Journalist Slain…
William Smithback Jr., a prominent
New York Times reporter, was killed in a brutal attack last night in his Upper
West Side apartment. His wife, Nora Kelly, an archaeologist at the Museum of
Natural History, was injured as well. Multiple eyewitnesses identified the
assailant as a neighbor in the building, Colin Fearing: a man who, by all
reports, was dead and buried ten days ago. There are reports that FBI Special
Agent Pendergast has taken an interest in the case, but no further…
Douglas
Preston and Lincoln Child know how to weave a mystery with the alluring figure
of Agent Aloysius Pendergast. This story is one of intrigue because someone is
making it seem like a zombie has risen from the grave, killed a reporter, and
is attacking his wife. The question becomes is the zombie real?
My
grandmother talked me into reading this book. I generally do not like mystery
novels and I will blame that on attempting to read Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock
Holmes books do not reveal the how, why, and, in general, do not explain what
happened at the end. This, however, is different. I am finding that most novels
do explain their process in the end. Perhaps a better way to describe that is
that they show you how they connect the dots. I NEED this!
Agent
Pendergast is a really fascinating character. Let me start by saying the main
character (for the most part) in this book is Lieutenant Vincent D’Agosta.
However, in the background is Agent Pendergast. I spent a good chunk of this
book going ‘what is he doing?’ because he’s dinking around in the background.
It all comes together in the end, but I was hooked with reading, not just
because it’s a good story, but because I wanted to know what in the hell Agent
Pendergast was doing.
I wish I
could say that Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child blended their writing
seamlessly together and that I couldn’t tell the difference…unfortunately, I
cannot. I can say that they almost got away with it. There were certain parts
where it really did flow seamlessly together but there were other parts where
you could tell that two different authors with two different writing styles
were collaborating. However, I think that might also be because I am an
aspiring writer myself. I look for those sorts of things. If you haven’t
noticed it, don’t look for it. You don’t want to ruin the book by noticing
something beyond the author’s control.
I really
did like the descriptions given in the book. I don’t know what dictionary they
are looking at but I want it. The words used are not ones I usually read and
that makes it interesting to me. I’ve read hundreds of books in my lifetime and
to come across a book that makes me look up words is something to treasure. I
do suggest that you have the internet or a dictionary in the house while
reading. It’s not something that you need for every chapter…just every so
often.
In general
I really liked this book so I am rating it 4 stars!
Publisher: Hachette Book Group
ISBN: 978-0-446-61869-4
Price: $9.99 (Cover)
www.prestonchild.com
No comments:
Post a Comment