Fever Dream

Después de que el libro anterior de esta serie me quedara debiendo, Douglas Preston y Lincoln Child se han reivindicado conmigo con esta nueva entrega.

Éste, además de ser el décimo libro de la serie de Pendergast, es el primero de la trilogía de Helena, decir que como comienzo de trilogía es fabuloso, es quedarme corta, tiene mucha tela.

Para empezar cada libro que leo de esta serie, cada que me sorprende cuando me entero de cosas de la vida personal de Pendergast, no termina de sorprenderme, es un personaje tan enigmatico, tan complejo, que mucho de lo que me hace regresar a esta serie es precisamente este personaje, me han creado la necesidad de llegar al fondo de este personaje, claro que es un pozo sin fondo, imposible saber show more todo lo que uno quisiera sobre él.

Como siempre nuestro Aloysius se mete en una investigación fuera de la ley, como siempre saltándose las reglas, como siempre, está en medio de una situación donde corre en peligro su vida y la que lo acompañan en su investigación, sin embargo y a diferencia de la mayoría de las entregas anteriores, en esta ocasión no hay nada que caiga en lo fantasioso, es una investigación casi como de espías, un asesinato ocurrido muchos años atrás y cada cosa que se va revelando con relación a ese tema nos lleva a una aventura como las que ya nos tienen acostumbrados estos autores.

Me encanta, no estoy muy segura de que esta trilogía le llegue a la de Diógenes, pero sí que va a ser una de las buenas, llena de acción, asesinatos y una persecución de esas de adrenalina, sobre todo las sorpresas están a la orden del día.

¿He dicho que esta novela no es tan fantasiosa? Bueno, es verdad, pero nuestros autores no pueden dejar fuera el tema ¿verdad? Así que, sí, hay que esperar sorpresas de esas que tanto gustan en esta serie.

En esta ocasión no han dejado fuera a Constance, un personaje que se está convirtiendo junto con Pendergast, peculiar y también difícil de comprender.

Estos autores tienen en definitiva la fórmula perfecta del entretenimiento, cada libro me la paso genial leyéndolos, cada entrega me sorprende y se han convertido en poco tiempo en consentidos de mi estantería, me faltan muchos libros para ponerme al día con la serie, pero a diferencia de otras series que he comenzado y no he terminado, esta me ha atrapado desde el primer libro, a ver si este año logro ponerme al día y logro llegar al 18.

Sin duda una serie bastante recomendable para quien no se haya animado a leerla, sí que son muchos libros, pero vale la pena cada uno de ellos. show less

People coming into this book expecting a neat little story unconnected with anything else will be poorly served. This latest installment of the Pendergast novel does 3 things – it reveals and resolves incidents in Pendergast’s past, it sets up a new villain for him to battle and sets up a situation with Constance that will need resolution on its own. Why people are surprised or irritated by this, especially longtime readers, is strange. The entire series is set up this way. It’s what gives it flow and impetus and I really liked how it was managed in this one and I think it was done better than the ‘break’ books in the past (Crows, Wheel and Dance).

Another thing I liked was how they portrayed Pendergast with his wife. He show more seemed warmer and more at ease; less watchful and circumscribed. I found it a treat that I could spot it and that it seemed deliberate. Of course the events of that time shaped who P is and why he uses the unconventional methods he often does. Not only his twisted and criminally inclined family made him what he is, but the seemingly random and brutal method of his wife’s death. I sort of liked that older Pendergast, even though it did seem a bit stilted and contrived (one reviewer characterizes it as Nick and Nora and drollness and that pretty much sums it up). I found Helen to be interesting, but slippery. I don't have any strong feelings about her one way or the other. Strange that P was so totally fooled by her, but not unheard of.

I, too, found P’s treatment of D’Agosta mostly perfunctory and doglike and wished he was less of a tool and more of an investigator in this one. Overall I think the treatment of D’Agostas character is uneven. In some books he’s given his own brain and function (he even wrote a book) and in others he is just a servant of P’s will. Hayward seemed a bit too forced in this one for my taste. One minute behaving like a rigid, bureaucratic automaton, the next paralyzed by girly emotions. Bah. If it were my first outing with her I wouldn’t like her at all.

