A Book Review: Dance of Death by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

  The best detective fictions are those stories where, a formidable detective clashes against an equally brilliant villain; Sherlock Holmes danced with Moriarty in a deadly battle of wits, and Mcguyver engaged Murdoc in a duel of intellects. In a mind-blowing detective story, the unstoppable meets the unmovable on a collision course, where the confrontation explodes into a supernova of mystery, thrills, and suspense, captivating audiences in an entrancing story that the mind cannot forget.

So where is the arch nemesis for Special Agent A.X.L. Pendergast of the FBI? In Dance of Death, the 6^th novel in a series of best-selling thrillers, author(s) Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child finally revealed a most dangerous and brilliant villain. This time, agent Pederast has finally met his match.

Synopsis:

Agent Pendergast of the FBI is missing in action and presumed dead. Pendergast's close friend, Vincient D'Agosta, is mourning for the loss of this formidable detective and his dear friend. Meanwhile, Pendergast's ward, Constance Greene, summoned D'Agosta to a meeting. She passed on to D'Agosta a letter, hand-written by Pendergast many months before his supposed demise. This secretive letter revealed to D'Agosta the shocking truth about Pendergast's brother, Diogenes, a genius who is also criminally insane.

D'Agosta stared, dumfounded, into the letter. He gradually came to grasp with the true horror behind his friend's last words – it is a dire warning that Dioegenes is about to execute a perfect crime. The letter leaves only one clue; Dioegenes may commit this crime on the 28^th of January. The question is, without Pendergast's deductive prowess to guide him, can Vincent D'Agosta stop Diogenes?

Meanwhile, in New York City, a university professor suddenly spiraled into insanity during a lecture. With his own bare hands, the maddenbing professor clawed his own face apart, then dropped dead on the floor. Could there be a link, connecting the professor's strange death to Diogenes' malicious plan? Yet, this is but the beginning to a series of bizarre, grotesque murders sprawling on New York's city streets. It is as if Death is encircling everyday citizens in a dance of approaching doom, a dance of death...

My thoughts on this book:

Bravo! I tip my hat to Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Dance of Death proves itself to be another star, shining brightly in the constellation of the thriller genre. This novel does not stand alone as a self contained story. It is a sequel, the second book in a trilogy that began with Brimstone and it features the seismic duel between Pendergast and his brother, Diogenese.

A handful of trilogies suffer from the middle book syndrome, but along comes Dance of Death, a rare instance where the second book in a trilogy surpasses its predecessor in every aspect; from plotting, characterization, to its pacing. It is extremely difficult to find faults in this novel, because there is none. Its writings, energetic and vibrant, created an atmospheric story while allowing readers to easily visualize the scenes in their minds.

The series' favorite characters, such as Vincient D'Agosta, Laura Hayward, Bill Smithback, Nora Kelly, and Margo Green, all returned in Dance of Death and taking on important roles in the story. Furthermore, this book further explored two characters whom I found very interesting: Viola Masklene and Constance Greene. These two characters are relatively new to the series, they arrived on the scene with personal histories shrouded in mystery, but I can see they will be playing vital roles in the future books. I was particularly fond of the friendship between Vincient D'Agosta and Perdergast, which is much like the friendship between Sherlock Holmes and Watson. In some ways, one can almost say that D'Agosta, like Watson, is a sidekick. However, this book gave plenty of opportunities for D'Agosta to shine and be his own man. And he did! It suffices to say, in Dance of Death, D'Agosta broke the mold of being a sidekick, and he was the key to Pendergast's endeavor at stopping his brother.

When it comes to characterizing the main hero and the villain, Dance of Death excelled in this department. In this novel, Diogenes is a frightening villain. He is smart, ruthless, dangerous, and driven by a maddening hatred against his brother. Without spoiling the story, let me just say that in this novel, one feels that Diogenes has an edge over Pendergast. This also means, in Dance of Death, a reader can really feel a sense of danger not only for Pendergast, but for his friends too. This is the kind of book where an unexpected twist can punch you hard on the face at the moment when a surprise is least expected. That's what made this book so good!

One would have expected that, a thriller would lack the elements of mystery and suspense if the identity of the villain is already revealed, right? In Dance of Death, this is certainly not the case. This novel smells and tastes of powerful suspense and mystery. I think we can all agree that, it is no small feat to mount suspense and mystery in a book where the identify of the villain is revealed earlier in the book. So how did they do it? Basically, in Dance of Death, multiple sub plots run side by side. You have an overarching, main plot, and it focuses on the struggle between Pendergast and his brother. Meanwhile, every sub plot features a side character, and it represents a mystery, a piece in an intriguing puzzle that Pendergast must put together in order to stop Diogenes.

For a reader, the connection between each sub plot to the main plot does not appear to be obvious. But as the story progressed, the author(s) gradually revealed the answers to these mysteries, and I was very impressed by the clever way the narratives in this book pieces together its story. For an example, the sub plot that intrigued me the most, was the mystery surrounding Diogenes' deep hatred for Perdergast. Why do these two brothers hate each other so much? What was their history? This sub plot introduced a new supporting character, Eli Glinn, but it also gave us some insights into Pendergast's character, his inner thoughts and emotions. I enjoyed reading this part of the book, and although this novel never revealed the answer to this mystery, but it ended in a cliffhanger and it galvanized me. It provided a solution to the epidemics caused by Diogenes, but it also leaves plentiful of mystery and excitement, leading nicely into a sequel.

I have read 6 novels featuring the adventures of Agent Pendergast, every one of them is a blast, and Dance of Death is no exception. Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, these two authors know how to spin a good yarn. I recommend this series to fans of thrillers, mystery, and detective fictions. Having said this, do not start this series with Dance of Death. As I have mentioned earlier, while this novel is good, but it is the middle of a trilogy. I recommend starting this series from its beginning, with a book called Relic.

Until the next time, happy reading.