past Trekie refernces (no doubt to remind you that you are suppose to reading a "Trek" base "novel"), the over use of non-related "supporting" characters, and the near absence of the "main" character Khan. This book is almost pure rehash and pure rubbish! ... Read more

Product Description
FBI Special Agent Pendergast lives! Following the New York Times bestselling Brimstone like a one-two punch, DANCE OF DEATH pits Pendergast against his most personal foe yet-his brother Diogenes. Praised as a 'ruthless descendant of Holmes' (Publishers Weekly), Agent Pendergast has become one of crime fiction's most endearing characters. His greatest enemy is one who has stalked him all of his life, his cunning and diabolical brother Diogenes. And Diogenes has thrown down the gauntlet. Now, several of the people closest to Pendergast are viciously murdered, and Pendergast is framed. On the run from federal authorities, with only the help of his old friend NYPD Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta, Pendergast must stop his brother. But how can he stop a man that is his intellectual equal-one who has had 20 years to plan the world's most horrendous crime? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (187)

Seller review
The seller was prompt in shipment and a joy to deal with. Would highly recommend to potential buyers.

holmes again
Being a lifelong Conan Doyle fan, I have enjoyed all the books Preston and Child have written. There's no substitute for the real Holmes, but Pendergast is a good character in his own right. I just finished The Book of the Dead, the next in this (Diogenes) series, but found Dance of Death the more entertaining of the two books.

ok but not all i wanted
no cover and corners pushed down w/writing inside, but other wise i love the book and am happy with it.

I am 49 in the other review i pushed the wrong key...

An entertaining Pendergast novel
This one is not quite as good as "Cabinet of Curiosities" (possibly the best of the Preston/Child Pendergast books) and "Brimstone," but it is still very entertaining.Like most of their novels, it is difficult to put down.The introduction of Diogenes as the villain is terrific; he is the equal and then some of Pendergast AND D'Agosta combined. There are several surprises in this novel.I highly recommend this book, but only as part of the complete series (starting with Relic.)

Fantastic psychological thriller
Professor Hamilton's class sits paralyzed with horror as he stops in the middle of his lecture on T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land to begin clawing at his face, drawing blood, and screaming, "Get them off me." Elsewhere, Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta is making dinner for Captain Laura Hayward when he is summoned by Constance Greene to her home. Her guardian, Special Agent Aloysius X.L. Pendergast, has not been heard from since the events of Brimstonesix weeks prior.

Assuming Pendergast dead, Constance gives D'Agosta a note Pendergast left for him. It passes on the responsibility of stopping his brother Diogenes from committing the "perfect crime" by January 28, a week away. D'Agosta's first task is to visit Pendergast's great aunt Cornelia (definitely one of the more interesting supporting characters in the series) to get info on Diogenes and the family, including a few intimate tidbits about Pendergast himself (reminding us that he is the "normal" one in his family only by comparison).

Information comes from a most unexpected source that Diogenes plans to kill everyone who was close to Aloysius -- and that could easily include D'Agosta himself. But D'Agosta discovers that Diogenes has something even worse in mind, when he goes to a meeting with Hayward.

Meanwhile, newlyweds Nora Kelly and Bill Smithback (just back from the honeymoon that took place during Brimstone) are returning to work conflicts. Smithback's beat is being slowly abdicated by his fellow New York Times reporter, up and comer Bryce Harriman. And at the New York Museum of History, Nora's opinion (on whether to return a religious artifact to the tribe that sold it to the museum 130 years ago) differs from that of another returning employee, Margo Green, new editor of the museum's newsletter, Museology. Neither has any idea what's really in store for them.

In Brimstone, authors Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child briefly introduced readers to Agent Pendergast's brother Diogenes, who features largely in Dance of Death. We are not surprised to learn that Diogenes is criminally insane (since we learned in The Cabinet of Curiosities that insanity runs rampant throughout the Pendergast lineage, sometimes beneficially but usually not). So, if Pendergast is Sherlock Holmes, then Diogenes is both Mycroft and Moriarty. (Even his name is a reference to the gentlemen's club Mycroft frequents in the Conan Doyle stories.)

Making the crime personal this time around gives Dance of Death a greater emotional resonance and gets the reader more deeply involved. This makes the book more fully entertaining than the events in its predecessor (not least due to the absence of the labyrinthine plot that made Brimstone hard to follow). I would even say that readers interested mostly in the character of Diogenes could feel free to skip Brimstone and move right on to Dance of Death, since all the information needed to proceed is reintroduced.

Dance of Death does not suffer from the usual problems of the middle book of a trilogy. It stands alone, and in fact it improves on its predecessor by focusing on character over plot. We learn about Diogenes as an individual and not just his machinations (as the authors did with Count Fosco in Brimstone). And those who get caught up in the story will be glad to know that it concludes masterfully in the third book, The Book of the Dead.

