Cemetery Dance (Pendergast, Bk 9)

Once again Preston & Child's do great thrilling works. What a page turner...The book came very quickly and I read it in four days could not put it down and what a surprise ending

I enjoyed this book very much. The story is kind of a blow to readers who have been following the series since Relic, but nevertheless it was an exciting, action-filled book. Having just read the Wheel of Darkness before this, it's great to see Pendergast "back to normal" (see my review for Wheel of Darkness if you're curious). However, this book also seem to be a sudden departure from the previous stories. From Relic to Wheel of Darkness, the stories are smooth-flowing and semi-related, but Cemetery Dance seem to suddenly almost have nothing to do with the previous books in terms of storyline. A very weird turn of events, but does not make this book any less of a good read. Definitely one of my favorite Pendergast books.

Pendergast is back in another chilling tale from the minds of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. It is always a gamble to kill off a lead character from a series at the beginning of a novel. If you didn't know that before you read this review, I bet that got your attention.

Pendergast is back with D'Agosta but this time the crime that they are investigating is very different. The murder that they are investigating is that of Bill Smithback. Not to worry the perpetrator finger prints was all over Bill Smithback's apartment and a security video has the killers face coming in and out of the complex. However, the finger prints and the face belong to an individual who has been dead for weeks. As the investigation gets more and more involved the reader begins to get the idea that the dead or rather the undead could still be walking around.

Meanwhile, Nora Kelly, who barely escaped the assault that killed Smithback, is trying to put her life back together but as she attempts to help Pendergast with the investigation she realizes that her life could still be in danger.

Another excellent story in the Pendergast series! These novels are hard to put down. The gripping story, and the excellent characters rates this novel right up there with their best.

Grade: A

I have really enjoyed the previous works of Preston & Child, and Agent Pendergast is easily one of my favorite literary characters. I always find myself wanting to know more about him. But this story, premised as it is on murderous zombies and voodoo cults just wasn't an enjoyable read for me. Nearly all works of suspense require the reader to suspend disbelief to a certain extent, but this story asked me to go along with plot lines that were just too far out for me. And I enjoy a lot of science fiction. In the end, I tend to judge Preston & Child against their previous works, such as [[ASIN:0446611239 The Cabinet of Curiosities (Pendergast, Book 3)]] and [[ASIN:0446612766 Still Life with Crows (Pendergast, Book 4)]], and compared to their earlier excellent books I was disappointed with Cemetery Dance.

Yes, this genre is for leisure reading, but care should be taken that the mystery is indeed soluble by the reader. In this case, it seems that the end of the novel was changed somewhere in the editing. Great attention (and length) is given to the character development of an incidental red herring - so much so that the authors felt the need to deal with the character at the end to give some closure. My suspicion is that this was the going to be the perpetrator, but the length of development necessary to make the connection work was far too great.

The ending is truly amazing, with the involvement and necessary talents of the character discoverable, but a less well thought out rationale for many of the "exciting" actions of the character.

The research into various cult religions seems impressive to me, but then I admit to knowing nothing thereof. But as a classic murder mystery, I feel my time was wasted.

Love Love Love these books. They are "un-put-downable"! As usual they are dark, mysterious and absolutely gripping. Keeps you guessing until the final pages!

Once again the authors have created a mystery with their agent Pendergast that will leave the reader wanting to turn page after page until the end. The story line is excellent and involves a touch of the occult as well as much in the way of strange and errie murders. The reader will find this book to be a definite page turner. The more you read the more you want to keep reading until you hit the end. Pick up a copy and get ready for some very enjoyable reading.

They did it again with the continuation of this secton of Pendergasts life. Very engaging and we get to learn a little more about Pen. and his background. With the new characters I can harly wait to see what happens.

Always good to see Pendergast back in action, and this one was quite a good read. However, I would like to see the authors return to more of the original style and not as far-fetched as this one tended to be. Also, can we please see Viola Maskelene again? I liked her. Constance, too!

It was a great book and I was so sorry to see that Bill Smithback had to die. From start to finish You never knew if Pendegast was going to survive, it was a "up all nighter" book and a real great job by these two authors. Can't wait for the next one coming out in Dec. when he "maybe " finds his wife again?