Helpful Score: 6
The first Preston/Child book I've read. Though I figured out not too far into the story that it's one of a series, the book has no problem standing on it's own. While I now feel the need to read everything these two authors have written together, it's only because I enjoyed the book and the characters so much.
Helpful Score: 4
Agent Pendergast is in prison, the museum is under chaos with the opening of a new exciting exhibit, and a madman, Agent Pendergast's brother, is on the loose and must be stopped.
"Cabinet of Curiosities" introduced Constance Greene, then the Diogenes Trilogy begins with "Brimstone," continues with "Dance of Death," and ties everything up with this novel of "The Book of the Dead." I've read all of the books in succession, and this last novel was a great ending to a wonderful, interesting storyline.
"Cabinet of Curiosities" introduced Constance Greene, then the Diogenes Trilogy begins with "Brimstone," continues with "Dance of Death," and ties everything up with this novel of "The Book of the Dead." I've read all of the books in succession, and this last novel was a great ending to a wonderful, interesting storyline.
Christina K. (dcnikadlec) reviewed The Book of the Dead (Pendergast, Bk 7) on + 27 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
As with all of the Pendergast novels, I really enjoyed this one too. However, I did not think it was the best of the series. Since this book is a sequel to Dance of Death and it is very similar too it. I thought too similar. Pendergast didn't really pull anything new out of his hat this time and it was very predictable, which I did not feel his other novels were. That being said, if you enjoyed the rest of the series, you should still enjoy this one too, maybe just not as much as some of the others.
Helpful Score: 2
This is by far the best effort of these two authors. The story line flows and leaves you waiting for the next book in this series. Highly recommended!
Helpful Score: 2
Excellent story in the Pendergast series with the final Diogenese tale. but is it over....
Helpful Score: 1
Loved it! I'm a big fan of these guys, and particularly of the Pendergast series. Nothing earthshaking perhaps, but a very good read nevertheless.
Helpful Score: 1
THERE IS NO DEBATE WITH THESE TWO THIS MAY BE THE BEST YET !
Helpful Score: 1
This is one of those books you just can't put down until you watch the author unravel all the twisted strands. Another great read from Preston and Child.
From back cover:
A brilliant FBI agent, rotting away in a high security prison for a murder he did not commit. His brilliant, psychotic brother, about to perpetrate a horrific crime. A young woman with an extraordinary past, on the edge of a violent breakdown. An ancient Egyptian tomb about to be unveiled at a celebrity-studded New York gala, an enigmatic curse released. Memento Mori
From back cover:
A brilliant FBI agent, rotting away in a high security prison for a murder he did not commit. His brilliant, psychotic brother, about to perpetrate a horrific crime. A young woman with an extraordinary past, on the edge of a violent breakdown. An ancient Egyptian tomb about to be unveiled at a celebrity-studded New York gala, an enigmatic curse released. Memento Mori
Helpful Score: 1
An FBI agent, rotting away in a high-security prison for a murder he did not commit...
His brilliant, psychotic brother, about to perpetrate a horrific crime...
A young woman with an extraordinary past, on the edge of a violet breakdown...
An ancient Egyptian tomb with an enigmatic curse, about to unveiled at a celebrity-studded New Your gala..
Fast and page turner thriller right up to the last page
His brilliant, psychotic brother, about to perpetrate a horrific crime...
A young woman with an extraordinary past, on the edge of a violet breakdown...
An ancient Egyptian tomb with an enigmatic curse, about to unveiled at a celebrity-studded New Your gala..
Fast and page turner thriller right up to the last page
Helpful Score: 1
I love this series and I think this is the best of the trilogy!!
Helpful Score: 1
Fantastic book! Kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the whole, extremely long, but never boring book.
Helpful Score: 1
This is as usual an awesome book by these two authors.
Can hardly wait for the next one!
Can hardly wait for the next one!
Helpful Score: 1
a continuation of the Agent Pendergast series. If you enjoyed the others, you will enjoy this one. It kept me up at night trying to read just one more chapter!
