The Dance of Death (Special Agent Pendergast Series #6) » (~)

Douglas Preston is the co-author with Lincoln Child of a bestselling thriller/adventure series. He also writes novels and nonfiction books of his own and is a frequent contributor to magazines like National Geographic, The New Yorker, Natural History, Smithsonian, Harper's, and Travel & Leisure.

FBI Special Agent Pendergast lives! Following the New York Times bestselling Brimstone like a one-two punch, DANCE OF DEATH pits Pendergast against his most personal foe yet-his brother Diogenes. Praised as a "ruthless descendant of Holmes" (Publishers Weekly), Agent Pendergast has become one of crime fiction's most endearing characters. His greatest enemy is one who has stalked him all of his life, his cunning and diabolical brother Diogenes. And Diogenes has thrown down the gauntlet. Now, several of the people closest to Pendergast are viciously murdered, and Pendergast is framed. On the run from federal authorities, with only the help of his old friend NYPD Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta, Pendergast must stop his brother. But how can he stop a man that is his intellectual equal-one who has had 20 years to plan the world's most horrendous crime?

Publishers Weekly

The always reliable team of Preston and Child revisit Special FBI Agent Aloysius Pendergast, last seen in 2004's Brimstone, and others from past bestsellers (Relic; The Cabinet of Curiosities) in this intriguing thriller set in and around New York City and the halls of the Museum of Natural History. Born a misanthropic loner but driven insane by seeing his parents burned alive when he was a teen, Aloysius's madman brother, Diogenes, has begun murdering Aloysius's friends. Aloysius begs old friend Lt. Vincent D'Agosta to help him defeat his brother, and Vincent does his best while the brothers spar and others die. There are a number of subplots, one involving an ATM robber and flasher known as the Dangler and another focusing on the museum's exhibition of sacred masks, but these fade away as the deadly duel between the brothers takes center stage. Think Sherlock Holmes locked in a death struggle with his smarter brother, Mycroft. Like Brimstone, this novel doesn't end so much as simply pause while the authors work on the next installment. While it's not as good as some of their earlier efforts, it's still pretty darn good. Agents, Eric Simonoff at Janklow & Nesbit and Matthew Snyder at CAA. Major ad/promo, 10-city author tour. (June 7) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.