Review - Fever Dream by Preston and Child

For fans of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, the announcement of a new Pendergast novel is cause for celebration. The mysterious special agent of many of their novels is a fan favorite. Preston and Child offer another interesting and exciting glimpse into the dark history of Aloysius Pendergast with their new novel "Fever Dream". (Released May 11, 2010)

Synopsis from Amazon:

Yesterday, Special Agent Pendergast still mourned the loss of his beloved wife, Helen, who died in a tragic accident in Africa twelve years ago.

Today, he discovers she was murdered.

Tomorrow, he will learn her most guarded secrets, leaving him to wonder: Who was the woman I married? Why was she murdered? And, above all . . . Who murdered her?

FEVER DREAM

Revenge is not sweet: It is essential.

Right off the bat, I will say that this is not my favorite of the bunch (10 in all). It starts with a premise that is a little far-fetched and stretched a bit thin. However, I am a huge fan of the writing duo, and their weaker entries are stronger than 90% of the current available fiction.

What I love most about this book (and their writing in general) is the pacing. They write with the efficiency of a fast paced action adventure movie. Every chapter bristles with energy and life. The term page-turner exemplifies their writing style. The story never gets bogged-down with unnecessary sub-plots and exposition.

Pendergast is assisted as usual by Lt. Vincent D'Agosta and the addition of Capt. Laura Hayward. Together they tie together a grisly murder, parrots and the works of a famous illustrator.

If that sentence intrigues you, then I encourage you to check out "Fever Dream" and all of the Pendergast novels.

Writing, Reading, iPad, and Stuff

India found this great item for writers called The Wasteline Test, which measures the amount of bad grammar stuff in our writing. Follow the link at her site - India Drummond
My writing measured ‘lean,’ which is awesome!

I'm working on another project while kicking around some new ideas. Something about the storyline for CassaStar's sequel didn't feel right, so I sat down this weekend with one of my test readers, and we tossed out some ideas. He had great suggestions and spurred my imagination, and the outline is much stronger now. I'll have to do a lot more research for this one, but I'm really excited.

I'm currently reading two books, a fantasy by Robin Hobb and one from The Autumn Rain trilogy by David J. Williams. However, the latest Preston & Child book, Fever Dream, arrived Saturday. I'm tearing through it, so hope to have a review up soon.

Have I mentioned lately that my iPad still rocks? I did make one mistake, though. I had Plants vs. Zombies on my iTouch, so I downloaded it to my iPad as well, just to see it on the larger screen. Yes, it sucked me in! I'm currently on the roof, so not long before I win it yet again...

As for stuff - I updated my blogroll on the right this weekend. If anyone who visits my blog and comments on a regular basis is not listed, please let me know! I've got all but the very newest followers up and may have missed a devoted friend.

Oh, and I finally have a button. Left hand side of blogroll, near the top. (For all those who've been asking for the past month!)

And Shannon at Faith, Hope, and Love passed out some awards the other day - and this one excited me:

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Rock Star Blogger! Have guitar, will travel.

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I'll just pass this along to two others who rock-

Jamie at Mithril Wisdom and Arlee at Tossing it Out

Review - Cemetary Dance

Cemetary Dance

by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child



Available in Hardback 448 pages and MP3 Audio
Released May 12, 2009


During this reflective time of year, I thought I'd look back on a book series that has been like an old friend. I'm a huge fan of mystery tinged with the supernatural and the best example of this is the Pendergast series by
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. They released the ninth book of the series in 2009 titled "Cemetery Dance".

Without giving too much away (not a big fan of spoilers), the novel deals with the death of a reoccurring character, zombies and a cult that lives in a mysterious fortress nicknamed "The Ville". Preston and Child have a keen sense of pacing. The novel reads like a great popcorn film. It's fast paced, engaging and humorous. The main character of Special Agent Pendergast of the FBI is one of the best characters ever put to print. Mysterious and clever, he is a modern day Sherlock Holmes. His deductive powers are unrivaled and his droll southern wit and charm are the icing on the cake.

If you are unfamiliar with the series, I would start off with the initial Pendergast novel "The Relic". Moviephiles may remember that this book was turned into a film, but the powers that be made the asinine decision to remove the main character of Pendergast and turn his able-bodied NYPD assistant Sgt D'Agosta into the star of the film. At the time, I could have imagined Val Kilmer (Tombstone) or Dennis Quaid (The Big Easy) as a perfect Pendergast for the big screen. From what I understand (and this is the internet - so don't take it to the bank) Paramount Studios own the right to the character of Pendergast but have yet to make a movie with this great character.



If you are a fan of great mystery and have not had the pleasure of reading this great series, I highly encourage you to try it out and enjoy the ride!