Great book, you can count on Preston and Child
Catherine M. (mingodoggie) reviewed The Book of the Dead (Pendergast, Bk 7) on + 8 more book reviews
Very good, engrossing story.
This whole series is wonderful - the main characters are engaging and feel like old friends, albeit strange ones! Like the others in this series, I found it hard to put down.
Good read!!!!!!!
There are some men, whose style of writing just doesn't appeal to my brain. This story just didn't jive for me so I put it up to swap.
I don't understand why this book is categorized in the Mystery/Thriller department. All I got out of it was historical facts and character development. Not good.
AWESOME CAN'T WAIT FOR A SEQUEL FOR THIS BOOK THERE HAS TO BE ONE
The third book in a trilogy. As usual a great read. To get the full effect You definitely
need to read all three books in order.
need to read all three books in order.
I'd read a shopping list if these two fellows wrote it!! Have read every book they've written, love 'em all! Here's The Book of the Dead, another wonderfully written n quick paced Agent Pendergast mystery. Terrific reading, most recommended!
This book has both Pendergast and his psychotic brother in it. Loved it.
Great book!
loved it, loved it, loved it & feel in love with the authors, too!
This is a great read. There is no full out gore. Just be sure to read Dance of Death before you read this one. Great book.
Well, this one was quite exciting! I must admit that it was a bit slow to start after the exciting finish of the last book, but it became just as nerve-wracking once the story started moving. Not to mention that this one had yet another cliffhanger of an ending! I thought that it would all be over after this one, but though this is a trilogy within the series, it seems that the next book will pick up right where this one abruptly leaves off. I really ended up liking Diogenes' character... I do wonder where this series will go!
A great ending to the trilogy! Can't wait for the next Pendergast novel!
A typically outstanding Preston/Childs novel, August 13, 2006
Reviewer: Matthew A. Bille (Colorado Springs, CO United States)
Preston and Child's wrap up the "Pendergast trilogy" with an addictive novel that shows all their strengths: complex plotting; interesting people and backgrounds; and, a rare gift, the ability to layer in fascinating detail without slowing the pace of the story.
As a science and history writer, I know something about the effort that good research demands, and the work displayed here makes my head hurt just thinking about it. From the look of exotic locales to the details of making your own explosives, there is something for every reader to learn here while enjoying the well-paced, absorbing story.
There are always quibbles. I would have preferred that Agent Pendergast's brother/adversary, Diogenes, meet an unambiguous death rather than a "fell-over-the-cliff" demise that reminds me of Sherlock Holmes' plunge over the falls. And when the museum was setting up for its big gala, I kept waiting for some character to object, reminding everyone how terrible things went the last time they threw a big gala (in the novel Relic).
These are minor objections, though. When I started this novel, I was literally unable to put it down until it was done. Preston and Child have indeed done it again.
Reviewer: Matthew A. Bille (Colorado Springs, CO United States)
Preston and Child's wrap up the "Pendergast trilogy" with an addictive novel that shows all their strengths: complex plotting; interesting people and backgrounds; and, a rare gift, the ability to layer in fascinating detail without slowing the pace of the story.
As a science and history writer, I know something about the effort that good research demands, and the work displayed here makes my head hurt just thinking about it. From the look of exotic locales to the details of making your own explosives, there is something for every reader to learn here while enjoying the well-paced, absorbing story.
There are always quibbles. I would have preferred that Agent Pendergast's brother/adversary, Diogenes, meet an unambiguous death rather than a "fell-over-the-cliff" demise that reminds me of Sherlock Holmes' plunge over the falls. And when the museum was setting up for its big gala, I kept waiting for some character to object, reminding everyone how terrible things went the last time they threw a big gala (in the novel Relic).
These are minor objections, though. When I started this novel, I was literally unable to put it down until it was done. Preston and Child have indeed done it again.
Great reading. Suspenseful.
