City of Endless Night

City of Endless Night sees the return of Special Agent Pendergast to New York City and pairs him once again with Lieutenant Vincent D’Agosta. When a young socialite is found in an abandoned warehouse missing her head, it seems like a very personal crime. Soon, however, more victims appear, also missing their heads. This time murdered in seemingly highly secure if not impregnable locations.

NYC loves nothing so much as a juicy story. Once word leaks out that there is a serial killer stalking the seemingly despicable yet untouchable elite, the Decapitator captures their imagination. Pendergast and D’Agosta search for connections among the victims as well as a more earthly motive than “divine wrath”. D’Agosta’s dogged detective show more work and Pendergast’s brilliant and eccentric mind both work on the problem. The investigation finally takes them to an abandoned Long Island psychiatric hospital for a thrilling conclusion.

Preston and Child excel at creating atmosphere. The blustery New York City set the mood for another creepy killer. City of Endless Night strips the story back down to its essentials and focuses on the pairing of D’Agosta and Pendergast. While Pendergast’s ward, Constance, is a great literary creation in her own right, allowing this story to focus solely around D’Agosta and Pendergast makes for a more tightly plotted adventure reminiscent of their first encounter long ago in Relic. The crime scenes are fascinating and solving them is particularly satisfying. As brilliant as Pendergast is, he feels as if he is in real jeopardy here. One of the best Pendergast stories in years. Highly recommended.

I was fortunate to receive an advance copy of this book from the publisher. show less

I still can’t believe that this is the 18th book in the Pendergast series! The fact that I’ve read through the entire series…that’s gotta say something about these two authors. A dynamic duo, they managed to win me over with Relic and Still Life With Crows. I’ve fallen off the couch and dropped my book in mid-paragraph thanks to their descriptive and gripping writing. My favorite novels are when Pendergast teams up with D’Agosta. I’d always thought Pendergast was my favorite and D’Agosta was just…there. But I realize now, 18 books later, that I need D’Agosta to be there to counteract the standoffish, moody Pendergast that has been marred, maimed and….seriously, these authors have put him through the ringer. He’s show more definitely changed as a character, which is a testament to good writing, in my opinion. What they ended up covering in their latest novel…makes me curious if there were discussions on taxi rides or at a local coffee shop. Surely their Google searches have placed them on the FBI’s watch list. 😉

There was a bit more of Bryce Harriman (the reporter) than I would have liked, but we’ve got to have some bad, otherwise, we don’t appreciate the good. Right…right?! I must admit though, I’ve struggled with the books in the series that specifically involved Pendergast’s wife and his ward. (groans internally) Here’s my brutally honest opinion of parts of the opening and closing (not the main story) of City of Endless Night. Blech. If you haven’t read my previous complaints of Constance Greene, I’ll save you from reading those reviews. She is the fly in my ointment, a thorn in my side, the splinter deep under my nail, a bout of the flu, or a migraine that no amount of coffee and Tylenol will vanquish. And after reading the Epilogue, I don’t hate Constance. I’m just not necessarily excited about her existence.

Should I have a good attitude? I have a great attitude…

Here’s my honest opinion on the “meat” of the story. heh It was a fun read and I really enjoyed it. Why? Because D’Agosta and Pendergast are back together again. Woo Hoo! I may have figured out the murderer, but that in no way detracted from the novel. There were plenty of red herrings that will make the reader question who the killer is. Towards the end, there was a moment that read like the battle of wits from the Princess Bride.

VIZZINI: Now, a clever man would put the poison into his own goblet, because he would know that only a great fool would reach for what he was given. I’m not a great fool, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But you must have known I was not a great fool; you would have counted on it, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me.

It made me laugh. After which, the action picked up and wow, it was exciting! The setting was eerie. The end scene read like a thriller. Nail-biting, I held my breath more than once with their suspense-filled scenes. Thanks to their writing, in my mind I could easily picture the final cat and mouse chase as if I were watching a movie.

I received a complimentary copy from Net Galley for my honest opinion. I was more than happy to read it considering I’m a longtime fan. What do I think of City of Endless Night? It makes for a great murder mystery and thriller. Though it doesn’t have monsters, it does have multiple gruesome murders, so not all hope is lost (does that sound bad?). Fans of Pendergast, Sherlock Holmes or murder mysteries, in general, will enjoy this read. show less

City of Endless Night, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child’s seventeenth novel featuring FBI Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast, begins with the discovery of the beheaded body of a wealthy heiress. Pendergast, initially disinterested in the case following personal struggles with Constance Greene, is drawn into the case at his FBI supervisor’s request. Working with Detective Vincent D’Agosta, Pendergast finds his interest piqued after two more people are murdered and beheaded in crimes that require expert knowledge of state-of-the-art security systems. Unable to find a link between the victims, the FBI and NYPD are caught off-guard when New York Post journalist Bryce Harriman postulates that the Decapitator is targeting the ultra-rich show more who have exploited the poor and give nothing back to society. Pendergast keeps his typical close council as he and D’Agosta look into New York’s high society for motive and a possible killer. Like the previous few novels, Preston and Child are back in high thriller form here as they move beyond some of the Pendergast mythos. As interesting as it is, sometimes the extensive backstory can bog down the original plot and here they have a cracker. The story captures not only the current political climate, but the role of technology and the media in shaping the narrative. That said, the subplot featuring the preacher railing against wealth was hastily-devised and added very little. Overall, the themes are strong and the interaction between Pendergast and D’Agosta makes this novel. show less

A Familiar Formula that Fails to Yield Drama this Time

City of Endless Night is the seventeenth installment in the Agent Pendergast series by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. It follows a formula found in several of their earlier works, as FBI Agent Pendergast faces a previously unknown type of foe, which has been shaped by forces in the gray area between science and the supernatural. But unlike the monsters he pursues in the museums and caves of earlier books, Pendergast’s adversary in the City of Endless Night seems little more than a man. An intelligent, cunning, and extremely disturbed one, but a man nonetheless. There is science run amok in the book and it was apparently intended to provide the ‘disfiguring’ stresses on this show more individual, but it never achieves Preston and Child’s trademark blend of the bizarre, the natural, and the paranormal that keeps the pages turning. Basically, the story ends up being a murder mystery.

