A Book Review: Book of the Dead by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Ancient Egypt, a land of wonders and mysteries. Since a time immemorial, our culture always had a deep fascination with all things related to this ancient civilization. Lying at the root of our fascination with ancient Egypt, I think, is our propensity to be curious. We are naturally attracted to mysteries from our surroundings, and we like asking questions and finding answers. In this manner, Ancient Egypt, with its intriguing hieroglyphics, powerful dynasties, and mystifying custom/beliefs, leaves an irresistible scent of mystery that appeals to our curious nature. In arts and entertainment, our attraction to ancient Egypt has manifested in legions of sci-fi horror books, TV series, and movies about Egyptian artifacts, mythologies, mummies and pyramids. This also means, if done right, things from ancient Egypt can provide a perfect background for establishing a mystery/crime thriller.

Two master storytellers, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, explored the opportunity of flavoring their thriller novel with tastes of ancient Egypt. The result is a novel called Book of the Dead, the concluding chapter to a trilogy that began in Brimstone. And this book ended the bitter duel between agent Pendergast and his brother, Diogneses, in a most spectacular fashion.

Synopsis:

“Priceless jewels stolen from New York Museum of Natural History!”

While newspaper headline is heralding this shocking news, agent Pendergast is rotting in a maximum security prison after being framed for a series of murders, murders that were committed by his psychotic brother, Diogenes. Is this spelling the conclusion for Pendergast, the most formidable detective in history?

It was a normal working day at the museum; things were still settling down after the jewelery theft, when a strange package suddenly arrived in the hands of a museum employee. To the museum's dismay, it seems the thief has returned the collection of their priceless jewels, in pulverized form!

Who would do such a thing? Why steal priceless diamonds only to ground it to dust?

The looming mystery behind the theft, compounded with the permanent loss of these priceless jewels, are threatening to put a big dent on the museum's reputation. The museum's directors were desperate, they needed to pull off something quickly, something significant, to recover the institution’s name. Something like reopening the Tomb of Senef, a tomb has been collecting dust in the museum's basement since 1930 due to... bizarre circumstances. Yes, come to think of it, a grand reopening for this astounding, Egyptian tomb would surely seize New York's attention, and restoring the museum's damaged reputation to its former glory.

The museum assembled a team of scholars and engineers, and set them on a project to preparing the tomb for an exhibition. The team's leader is Dr. Nora Kelly, and her team has 6 weeks to fashion an exhibition so memorable that will leave an unforgettable memory on the minds of New Yorkers. Well, they are about to get what they are wishing for - A series of grotesque, mysterious murders began to spawn at the museum, echoing an ancient curse associated with the tomb. The fiasco, and its mysterious nature, sends a chill down everyone's spine. But it also popularized the tomb's upcoming, grand opening as the sounding of a gong. A lot of people, famous people, powerful people, are eager to attend the opening ceremony. But little do they know, the murders and the curse, are nothing but the prologue to a mind shattering nightmare...

My thoughts on this book:

Book of the Dead is a fast-paced thriller and a worthy addition to the series. Is it better than its predecessor, Dance of Death? No, while Book of the Dead is a good novel, but I do have a criticism about this book and I will discuss it later. For now, I would like to focus on discussing the strengths of this book.

Firstly, Book of the Dead tells a deeply atmospheric story. By combining plot devices such as a murder mystery, an Egyptian tomb, and an ancient curse, the author(s) blended these elements perfectly into the background of the story, which is set in a labyrinthine museum. Every chapter in this book beget in me a sense of lurking fear. The story created an edgy, tense feeling, that some abomination could be hiding in the dark corners and shadowy recesses of the museum, at any given moment, unleashing horror and striking at the characters. It was thrilling, dangerous, at the same time mystifying. Book of the Dead is surely among the most atmospheric installment in the series yet, and I love this book for it.

Major characters in this series, from D'Agosta, Laura Hayward, Bill Smithback, Nora Kelly, Constance Greene, and Viola Maskene, appeared in Book of the Dead. Each character takes on a key role in the story. This book is as much a story about Pendergast and Diogenes, as it is about these supporting characters. The story consists of multiple subplots, each one featuring a side character. These side stories not only mounted mystery to the story, but they also fleshed out each character's emotion and inner self. It was great character building. By the end of this book, it concluded the story between Pendergast and Diogenes, but it also resolved every single subplot that has been introduced into the series since Brimstone. In other words, as the concluding chapter to a trilogy, Book of the Dead left no stone unturned, and it does provide a satisfying conclusion.

All of this goes to say that I really like Book of the Dead, but I do have a criticism about this book – the ending felt anti climatic. Without loitering into the spoiler territory, let me just say that, the story reached its climax at about 90% into the book. Yes, the story's apex was amazing, it was full of mind numbing horrors, adrenaline rushing actions, and taut with an edgy tension. The story's apex was everything you can ever ask for in a thriller of this type! However, after the book's climax, instead of ending the story and tying up the loose ends with an epilogue, it dragged on for another one hundred pages. Sure, the last one hundred pages in this book tied the story up neatly. But it felt flat and unnecessary when compared against the first 90% of the book.

The anticlimactic ending may be a drawback, but it does not dim the luster that is emanating from this book. For the most part, Book of the Dead is on par with The Cabinet of Curiosities, which is arguably the best book in this series. Furthermore, it puts a satisfying full stop to the epic clash between Pendergast and Diogenes, and what a spectacular ending it is! When I rested this book back on my shelf, I couldn't help but wondering what the future holds for Pendergast, D'Agosta, and Constance. I am definitely planning to continue with this series in the near future. In the meantime, I confidently report that Book of the Dead is about as good as a thriller novel can be . If you are an enthusiast for the thriller genre, then go forth and read this series, and make sure you start from Relic. You will not regret opening its first page!