After the end of the story, the Dance of Death audiobook also includes a short interview given by Preston and Child with Agent Pendergast (given prior to the events of the book, they are careful to say). In it, the subject (voiced by audiobook reader Rene Auberjonois) proves to be very Holmesian indeed in his responses to the authors' "vapid queries," including a comment accusing the authors of having "sensationalized" his cases. ... Read more

Product Description
The creator of Star Wars and the author of the best-selling comic book series The Uncanny X-Men offer the first novel in a series of epic fantasies set in a strife-torn future land. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (84)

Horrible
Wow,
I thought the movie was good. I loved the character Madmartigan. This book was plodding and slow.By the time I got to the part about madmartigan (spoiler) dying, I was shocked.I actually threw the book in the recycle bin.A first for me.When I saw my boyfriend had this series on his bookshelf, I threw his in the recycle bin too. (Turns out they were a gift, and I don't think he has noticed they are missing yet).

Lucus and Claremont have good reputations, so I was seriously disappointed in this series.

DOES NOT EVEN DESERVE A STAR!

Spongebob Squarepants books are better
This is by far the worst book I have ever read. Boring plot, slow pace, lack of character development & interaction, confusing & uninteresting writing style, and the list goes on.
I'm disappointed that two huge names in fiction would produce such crap. I gave it away with a warning.

Too Much Yet Too Little
I picked up these books despite the mixed reviews, hoping for a wonderful trilogy in the spirit of Tolkien or Salvatore. Instead I find myself with a trilogy of books I am giving away to the first person who will take them.

It wasn't that they killed off so many characters from the movie; it's fiction so anything can happen. What really gets me is his writing: it's horrible. The world of Willow is obviously fantasy, yet the author(s) interject lots of technology and descriptions from a modern world. They have turned this tale of swords and sorcery into something much less than that. Personally, I was very turned off by the constant use of modern descriptors for a fantasy world.

It seems like the authors didn't have enough story so they insist on regularly repeating everything that's already happened. Every time a character has a memory of an event they see fit to recap the entire movie and any past books. I find myself skipping entire pages just waiting for the flashbacks to finally end. The same can be said for some descriptions of completely unimportant events. The authors love dwelling on completely unimportant events in the longest detail possible, while the storyline (which really begins to stink by book 2) sits in the wings waiting for its turn.

All in all I am only finishing this trilogy because I paid $20 for it. Once I'm done I am giving these away and intent to never pick them up again. They are honestly the worst I have ever read. Ugh!

Shadow Moon
I like the characters and how things start off.I read this and the other 2 books and the same problem persists with all three "to much detail"The auther rambles on and on with pointless things and scenery that cause me to skip places.I understood the point of the whole story but was amazed at how many characters new and old were included.One of my favorite charaters of all time is Khory and would love to have a book written based on her life.

The worst fantasy book ever written
This is one of the all-time worst books ever written. I can hardly believe that George Lucas has fallen so far from grace since his younger days and conspired to produce this travesty of literature. I just can't think of a book I hate worse than Shadow Moon. The worst part of it all, is that I tried (really, really hard) to finish reading this book. Mercifully, there is not enough money in the world to ever make me put myself through such torture again.

For the record, I love the movie Willow which this book is supposed to be based upon. I'm only sorry that there were never any film sequels made. Lo and behold a sequel appears for Willow that is released as a book rather than a film. Great idea, right? Wrong! This book is the opposite of what you expect from a Willow sequel. First off, the main characters of the film (Madmartigan, Sorsha, Willows children, etc.) are killed off in the opening pages of the book and with no real purpose except that the author felt like it. Then Willow is renamed Thorn for no apparent reason either. The story is cheerless and overwritten. The plot is convoluted and doesn't really go anywhere. I'm quite certain that there isn't anything going on in this story that could not have been told in forty or fifty pages.

Chris Clairemont writes some decent prose, but it all fails because he spends every other paragragh describing some trivial aspect of the story, rather than advancing the plot. Worse, he goes off on rants (for numerous pages at a time) about such meaningless details as how the soil smells or the shade of someone's eyes, etc.. Why this book is even considered a sequel to Willow when it is only arbitrarily connected to the film is beyond me.

This book is just bursting at the seams with boredom. There is nothing remotely close to interesting happening in the story. Matter of fact, there isn't anything happening in this book except to see how many hours of their lives readers can waste trying to trudge through this sludge of bad writing.

I have read a lot of bad fantasy books like Cormyr and Black Trillium, but even those books had their redeeming values. Shadow Moon, on the other hand, is an exercise in utter futility. People read novels to be entertained. This book, by that merit alone, should not even exist.

In conclusion, I wouldn't recommend this book to an insomniac for fear that they'd probably want to sue me for an act of unconscionable cruelty.

In conclusion, stick with the movie, and leave this one where it belongs: on a shelf in a long forgotten corner in some dingy book store just waiting to be sent to the shredder. ... Read more