Crimson Shore (Agent Pendergast Series, 15)

The first two-thirds of Crimson Shore were absolutely fantastic – the very definition of a page-turner. The Poe-esque hidden burial chamber, they mystery of the lost shipwreck, the terror of the mud flats and salt marshes, the forgotten community of Salem witches, and the creepiness of small town America all combined to provide the perfect Agent Pendergast story. It had plenty of atmosphere, a legitimate mystery, some dark humor, and even a bit of awkward romance.

Fully healed and completely recovered from his last few adventures, Pendergast is once again the fascinatingly enigmatic man-in-black with whom we are most familiar. His eccentricities are on fully display, and his Holmesian knack for reading people is on point once again. While never quite infallible, the almost superhuman aspect of his character is back, both mentally and physically. At the same time, Constance Greene is quickly developing into a leading character in her own right. She’s been displaying more personality in each book, but here she really steps into an investigative arc of her own. Her total lack of social skills, combined with her almost psychotic rage, is a perfect contrast to Pendergast’s polish and perfection.

What’s more, Constance has the opportunity here to be part of two equally awkward romantic entanglements. The weird sort of crush that Sergeant Gavin has on her is perfectly understandable, even if it does go completely off the rails later on. Far more interesting, however, is her romantic tension with Pendergast, a scenario that manages to be both sad and amusing.

As for the final third of the book, it’s as awkward and forced as anything Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child have ever written. It honestly feels as if they reached the climax, realized the story wasn’t long enough, and decided to tack on some supernatural adventure. What’s unfortunate is that it really could have worked, if only they’d made an effort to better integrate it with the rest of the plot. Yes, it's connected, and the false end of the original subplot is important to Constance's character, but the narrative link is tenuous, at best. As a standalone novella, I rather enjoyed it, but in the context of the rest of the story it felt tacked on, rushed, and (worst of all) artificially constructed to allow for another Pendergast-is-in-peril cliffhanger endings.

Maddeningly uneven, Crimson Shore is one of those books that I loved . . . and then hated . . . and then enjoyed somewhat ironically . . . and then just became exasperated with. I wish I could be as unreservedly enthusiastic about is as some advance readers, but it’s one structural edit away from being a truly solid Pendergast adventure.

Somewhat disappointed in this latest novel. Pendergast is one of my all time favorite characters but he somehow didn't ring true to himself in this book. At times he swore (out of character) and his relationship with Constance ran out character also. Both Pendergast and Constance were annoyingly snobby, and the put down of New England grated on my nerves. Seems like Preston and Child went out of their way to put down the people, food, history and even the setting of New England. The chapters read like a Patterson novel, short and choppy. I didn't mind the story line of monsters and witches, you come to expect that in their books but all in all something was missing in this one...the ending leaves you wanting another book which is the point of writing a novel I guess. Please bring back the refined, dignified characters of Constance and Pendergast!

Not the best of the bunch. I've been a long time fan of the Pendergast series & was looking forward to diving into this novel. Unfortunately it seemed as if there were two novellas here rather than one coherent novel.
I was also dismayed by the general level of snarky incivility given off in waves by both Pendergast & Constance. In past volumes Pendergast's elitism is tempered by a genuine (if deliberately hidden) fondness for his aides de camp (I'm thinking Corry or Lt D'Agosta). At one point in this book he is having dinner with someone who is more or less a stranger to him who asks if he is married or has children - a fairly typical question I think. He responds with a glacial freeze which comes off as just plain rude & more than somewhat petty.
Constance made me cringe. She comes off as a seriously unpleasant person- polite, but no more than that- & it clearly takes all she's got to even get as far as saying please & thank you.
& then there's the lobster roll tragedy. They decide to plumb the faintly sinister town - the scene of the crime - to the depths & commit a worse crime themselves. They buy a lobster roll each at the local clam shack. The lobster roll was described in mouthwatering detail & yet, the two of them, because they had no notion of how to eat a lobster roll (& couldn't seem to bring themselves to ask for a fork) tossed them in the trash. That hurt. Traditional lobster rolls are a fabulous New England treasure, more important I think, than a few cases of wine, & to see them treated them in such a cavalier fashion is just plain wrong.

like some of the reviewers I thought this seemed to be about 2/3 of a fairly decent book with a hodgepodge slapped onto the end. I've loved a number of the Pendergast books which is why I pre-ordered and awaited with some anticipation.
But the the ending is a cheap ploy to sell more books. Not again Preston-Child. If I get the next one at all it will be out of the library or second hand.