I found this story a bit too complicated. It has a good plot, but too many sub-plots spoiled the main story in my opinion. The authors build the reader up, reach a climax on a sub-plot, then, when you think the story is ended, it continues by building up again. It does this at least 2 or 3 times. I almost stopped reading it completely - I did, however, stop temporarily so as to read a more exciting book, then finished it after I completed the other one! Although I did like the story, I wouldn't recommend it.
(Sorry, guys!)
(Sorry, guys!)
Bestsellers Preston and Child have come up with another gripping, action-packed page-turner in this concluding volume to a trilogy pitting their Holmesian hero, FBI agent Aloysius Pendergast, against his Mycroft-turned-Moriartyhis younger brother, Diogenes. Picking up shortly after the events of 2005's Dance of Death, the book opens with the arrival of a package of fine dust at the Museum of Natural History; Diogenes has returned the diamonds he stole earlier. Meanwhile, Aloysius is in prison, having been framed for a number of murders. As his friends plot to spring him, his adversary lays the groundwork for a crowning criminal achievement. A mysterious benefactor funds the restoration of an ancient Egyptian tomb at the museum, but the work is beset by the mayhem Preston and Child's readers have come to expectgory murders and suggestions of the supernatural. This entry, tying up many loose ends from its predecessors, is less likely to work as well for first-time readers, but followers of Aloysius Pendergast's previous exploits will find it a satisfying read with a tantalizing, ominous twist at the end.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY REVIEW
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY REVIEW
Another thriller with the odd but entertaining Agent Pendergast, third in the Diogenes trilogy, which has our favorite characters trying to orchestrate a prison break and get rid of an ancient Egyptian curse. Good read.
Another one with the wierd ending. Constance a part outside of the House, and finishes it I guess
I almost did not finish this. Probably shouldn't have!
Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast is incarcerated at Herkmoor Penitentiary, as part of his brother,Diogenes', twisted plan. Herkmoor Penitentiary is considered impossible to escape but that is before Eli Glinn employs his agency's technical expertise. Pendergast, Vincent D'Agosta, and Captain Laura Hayward will have to work together yet again to stop Diogenes from wreaking destruction on their friends and the entire city of New York.
This book is lots of fun if you like the genre. I recommend reading these Preston & Child books in order, as many of the characters are developed in the previous books. The main character, Agent Pendergast, is quirky and entertaining. I've enjoyed reading all of the books in the series; this one is especially exciting.
Excellent
Must-read, very good
Better and better - another "can't put down" book from Preston/Child. Sweeping from one exciting adventure to another with barely time to catch your breath in between. And - always - lot of unexpected surprises to boot.
Great conclusion to the Diogenes trilogy! At the end of the last novel, Dance of Death, FBI Agent Pendergast was incarcerated in Federal Prison for murders that were actually committed by his brother, Diogenes. Meanwhile Diogenes is planning another momentous crime that will top even his theft of the jewels from the New York Museum of Natural History as related in the prior book. So how can he be stopped with Pendergast in prison? And why has Diogenes blamed Pendergast for all of his ills since childhood? These questions and many others related to the two brothers are revealed in this concluding episode of the trilogy. The novel focuses on a new exhibit that will be opened at the museum, an ancient cursed Egyptian tomb that has been sealed in the basement of the museum for decades. A wealthy benefactor has provided funds to reopen the tomb and present it in a show that includes high-tech holograms and lighting. But all is not as it seems as people connected with the exhibit are killed or lose their minds. Is this part of Diogenes' plan? Well, easy answer there!
This one reminds me a lot of the earlier Relic novels where the Museum is the focus of the stories. Most of the characters from the earlier stories also appear in this one including Smithback, Nora, Margo, D'Agosta, and Constance who plays a key role in the conclusion of the story. Overall a high recommendation and looking forward to the next in the series.
This one reminds me a lot of the earlier Relic novels where the Museum is the focus of the stories. Most of the characters from the earlier stories also appear in this one including Smithback, Nora, Margo, D'Agosta, and Constance who plays a key role in the conclusion of the story. Overall a high recommendation and looking forward to the next in the series.
