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| The Book of the Dead | 
 enlarge | Authors: Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $6.49
You Save: $19.46 (75%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  188 reviews
Sales Rank: 267807
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 464
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.6
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
ASIN: B0017ZG8JE
Publication Date: May 30, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
A brilliant FBI agent, rotting away in a high security prison for a murder he did not commit.
His brilliant, psychotic brother, about to perpetrate a horrific crime.
A young woman with an extraordinary past, on the edge of a violent breakdown.
An ancient Egyptian tomb about to be unveiled at a celebrity-studded New York gala, an enigmatic curse released.
Memento Mori
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| Customer Reviews: Read 183 more reviews...
 Sinfully addictive writing that delivers the answers we've been waiting for! May 31, 2006
167 out of 178 found this review helpful
Preston and Child are so much more than the sum of their individual parts when they collaborate. This is so evident yet again in Book of the Dead. This novel finishes with a bang what is an informal trilogy revolving around Aloysius Pendergast and his brother Diogenes. This trilogy is populated with many of their previous characters and protagonists serving in supporting roles to the brothers, and is a very satisfying novel and a truly enjoyable read. How do I know this was a trilogy? One of the best things about this book is a brief two page note from the authors at the very end where they explain in which order to read their works and why.
I have to give one warning though about what is otherwise a terrific book. I'm not a professional reviewer, as are the writers of the two reviews which have already appeared here, but I have to say I disagree with them that this can be truly appreciated as a stand alone novel. If you have not read any of the previous works then do yourself a tremendous favor and take the recommendation of both the authors and myself: go back and start with Relic and work your way forward from there. There is so much pleasurable reading you have missed and there is simply too much going on in this book which, without the knowledge of the previous stories, you will not fully appreciate. So, with that one warning, on to my verdict.
I loved this book. It was everything I could hope for in a denouement and so much more. I, like so many others, have been waiting impatiently for a year for the answers and resolutions to the many apparently insoluble issues and problems created by the authors in their foregoing works. Finally, to my great relief, the book was released yesterday and with all apologies to Amazon, this was not a book I was willing to wait a day or longer for someone to deliver to me so I let myself off work early and went and bought a copy locally. I mentally steeled myself to be slightly disappointed because I simply could not see how the authors could convincingly solve the myriad of problems they had created previously. Yet, with a kernel of hope in my core, I started reading around 3 in the afternoon. I finished after midnight. Yes, as is typical of Preston and Child, this is one of those books that you will want to finish in one go and will find very hard to put down. I am happy to report that the authors, with grace, style, and panache, provided answers that are believable, convincing and reasonable and which resolve all the complex issues previously created. There was so much to like about this book! The Cain and Abel brothers (or Holmes and Moriarty if you prefer) have been locked in their dance of death for their entire lives. But what caused this to be? What is the unimaginably horrible crime that Diogenes is working feverishly to perpetrate? How can Aloysius escape from a maximum security federal penitentiary that has never suffered an escapee? And when will there finally be a point to Constance Green? All these loose ends are tied up for us finally in a deeply satusfying way.
This novel delivers excitement, thrills, scares, mysteries, tension as fine as any you can read, and delivers them in sinfully addictive prose that drags you from one page to the next without remorse or relent. The best thing about the book is its relentless intelligence and the competence of the two siblilngs as they work to thwart and foil each other. The prison break was so intelligently crafted, the diabolical crime really was diabolical and also so personal it just dripped with hate, revenge, and misguided retribution. One final bit of praise. The authors finish the book with one of the most satisfying closing sentences I've ever read. It nailed the last niggling reservation I had and I unreservedly admire how they set me up for it, stringing out my reservation to the very last sentence of the very last page and then just crushing it. Do not skip forward to the last sentence. Restrain yourself, don't do it. You can't appreciate it fully unless you have been through the other novels and force yourself slowly through this one, but my hat is off to Preston and Child for crafting this enormously enjoyable conclusion that ties up all the loose ends and sets the stage for what may come yet in the future,
another clever masterpiece..... May 30, 2006
75 out of 89 found this review helpful
The board members of the New York Museum of Natural History just don't seem to learn. After experiencing the terrors of THE RELIC and THE RELIQUARY, one would think they would be concerned about reopening the Tomb of Senef, particularly since two men have experienced unexplained neurological damage while working on the project. However, the board is determined to pursue the project to deflect attention from their attempts to cover up the return of their entire stolen diamond collection- returned as diamond grit, that is.
Diogenes Pendergast has put into motion the perfectly orchestrated crime. This crime is an attempt to recreate the work of his ancestor, Comstock Pendergast, and will affect all who enter the Tomb. Nora Kelly, William Smithback, Viola Maskelene, Margo Green, and Constance Greene are all returning characters from previous Preston and Child books and they too are part of Diogenes' diabolic plan.
Meanwhile, former Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast is incarcerated at Herkmoor Penitentiary, as part of Diogenes' twisted plan (see DANCE OF DEATH for details). Herkmoor Penitentiary is considered impossible to escape but that is before Eli Glinn employs his agency's technical expertise. Pendergast, Vincent D'Agosta, and Captain Laura Hayward will have to work together yet again to stop Diogenes from wreaking destruction on their friends and the entire city of New York.
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child demonstrate once again why they are the masters of this genre. THE BOOK OF THE DEAD is a cleverly crafted thriller with enough twists and turns to keep the reader turning the pages well into the night. While the returning characters provide a sense of familiarity, Preston and Child do not sacrifice the plot by any means. THE BOOK OF THE DEAD draws the reader in from the first sentence and doesn't let go until the very end. This is not a novel you will want to put down as Lincoln and Child continually keep you guessing as to how the characters will thwart Diogenes.