I've read all of Preston and Child's books, and enjoyed all of them. Until now! The first two-thirds of the book was fine. Then another totally irrelevant story is just sort of tacked on, and leaves us with a cliffhanger ending. If a book is good, readers will buy the next one, and a cliffhanger is unnecessary and irritating. Worst of all, if anyone reads this as their first Pendergast book, they will be lost at times, wondering who Constance is and how she ever got hooked up with Pendergast, and who the "mysterious" man at the end of the book might be. (Spoiler alert: it's obviously Diogenes, unless they're deliberately misleading the reader, which would be totally unfair and a sneaky device used to sell the next book.) If the next book is anything like this one, I'm done with Preston and Child.

Was very disappointed with this book, which is a continuation of the author's unexpected slide into mediocrity. Hard to believe the pair that penned the carefully sculpted, very erudite Still Life with Crows and Cabinet of Curiosities could have birthed this facile effort. I was particularly struck by the portrayal of Constance Green, which seemed colossally out-of-character. One almost had the sense she was channeling Corrie Swanson. In any case, it comes across as a hurried effort, never coming close to meeting my (unfortunately) declining expectations for this series.

This is NOT Pendergast. I pre-ordered this book so I could get an autographed copy and was so excited to finally get it and tear into it. Having been a fan of Preston and Child for years, I was expecting to find another thrilling story. Wrong.
As others have stated, I have always enjoyed how Pendergast is written. His behavior, his manner of speech, his way of moving and so on. This is not Pendergast. Thru the entire book he is totally out of character. From Relic to Blue Labyrinth, you can expect that he will be the same character with maybe a few surprises but here.... sorry but no. It honestly sounds like he was written by another author who has no clue about Pendergast's past. The entire "bedroom scene" with Constance is SO misplaced and forced that I actually cringed while reading it. And for it to even enter Pendergast's head as something that is akin to a desire is for him to totally take the Helen trilogy and "wipe his ass with it". Sorry for being crude. It simply would not happen. He would always stay true to his wife's memory and only Viola would be the only one close enough to be a future partner for him. Constance is also misused here. When introduced I was always fascinated by her as a character as she was the one wild variable in the equation that is Pendergast's life. The possibilities with her seemed intriguing about where it would go. Here she is shoehorned into the story and her behavior in this story is also out of character based on how she is written in the past. And she it totally unlikable by the end. Unlike the Diogenes Trilogy, by the end of Crimson Shore, I could have cared less about her as a character.
This is by far their most disappointing book. Every other book by them is fantastic and the Relic and Still Life with Crows are two books I tell EVERYONE to read. So now I have an autographed copy of my least favorite book by them. If you are a fan, you will probably read it but I think that most fans are not happy with this entry. And the ending..... REALLY? I can deal with a cliffhanger but come ON. We are DONE with Diogenes!! Do NOT bring him back! His trilogy was satisfying. Don't screw it up by having him return somehow! Just don't! In the end, I cannot recommend this book, even to fans. It feels contrived, forced and rushed. And the writing is terribly sub par with what I have always expected from Preston & Child. And their writing is what I always look forward to because it is so well done. But this time they miss the mark quite a bit. They normally deliver a book that I will read again at some point because I enjoyed them so much. This one I will never take off my shelf again. End rant.

Crimson Shore is simultaneously both too little and too much. What it lacks is enough length to fully flesh out the connection between the mystery that occupies the first half of the novel - involving a walled up corpse, the hundreds-year old disappearance of a treasure-bearing ship, and a spate of murders with occult trappings - and the tacked-on pseudo-supernatural end. With a bit more work and about fifty more pages, I think the authors could have made it more organic and less random, except they were too focused on trotting out the thing this book absolutely did not need: a Pendergast/Constance Greene romance. The abrupt shift from A plot to B plot is directly in service of ratcheting up tension there, and in attempting to establish Constance as a more central character. Newsflash: If you need your hero to make seriously stupid and out-of-character mistakes to make Constance look good, you may need to rethink centralizing her.

Crimson Shore will undoubtedly be more palatable to fans who want to sail in this particular 'ship, but if you (like me) find it a bit squicky that Constance was shagging the other Pendergast brother just a few novels back, you might be less willing to overlook a plot that's clearly been twisted in service of a particular character rather than in service of a good story.

Terribly disappointing.. I don't think Preston and Child have written this. The narrative is disjointed and there is none of the refinement which Pendergast is noted for. Constance Greene s character has undergone a sea change. I was especially appalled at the part where she pinches the loose flesh of a suspect! Preston and Child need to make amends to their fans asap.

I have had the book since Christmas, savoring the pleasure of looking at it and knowing how wonderful it would be to finally open it. I just read 10 pages and with sinking heart realized that someone else wrote this book. The delightful Agent Pendergast and Constance Green are no more. Agent Pendergast would never say "It's my late wife's car." ?! If you know the series, then you know what I mean. He would say "The vehicle belonged to my late wife". I almost cannot bear to continue the book, especially after reading reviews that confirm my suspicion. I'm really very sad right now.