Dance of Death

In a follow-up to the Audie Award-winning BRIMSTONE, authors Preston and Child again team up with actor René Auberjonois on a story that stretches the boundaries of thriller fiction. Against the backdrop of New York's Museum of Natural History, Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta and mysterious FBI Agent Aloysius Pendergast try to track down Pendergast's misanthropic brother, who is murdering Pendergast's acquaintances, one by one. Auberjonois puts carefully calculated emotion and intensity into all his characters--good or evil, flawed or seemingly superhuman--to a completely satisfying effect. At the close of this reading, the authors "interview" the fictional Agent Pendergast. S.E.S. (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine

May 23, 2005
The always reliable team of Preston and Child revisit Special FBI Agent Aloysius Pendergast, last seen in 2004's Brimstone
, and others from past bestsellers (Relic
; The Cabinet of Curiosities
) in this intriguing thriller set in and around New York City and the halls of the Museum of Natural History. Born a misanthropic loner but driven insane by seeing his parents burned alive when he was a teen, Aloysius's madman brother, Diogenes, has begun murdering Aloysius's friends. Aloysius begs old friend Lt. Vincent D'Agosta to help him defeat his brother, and Vincent does his best while the brothers spar and others die. There are a number of subplots, one involving an ATM robber and flasher known as the Dangler and another focusing on the museum's exhibition of sacred masks, but these fade away as the deadly duel between the brothers takes center stage. Think Sherlock Holmes locked in a death struggle with his smarter brother, Mycroft. Like Brimstone, this novel doesn't end so much as simply pause while the authors work on the next installment. While it's not as good as some of their earlier efforts, it's still pretty darn good. Agents, Eric Simonoff at Janklow & Nesbit and Matthew Snyder at CAA. Major ad/promo, 10-city author tour.

This farfetched but engaging thriller is a sequel to the authors' 2004 novel, BRIMSTONE, but also pulls in characters from Lincoln Child adventures of years past. Listeners need not be familiar with those other offerings to become thoroughly immersed in this story of a brilliant FBI agent attempting to track down his criminal mastermind brother before he commits the perfect crime. Further helping to orient new listeners is the energetic work of Scott Brick, who flawlessly voices the smooth Southern drawl of FBI Agent Aloysius Pendergast and his evil brother, Diogenes, as well as the tough New York accent of NYPD Detective Vincent D'Agosta. Authors and narrator will likely make listeners seek out other Lincoln Child efforts new and old. J.P.M. (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine

October 1, 2005
The team of Preston and Child produce another winner in this latest tale featuring FBI agent Aloysius Pendergast and NYPD detective Vince D'Agosta. In the authors' last book, "Brimstone", Aloysius was apparently killed while trying to save Vince. Several months later, Aloysius has returned to New York in an effort to confront and defeat his evil brother, Diogenes, who has promised to commit a horrible crime on a certain date. This sets into motion a series of seemingly unrelated events that culminate in a pulse-pounding scene at New York's Museum of Natural History, the site of Aloysius's first appearance in "Relic". Reader René Auberjonois is the perfect narrator of this unique blend of horror and thriller; he captures the personality of each character without resorting to theatrics and is especially skilled in presenting Aloysius's honeyed Southern accent, which carries the right mixture of intelligence and menace. Highly recommended for all audio collections.

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.