THE BOOK OF THE DEAD can be read as a stand alone novel as the authors provide the necessary background to understand the basic plot. However, readers will miss the intricate details that make this series so successful if they do not read the earlier novels. At a minimum, this reviewer recommends reading DANCE OF DEATH prior to THE BOOK OF THE DEAD if only to provide the full complexity of Diogenes' deviousness. Part of what makes the Preston and Child novels so addictive is the authors' innate ability to weave together numerous plotlines from various books into a cohesive format. Readers familiar to the series will recognize details and characters from previous books and will be impressed at the sheer brilliance of Preston and Child at combining all of these elements into one book. THE BOOK OF THE DEAD is one thriller you do not want to miss reading!!
COURTESY OF CK2S KWIPS AND KRITIQUES
Have a Pendergasm May 31, 2006
13 out of 16 found this review helpful
Book of the Dead is the third book in what Preston & Child call their "Pendergast Trilogy," which began two years ago with Brimstone.
Secrets are revealed, including "the Event" which transformed Pendergast's brother Diogenes into a sociopathic killer.
Characters from previous novels, inlcuding The Ice Limit, Relic, Thunderhead, and Cabinet of Curiosities make notable appearances. Pendergast's mysterious ward, Constance (who has done very little in the earlier books,) takes a lead role with spectacular results.
There's action, violence, a scheme to murder millions, some twists, and the best prison scene since Silence of the Lambs.
If you've been waiting for this book, you won't be disappointed. If you're new to the series, you might miss out on a lot of the references to previous stories, and you'll enjoy this more if you read those earlier books first.
I read it in one sitting, staying up all night, and I'm tired but happy.
Congrats on another winner, Mr. Preston and Mr. Child.
Have no fear! June 1, 2006
12 out of 15 found this review helpful
Ok, so I was afraid...you know the kind of fear from wanting a book to be as good as you want it to be...but fearing you'll be disappointed? I have waited since the day I finished Dance of Death to find out how the heck Pendergast was going to break out of prison, what exactly Diogenes was now plotting since his previous plan had been ruined, and most important of all...what is the EVENT that happened between these two brothers that caused Diogenes to hate Aloysius so much that he spent twenty years of his life plotting the "perfect crime" against him???
Well these, and many other plot lines, are all gratifyingly tied up in the Book of the Dead (and there's even a little twist at the end - even though I have to admit I guessed that one).
The story starts out solidly setting up the plot about the museum needing an exhibit to save itself from the bad publicity resounding from the diamond heist in DoD. Because I don't wish to include spoilers- all I'll say is that it just becomes more and more engrossing, until frankly I was rocketing through the story at a million miles an hour. I had no reason in the world to be afraid of disappointment as the book was everything I had hoped it would be and much, much more! This book is definitely now my favorite of the Pendergast series (especially because of the background story of the EVENT, which further clues readers in on what makes Pendergast tick)...and all I can say is "Man, can these guys write!" and that now I can't wait until the next one!
A slam bang finale to a thrilling trilogy! January 27, 2007
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
"The Book of the Dead" is everything a thriller fan could hope for - a page-turning, unputdownable, thrilling, decadently readable, thoroughly entertaining, slam bang finale to a colourful, imaginative trilogy!
The basic plot premise is simplicity itself! FBI Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast's younger brother Diogenes has announced his plan to execute a mysteriously undefined perfect crime. As a result of intense psychological examination, Pendergast has determined that this crime is to be Diogenes' revenge for a childhood sin perpetrated against his younger brother, the nature of which has been completely suppressed in Pendergast's unconscious memories! The dastardly crime must be prevented at all costs despite Pendergast not knowing even the tiniest detail of Diogenes' actual intentions! The story gallops at breakneck speed from crisis to crisis as the life or death clash between Pendergast and his psychopathic megalomaniacal brother escalates to a thrilling climax but we are privileged to watch it being played out with masterful attention to character building, dialogue, detail, pacing and clever ratcheting or release of tension!
As we have come to expect from their previous work, Preston and Child have once again packed their tale with a dazzling myriad of mini-plots that have afforded them a number of stages from which they could also deliver a series of wildly entertaining and informative lectures - the politics and history of Egyptian archeology; the religious beliefs and burial practices of the ancient Egyptians; the nature of security in a modern maximum security prison built for incorrigible offenders; the logistical details of mounting a world class exhibit in a modern museum; the potential for neurological damage caused by intense light and high volume sound bombardment; the trivia of diamond classification, colour, cut and value; and, arcane details of forensic evidence examination such as the study of knots or cloth; to name only a few examples.
Readers who have observed Pendergast's growing resemblance to Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes in the novels which preceded "The Book of the Dead" will shiver with a frisson of delight at the tumultuous Reichenbach Falls style climax which takes place on the very flanks of Mount Stromboli in Sicily. When Pendergast announced his intentions to retire to a period of solitude and contemplation at a Tibetan monastery, I quietly sent up a short prayer to the writing gods with the fervent hope that Lincoln and Child bring Pendergast back for a 21st century version of "The Final Problem"! Quiet retirement or beekeeping would not suit Pendergast any better than it did Holmes.
And, by the way, be very, very sure that you read this novel right to the very last sentence ... and what a last sentence it is!
Oh yeah ... did I say that I enjoyed the novel?
Paul Weiss
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