Constance on the other hand came across as her old self and I’m anxious to read about how she fares in the asylum and how much of her story the good Doctor comes to believe. Whether I will like the authors’ new series is unknown, but I’m sad that there will be even more time between Pendergast novels. I’ve come to anticipate and relish them. show less

Six-word review: Pendergast page-turner without monster chase.

Extended review:

The tenth Special Agent Pendergast novel begins a second trilogy, "the Helen trilogy," with Pendergast's staggering discovery that his wife's death in Africa twelve years previously had been no accident. Now he trains his full range of powers on tracking and punishing those responsible for her murder. His ability to penetrate deep mysteries is as remarkable as his resourcefulness and raw nerve in tackling an adversary directly. In the process of his investigation, considerable collateral damage occurs.

Despite the Louisiana setting, two of his very appealing collaborators return: NYPD officers Lieutenant Vince D'Agosta and Captain Laura Hayward, the latter show more unwillingly. I must note with interest, however, that there is only one brief dive into a sub-basement archive, and there are no signs of a supernatural presence, an unnatural monstrosity lurking in some subterranean hall of horrors, a hallucinating madman, or a deadly pursuit through underground tunnels. To me that's very much like a breath of fresh air, even if it is the stifling, mosquito-laden air of trackless swamps and bayous.

Unlike most of the others in the Pendergast series, this novel does not stand alone. Even the Diogenes trilogy, it seemed to me, could be read with sufficient comprehension by someone who hadn't followed Pendergast from the beginning. But here there are loose ends both fore and aft. For instance, Constance Greene's strange behavior and bizarre backstory would seem to come out of nowhere and be related to nothing if we hadn't followed along from the third in the series, Cabinet of Curiosities, onward. And it's plain at the ending that the story is far from complete; despite major revelations and several deaths, there is much unfinished business.

The Preston-Child collaborations have the virtue of being complex without being too intellectually demanding. We may at times need a strong stomach, and if we want to follow the development we have to pay attention, but in time it will all be laid out for us without any need to interpret language or penetrate symbolism. For me in certain moods, they're an ideal escape. show less

I don't think I'll ever get tired of reading about Special Agent Aloysius X.L. Pendergast's adventures, and I pray Preston and Child never get tired of inventing them. Fever Dream was every bit the summer escapism read I had hoped for. Although, I suppose, being transported to the sun-baked African bush, and the humid, cicada infested swamps of Louisiana was not, strictly speaking, an escape from this year's long hot Mid-Western summer. But somehow, I forgot about the humidity and dewpoints, entranced, as always, by Pendergast's cool. A new Pendergast novel is one of the few books I buy in hardcover. I hate to wait. I'm about at the point where I want to go back to the beginning of the series and re-read them all. To attain a show more Trekkie-like knowledge of Pendergast. I keep waiting for a movie? But I'm not too hopeful that Hollywood will ever find a Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce to incarnate Pendergast and D'Agosta. I can't think of any celebrity actor who could capture his uniqueness. It would need to be an unknown way out of left field, someone original like Jim Parsons, who plays Dr. Sheldon Cooper on Big Bang Theory - but a touch more macho. But who knows? One can dream. In any event, this episode in the on-going saga, concerning the murder of Pendergast's wife Helen, was completely up to the usual standards for the series: a compelling mystery, great local color, interesting historic tidbits, and a continuity with the past novels. Plus it left some interesting threads in the story to be addressed in the next novel, which will likely open at a hunting range in Scotland. My bags are packed. show less

I've been reading the Pendergast series since it came out and became quite a fan of the characters and the fictional world. Until this one.

It is as if the authors started with a great idea, wrote a great plot synopsis, and then left for the beach. The first few chapters (some only a page or a few pages each) create a compelling twist on the ongoing saga around FBI agent Pendergast, who learns that his lovely wife wasn't as lovely has he always thought and that her death was a carefully staged event. As usual the authors added some nice historical detail revolving around the famous natural history illustrator: Audobon, and they do handle that part of the material very carefully and appropriately. After we find out almost exactly in the show more middle of the book how the plot is stuck together, we are left with a few car chases, out of character posturing by all of the cast and a carelessly written side-plot revolving around the mysterious relative of our Special Agent: Constance Green.

