mndmllr's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
2.5
Spoiler
good god just kill diogenes already!! 16 books and he’s still getting away with everything and no one has the balls to kill him. pendergast has now come back from the dead approximately 47 times and has somehow still remained an FBI agentoffbalance80's review against another edition
2.0
Oh, how are the mighty fallen. When I first discovered Relic, every book that followed was a treat.
Until they weren't.
I can't blame anyone for wanting to ride a gravy train, but this book should have been titled "The Obvious Cash In." The strain on credulity was so great, in terms of plot and character action, even for a series that has previously involved underwater monsters and overgrown man-babies in ways that made sense. I can almost see the phone call:
Publisher: Doug, Linc, you know how much we love your books.
Doug: We're really excited about these Gideon books, and....
Publisher: Yeah. About that. We're hoping you can maybe do a few more Pendergast for us.
::Mutes call::
Lincoln: I distinctly remember him drowning at the end of the last one?
Doug: Eh, we can fish him out. He's survived worse.
Lincoln: True.
::Unmutes call::
Doug: Yeah, we can probably manage that. There's always another case he can go on.
Publisher: Yeah. Um. There's something else. We'd REALLY love it if you could bring Diogenes back. Readers are just CRAZY about Pendergast's evil brother!! Is there ANY way?
::Mutes call::
L: Correct me if I'm wrong, Douglas, but did we or did we not drop Diogenes down a VOLCANO?
::Unmute::
D: That may be a little tricky - he was in a volcano last time we saw him.
P: I knooooow. But the reeeeaaaaaderrrrs and the saaaaallllles. Plus! You glimpsed him in the last book! He's ALIVE!
::mutes::
D: Pengergast's life was flashing before his fucking eyes. Of course he saw his brother!
L: A volcano. How do you survive a damn volcano?!
D: What about that Tom Hanks movie? Where jumps in the volcano but it pushes him out?
L: Seriously?
D: It's fiction. I dunno.
::Unmute::
L: Look, you guys, we're not sure how we feel about this. It's kind of a stretch for someone to survive a volcano.
Publisher: We could pay you ridiculous amounts of money!
::mute::
D: Boats are expensive. You?
L: Promised the wife a trip to Tuscany for our anniversary. A good one.
::unmutes::
D: Diogenes will return!!
As for the rest? I honestly wonder if they were just messing with us. No other explanation I can think of. Complete disappointment.
Until they weren't.
I can't blame anyone for wanting to ride a gravy train, but this book should have been titled "The Obvious Cash In." The strain on credulity was so great, in terms of plot and character action, even for a series that has previously involved underwater monsters and overgrown man-babies in ways that made sense. I can almost see the phone call:
Publisher: Doug, Linc, you know how much we love your books.
Doug: We're really excited about these Gideon books, and....
Publisher: Yeah. About that. We're hoping you can maybe do a few more Pendergast for us.
::Mutes call::
Lincoln: I distinctly remember him drowning at the end of the last one?
Doug: Eh, we can fish him out. He's survived worse.
Lincoln: True.
::Unmutes call::
Doug: Yeah, we can probably manage that. There's always another case he can go on.
Publisher: Yeah. Um. There's something else. We'd REALLY love it if you could bring Diogenes back. Readers are just CRAZY about Pendergast's evil brother!! Is there ANY way?
::Mutes call::
L: Correct me if I'm wrong, Douglas, but did we or did we not drop Diogenes down a VOLCANO?
::Unmute::
D: That may be a little tricky - he was in a volcano last time we saw him.
P: I knooooow. But the reeeeaaaaaderrrrs and the saaaaallllles. Plus! You glimpsed him in the last book! He's ALIVE!
::mutes::
D: Pengergast's life was flashing before his fucking eyes. Of course he saw his brother!
L: A volcano. How do you survive a damn volcano?!
D: What about that Tom Hanks movie? Where jumps in the volcano but it pushes him out?
L: Seriously?
D: It's fiction. I dunno.
::Unmute::
L: Look, you guys, we're not sure how we feel about this. It's kind of a stretch for someone to survive a volcano.
Publisher: We could pay you ridiculous amounts of money!
::mute::
D: Boats are expensive. You?
L: Promised the wife a trip to Tuscany for our anniversary. A good one.
::unmutes::
D: Diogenes will return!!
As for the rest? I honestly wonder if they were just messing with us. No other explanation I can think of. Complete disappointment.
poorlenore's review against another edition
4.0
I absolutely love all the Pendergast novels. That being said, this one felt a bit disjointed and shuffling at times. I also wasn't entirely taken with the ending.
dancemaster's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
hoosgracie's review against another edition
3.0
Not my favorite in the series. I'm tired of characters being brought back to life.
constant_reader_19's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. Pretty good Pendergast novel. I'm a bit bored wth Constance and would love more with Vincent...and maybe even Proctor! Even with a mediocre storyline, I still love Special Agent A.X.L. Pendergast!
ndoenowu's review
5.0
eventful
Enjoyed the pacing of this one. Not sure about leaving Diagones without tracking him, not sure how Pendergast will fulfill his promise to his friend Longstreet
Enjoyed the pacing of this one. Not sure about leaving Diagones without tracking him, not sure how Pendergast will fulfill his promise to his friend Longstreet
matt4hire's review
1.0
About halfway through, and...I'm done. I've been reading the Pendergast novels since Relic, and enjoyed the living heck out of them. They're absurd, sure, but they also have a sense of excitement that's generally missing from most other airport thrillers.
Up until a few books ago, I found this excitement waning. Cemetery Dance was a load of hogwash, and the Helen trilogy just kept running a little too long in each book. But then! White Fire came along, and my love affair with these books was renewed. The two books after that maintained that thrill, that joie de vivre, for me, and I was back on board.
And then...this book. This sad, absurd little book that's destroyed my faith in these authors, that's junked everything I ever found enjoyable, that's managed to be pretty much the most boring thriller I think I've ever read. And I just can't anymore. I can't get a new book in the series and wonder if it's going to be one of the good ones or not.
So goodbye, Aloysius, D'Agosta, and all the rest. It's been fun, but I think it's time we parted ways.
Up until a few books ago, I found this excitement waning. Cemetery Dance was a load of hogwash, and the Helen trilogy just kept running a little too long in each book. But then! White Fire came along, and my love affair with these books was renewed. The two books after that maintained that thrill, that joie de vivre, for me, and I was back on board.
And then...this book. This sad, absurd little book that's destroyed my faith in these authors, that's junked everything I ever found enjoyable, that's managed to be pretty much the most boring thriller I think I've ever read. And I just can't anymore. I can't get a new book in the series and wonder if it's going to be one of the good ones or not.
So goodbye, Aloysius, D'Agosta, and all the rest. It's been fun, but I think it's time we parted ways.
dsheffield206's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5