Book of the Dead and Wheel of Darkness

I have recently, in the last month, completed two more Pendergast novels, those mentioned in the title. The first, Book of the Dead, concludes the Diogenes trilogy that began with Brimstone, while Wheel of Darkness describes events stemming from the main character's attempt to renormalize their lives after the events of the Diogenes trilogy.

Book of the Dead answers many of the questions raised in Dance of Death, including revelation of the event that caused Pendergast and Diogenes to part ways. I'm honestly quite pleased with the amount of revelation that the books includes...enough to not frustrate, while not enough to solve all of the questions one might have regarding these characters. The characters were true to their form and all behaved as I might expect given their pasts. I do however feel that Preston and Child were creating roles for some of their characters that they had no idea what to do with now that their main usefulness has expired (read as Nora Kelly, Smithback, and Margo Green). I'm glad that Preston and Child are not afraid to eliminate characters they feel are no longer necessary (see the upcoming cemetary dance).

This book also contained more of a supernatural element than did Dance of the Dead. There was a whole subplot involving a mummy's curse and the insanity that descended upon it's victims. The supernatural was not quite as evident as in other novels by this duo, but it was a welcome re-addition given the complete lack of the supernatural in Dance of the Dead.

I give this book a 3/5 stars. It was solid, but I don't think I'll be re-reading it. It just didnt 'do it' for me.

On the other hand, Wheel of Darkness was an excellent effort by the authors. In their recuperation from the events of the Diogenes trilogy, Pendergast and Constance find themselves in a hidden Tibetan monastery searching for reasons and allowing their 'pulse to return to normal' so to speak. During their stay, they become aware of a theft of a tremendous magnitude from the monastery's secret inner monastery. Pendergast promises to find the culprit and to return the missing item to the monks.

This book saw the full return of the supernatural elements that the authors blend so well with the normal world. I very much liked this story and actually finished it in about a week. Pretty fast for me, considering how much work I have to do for my summer classes.

I give Wheel 4/5. There is room for improvement and I didnt like the main setting (a cruise liner), but as always Preston and Child were on top of their game.

What's next? no idea. I'm done with Pendergast for a while seeing as how I've run out of books and need to wait for the authors to write more. I'm STILL waiting for the "The Scourge of God" from Stirling...I might just tear through that book in a day when I finally get it.

Sky People is an option, as is branching out into some James Rollins' books that I have. Truth be told, I'm not quite sure yet just what I'd like to read next, but when I figure it out, I'll let ya know.