Usually when I read a Pendergast novel I can't quite put my finger on where they get their corroborative detail, as in how do they know what trees grow in Africa, or what kinds of flowers you can find in the deep jungle. That's what keeps my interest going a lot of the time when the plot thins and the characters fall apart. With this novel the suspension of disbelief falls apart because every detail is carefully chosen but randomly placed in the text. When I read about the choir of loud cicadas in Africa they still had me, but when I read about the same choir of loud cicadas in New Orleans they lost me. Even though these insects appear in both places apparently, it just felt contrived and lazy.

It was almost as if the authors had their minds set on a new detective series and quickly rattled out a new novel in their successful series. I therefor wasn't surprised to see a message at the end of the book by Preston and Child that we can expect a brand new detective series soon with a new cast and a new fictional world. Too bad, they could have made something of the one they already had. show less

The story opens with Special Agent Pendergast and his beloved wife Helen on safari in Africa where Helen was mauled and killed by a lion. We have heard bits and pieces of Helen in other books but we never really knew the whole story other than she had died. Now we find out all the details. Pendergast enlists the help of another old friend, Vincent D'Agosta to help him get to the bottom of things.

I loved this book! I love all the books in the Pendergast series but some touch me more than others and this was one of those. In all the years I have been reading and cheering Pendergast on, I have always wondered about Helen, how they met, what happened to her and why he doesn't like to talk about her. In this book we see that "soft" side of show more Pendergast. Of course he is still following his own rules and doing things his own way which is why we love him isn't it?

I enjoy the comaraderie between the police liutenant, D'Agosta and the FBI agent, Pendergast. We see a heated and at times comical interaction with Laura Haywood, D'Agosta's girlfriend and Pendergast, who she is not fond of. We have the classic cliffhangers of Preston and Child that make us want the next book right now. As in most books in the series, there are stories within stories and never a dull moment. The book moves along at a quick pace and holds your interest from page one.

While they say the books can be read as stand alone books, I feel that knowing the characters and the back stories always make them a more enjoyable read. I don't think I would start with this one if you haven't read the others but that is just my opinion. show less

The break is over…

While I have been a fan of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, individually and collectively, for nearly two decades now, I’m the rare fan that feels a little Agent Pendergast goes a long way. A few years ago, I began to feel, well, Pendergasted-out. I needed a break from the series and I took it.

As the old saying goes, absence makes the heart grow fonder. Knowing that there was a new Pendergast novel about to be released, I decided to get back up to speed and reenter the series. And reading Fever Dream at this time worked out perfectly. It’s the first novel in the so-called Helen Pendergast Trilogy, and it feeds straight into their latest release, Cold Vengeance.

The novel opens with a flashback to 12 years show more earlier. It returns us to the African hunting trip that cost Helen her life. Hers is a gruesome death, mauled by a lion. In the present day, FBI Special Agent Pendergast makes a shocking discovery. It’s a tiny detail out of place, never noticed before, but it leads Pendergast to the inescapable conclusion that his wife was murdered all those years prior. From that point on, the usually cool and collected agent is a man possessed. His only goal is to find out why Helen was killed and to see her murderer dead.

To that end, he conscripts Lieutenant Vincent D’Agosta of the NYPD as his partner in this cold case. Soon enough, Pendergast realizes that his beloved wife had kept secrets from him. I won’t summarize further, except to mention that Preston and Child manage to again integrate speculative science most entertainingly into their convoluted plot. This plot, being only the first in the trilogy, is perhaps a bit more convoluted than most. The first book completes a satisfying arc of the story, but the larger picture is not yet filled in.

Revisiting with these old friends, I remembered why I sometimes feel frustration with this principle character, with his quirky behavior and situational ethics. Intriguingly, Mssrs. Preston and Child have a significant character in the series, Laura Hayward, who seems to share my opinion. Despite this, there was great joy in returning to their tales. I’ve known these characters for so long, and they do find themselves embroiled in some interesting conundrums. Preston and Child have their formula down to a science. The books move at a lightning pace and the stories are pure entertainment. It seems the trial separation is over. I was fortunate to be able to dive straight into Fever Dream’s sequel, and I will be sure to acquire the last in the trilogy as soon as I am able. show less