As a murder mystery, City of Endless Night is OK, but not outstanding. Agent Pendergast held my interest as brilliant, inscrutable detectives are prone to do, even if the description is somewhat stereotypical. On the other hand, Lieutenant D’Agosta of the NYPD, a recurring figure in the series, is uncharacteristically inept, diluting the tension. The latitude NY Post reporter Bryce Harriman was given to make sweeping generalizations based on little to no evidence felt unrealistic. There is also a subplot about an ex-Jesuit, Marsden Swope, who is trying to lead people from their wicked, materialistic ways, but it fails to add to the story. Even the motivation for the murders, when it is finally revealed, turns out to be rather trite.

Overall, the authors could have developed the invisible deformities of Pendergast’s latest foe more fully, giving readers the adrenaline-fueled tension we have come to expect from the series. But without that monster misshapen by nature (or something otherworldly), the remaining story is solid but not exceptional. show less

Extrañaba a Pendergast y para ser honesta dejé pasar mucho tiempo entre el libro anterior y este lo que me provocó que tuviera que hacer un gran ejercicio mental para recordar en que había quedado el anterior, al final lo recordé.
Tengo que decir que me ha sorprendido un poco encontrarme con un Thriller bastante normalito, considerando como son la mayoría de los libros de esta serie, en esta ocasión no hubo cosas raras, monstruos, zombis o cualquier cosa de esas que mucho les gusta a estos escritores y por supuesto a mí también.
Sin embargo, me ha gustado este respiro de cosas raras, este libro ha sido por mucho uno de mis favoritos de la serie y créanme eso es mucho decir.
Por un lado, afortunadamente han traído de regreso a show more D’Agosta, ese personaje realmente le da mucho color a la historia y a través de tantos libros he llegado a tomarle cariño, por otro lado este libro se centra en Pendergast haciendo, por fin, el trabajo que le toca, es decir investigar una serie de crímenes y ahí esta el asunto en que tanto estos crímenes como el desarrollo de la investigación y el mismo asesino han resultado de lo más entretenidos.
Hablando del asesino, me ha encantado la presentación del mismo, su personalidad, sus asesinatos y toda la investigación, no es que me haya sorprendido mucho saber quién fue, aunque habrá lectores que se dejen llevar por el engaño, pero honestamente había demasiadas pistas como para obviar quien era, sin embargo, más allá de desvelar de quien se trataba, me ha gustado la parte donde Pendergast lo atrapa, ha sido emocionante y ha puesto al filo la astucia e inteligencia de Pendergast, ahora mismo no recuerdo ningún libro donde pusieran en tanto aprieto a este personaje, normalmente siempre está un paso adelante.
Por otro lado, y aunque el personaje me gusta, he descansado de Constance, aunque tiene una aparición bastante peculiar en el epílogo que nos deja sobre la mesa un poco de lo que será la siguiente entrega, lo cierto es que la mujer es demasiado rara y el que no estuviera ha hecho un poco más normal todo, he extrañado eso si a Proctor, un poquito nada más.
Amo a Pendergast y esta serie, me declaro fan show less

Very pedestrian. This is little more than a whodunit without much of the magic that made the Pendergast series so special early on.

Here, we get several decapitations in New York City. Lt. D'Agosta is primary on the case of course but Preston/Child use the flimsy idea that the first victim might have crossed state lines as an excuse to get Pendergast involved. Unlike many stories in this series, there's not any real hints of the supernatural in the killings. Granted, most of the killings are of high profile people who have tight (or so they thought) security around them. So there is an element of how did the killer get in, kill, and escape. But again, that's virtually every story in this genre. There's also a completely pointless subplot show more of a nut who wants to take advantage of these 1%ers dying by encouraging others to destroy their material goods by having a bonfire in the middle of the city. And of course we get the annoying "journalist" Bryce Harriman who decides only he knows the true motive of the killer and writes sensationalist stories to "prove" it. (He may be the most realistic character in the book.)

Pendergast suffers from the same fate as Jack Sparrow: they're such great, unique, quirky characters that you fall in love with them instantly. But, after a few servings, the schtick grows stale. And here, the character is on life support because Preston/Child don't know what to do with him or how to put him in unique situations anymore. After all, this is the 17th story starring the FBI agent.

If you're a fan of the series read it. It's not like it sucks. It's just not special any longer. show less

The title is an allusion to a classic poem by William Blake, which states, “Some are born to sweet delight, some are born to endless night.” The evil in this book is seeking to bring "endless night" to the citizens of New York City. The book is one year out from the last book but the story takes up beautifully from the last event in Pendergast life and the reader feels right at home. Agent Pendergast gets himself involved in a cat and mouse game that nearly gets our hero killed. The entire story is filled with one adventure after another. The only thing that I could find off with the book was the epilogue that seemed more like an afterthought but may be setting the stage for the next installment, so I won't be too critical of that.