Two Graves (edition 2013)

I'm rating this book 4 stars out of relief that Preston & Child were finally interesting again, but it's not lacking flaws. I will start with the positive and say that while their last couple books bored me and lacked all sense of urgency, I sped through this one very quickly and actually felt quite pained to have to put it down to sleep and cook and go to work. I was genuinely curious to know where it was going.

On the downside, it's just a bit disjointed. There are a whole bunch of different plots thrown together - the hotel serial killer is the most interesting, although this dovetails into the strange modern day Nazi secret shadowy group first mentioned in the last Pendergast book, and then there's also a side story about long-time series guest star Corrie and her father and a used car lot scam, and another side story about Constance's psychiatrist Dr. Felder going on a mission to find a lock of her hair. While they these side stories were mildly interesting, I didn't care much about Dr. Felder and wished the time had been spent with Constance. Her reveal of what happened with her baby that she's been accused of murdering is rather abrupt and random, and more time spent from her point of view could have fixed that.

I think, ultimately, I would have preferred a story just about the hotel serial killer. Since Pendergast is the authors' big star, I think they've felt obligated to make all of the mysteries personally relate to him. I wouldn't mind if they scaled back on this a bit and returned to some of their earlier types of stories. It seems that this wraps up the "Helen trilogy" and I have to admit I'm not sure why it required three books to tell this story. ( )

As a long-time reader and fan of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, I wasn't disappointed with their latest entry in the Pendergast series (#12), but didn't have the same feeling at the end of it as I have with most of the others. This book brings back all of the recurring characters in the long running series and each get their moment in the spotlight. Pendergast rightly takes center stage as he should, but also appearing are his friend and ally, Vincent D'Agosta, his ward Constance Greene, Corrie Swanson, Pendergast's wife, Helen, and cameos by some other minor characters.

In this novel, Pendergast frees his wife from the clutches of Nazi kidnappers only to see her taken again. As he deals with this situation, Preston and Child creates sub-plots for the aforementioned recurring characters. Some of these sidebars feed the main plot that Pendergast is part of, some are head shakers that may the reader to wonder why they are included in this book (as I did). I know that fans of the series want to see these characters in each Pendergast novel, I just wish that the authors could have tied them all more closely to the plot.

Preston and Child's writing is brilliant, as always, and the book moves swiftly along. I really enjoy their descriptive scenes and wonderful vocabulary. I really have only two complaints, though, about the book. 1) Some of the later scenes involving Pendergast and the Nazis were really overdone and in need of an editor's red pen. Perhaps, the duo was told to provide so many thousand words and had to stick to the plan. And, 2) those unfamiliar with the series will have little clue about the back story and history between Pendergast and the characters mentioned earlier. Not that this is all bad though, because it may cause the new reader to the series to go back and start with "Relic".

Fans of the series won't be disappointed and should rush out and grab a copy. Those new to the world of Pendergast will hopefully start looking for copies of the first 11 books and prepare for some great reading. ( )

As usual with Agent Pendergast novels, please check your disbelief at the door to ensure your enjoyment of the story. Not as breakneck as some of the novels, Two Graves still delivers the goods: it moves along quickly with plenty of death, destruction, and also a smattering of the supernatural. As a bonus, Two Graves sports a secondary plot full of Corrie Swanson! I love her. Do not kill her off, you do hear me guys? As usual, the end leaves a couple of loose ends dangling...well, until next time, anyway. ;-) ( )

As usual with Agent Pendergast novels, please check your disbelief at the door to ensure your enjoyment of the story. Not as breakneck as some of the novels, Two Graves still delivers the goods: it moves along quickly with plenty of death, destruction, and also a smattering of the supernatural. As a bonus, Two Graves sports a secondary plot full of Corrie Swanson! I love her. Do not kill her off, you do hear me guys? As usual, the end leaves a couple of loose ends dangling...well, until next time, anyway. ;-) ( )

I'm giving TWO GRAVES 3 stars, as much as I hate to. I do love the Agent Pendergast series, and as far as I'm concerned, the dynamic duo of Preston and Child can't write fast enough. However, in this book the plot and subplots are fanciful and all over the place. I felt the ending fell short, even though the door remains wide open for the next book. And, trust me, I will read the next one. There were some interesting additions to the character pool in Two Graves, some likeable, some not so, some simply too hard to believe. ( )