White Fire Delivers on the Promise of Pendergast

Five qualities of a really good mystery/thriller are:

1. Draws readers in and doesn't let go
2. Has compelling characters that readers can become passionate about
3. Tells a captivating story that's exciting and interesting, suspenseful and scary
4. Surprises readers
5. Leaves readers wanting more

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson: Excellent YA Novel

I've become a big enough fan of Brandon Sanderson's that I will buy any of his books now, sight unseen. There is only one other author (well, pair of authors) that I will do that with, and that's the Pendergast books by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. And that's mostly because I own the others, and I want all of them, but those I buy in paperback. Sanderson's books, I buy first edition HC. He's that reliably good.

I went to a Sanderson book signing a couple of years ago for... "Legion", I think... and he mentioned that he was working on his first YA book- a story about a boy who lives in a world where everyone with super powers is evil and he has to fight them without having any superpowers himself. That book is "Steelheart". I thought it sounded fantastic, and now, having read that book, I am not disappointed.

Book Review: "Two Graves"

Before you read this review, if you haven't ever read any of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's books, start with "Relic" It's not necessary to start there, but the later Pendergast books refer sometimes to characters from the earlier titles, and it's well worth reading them all. They are excellent mystery/thrillers. Enjoy!!

Ah, Aloysius Pendergast is back. I missed him. In the last book he was a bit too... normal? Um... human, maybe. I adored the Pendergast of "Relic" and "Cabinet of Curiosities"-- enigmatic, mysterious; Holmesian with a Southern charm-- refined, incredibly intelligent and physically skilled... an intriguing character. But in the second "Helen" book, "Cold Vengeance", we began to see a different side of Pendergast. That continues into this book, but after a startling turn of events, and some very good Preston/Child twists, Pendergast returns to the hero we know and love. And the getting there is much better in "Two Graves" than "Cold Vengeance" implied it would be. Thank goodness.

I won't give you plot points, you can read the Goodreads summary for that, but I will say I loved this book. I read the bulk of it in one day (Christmas day-- I'm allowed to lounge in my PJs and read all day!)  It did take a while to really draw me in, but once hooked, I truly couldn't put it down. 

After my disappointment at the Preston/Child Gideon series, I was thrilled to see that they're still able to give me a satisfying Pendergast story, featuring, of course, all our favorite players: Corrie, D'Agosta, Constance and Proctor. I enjoyed the parallel sub-plots involving these old friends almost as much as Pendergast's storyline.

Good, good stuff. If you've kept up with Pendergast for this many books (12! Really!) you don't need me to tell you to read it. Go read it. It's well worth the journey through the first 2 "Helen" titles to get to "Two Graves".

Glee at the Library

I nearly put off running to the city library until tomorrow. It's across town and it's very cold today and I almost didn't go. But I decided I wanted my son to do some reading this weekend while we're out of school, and the book being held for me was actually for him. So I went. And I thought, maybe I'll find something for me, too. 

Book Review: The Third Gate by Lincoln Child

This book took me FOREVER to read. Mostly because I'm just so busy I hardly get time to sit and devour a book anymore. Also because it didn't suck me in like a good book should. I have long been a fan of Lincoln Child-- I own all of his and Douglas Preston's Pendergast books, and while I have not been impressed by their new joint venture, the Gideon books, I always give their books a chance.

You can read a full synopsis of the book elsewhere, I'll give you the short version. Jeremy Logan is a scholar of unusual phenomena, an empath, and a sophisticated "ghost hunter", who is recruited by the world's leading archeologist to accompany a team of people who are the best in their fields: an egyptologist, a doctor who runs a center for people who've had near death experiences (including his wife, who is along to see if she can communicate with any ancient egyptians) and various archeologists and technicians, etc.

The story unfolds with a very familiar pattern, similar to Jurassic Park and other books like it. I enjoy these kinds of stories, though, so I figured, even though it was familiar, I would keep going. People go into a situation thinking they've got everything figured out, thinking they are in control, and slowly, in this case mysteriously, bad things begin to happen. There's an ancient Egyptian curse, a mucky swamp in the middle of the Nile, far away from anyone, they're cut off from civilization and looking for a tomb miles below the surface of the swamp. Things go from mysterious to scary and adventure ensues.

I liked Logan's character, as well as the female Egyptologist. I liked the Egyptian stuff, hieroglyphs and tombs and curses, cool stuff. I liked the setting and that Child isn't afraid to go supernatural. It's a good read. It's pretty standard Lincoln Child stuff-- well-conceived characters, fascinating science, history and technology, tension and excitement. Will I buy it? No. Will I read it again? Not likely. But it was a decent one-time read.