Dance of Death (2005)

This has to be the most convoluted book in the series so far. While interesting, it is riddled with convenience fairies and too much obfuscation. Pendergast is more an enigma by force than by consequence. He suffers from Man Behind the Curtain syndrome. Hopefully the next book won't be this obnoxious. ( )

I have been a tremendous fan of the series, but this one is a true disappointment. Dumbing down your characters, killing off the good character I was so thrilled to bring back into the fold, and giving so much attention to Smithback, who is nothing but an idiot and irritation. Nora Kelley as a sanctimonious scientific prig, Pendergast as a bumbler....

I am very sad that Preston and Child have developed such a condescending attitude towards their character(s). I will miss Pendergast, but I don't see myself picking up a Pendergast novel again, unless it is a copy from the library to see if the authors ever raise the intellectual level back to one that I am more comfortable with. There are an incredible number of dumbed down novels on the market, that I have neither the time nor interest to waste upon. Give us back an intelligent storyline and interesting characters - Please! ( )

I did not like this one nearly as much as the others. I mean there were points like when Smithback took the diamond that reminded me why I've been powering through the series, but I simply didn't connect to any of this.

Mostly, I suppose because it turned out to be an excuse to get all the sidekick characters from earlier books into a reunion.

But also because this book is about Pendergast colliding with his evil brother, and quite honestly I don't read these books for Pendergast, because characters he interacts with tend to be far more interesting. They have flaws, they have passion, and they're generally brave. Pendergast though is your generic Sherlock expy, except I get less of a sense of humanity from him. And I don't really remember the villains from the other books. Mostly because they aren't nearly as compelling or well-drawn as the sidekicks, and it's the 'supernatural' element that's the real threat, the real driving force of the novel(s). The big bad of this book has no particular paranormal element, except for being a Pendergast, but didn't inspire any thrills in me. Really, he's a younger, ginger Moriarty.

I mean, at one point he's described as "almost effeminate." Really book? That's terribly cliche, and a killer whose goal, whether "Kill all of my brother's friends for giggles" or "steal ALL the diamonds!" simply doesn't inspire the fear of beings that randomly slaughter anyone they come across beyond all normal human conception. ( )

I cannot believe that I'm burned out on Pendergast. I don't think that's the case with this book. I accidentally read Wheel of Darkness before this one so I pretty much got the gist of what happened. I'm sure that there is a ton of detail and more specific information, but for the first time ever, I just couldn't get into the book. I put it down at about 40%.

As I understand it, Pendergast's friends are being targeted by his brother. I gave up on the book when I realized I was hoping that Diogenes would get to Smithback next (I really DON'T like that character!).

Whatever's after Wheel of Darkness will go onto my to-read list. Out of all of the Pendergast books I've read, not being "into" one of them (this one) isn't such a terrible thing. ( )

You can't help loving Pendergast ( )