Still Life With Crows
by Lincoln Child, Douglas Preston
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Book Summary Information
Author: Douglas Preston, Lincoln ChildEdition: Hardcover
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 2003-07-01
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 480
Book Reviews of Still Life With Crows
Book Review: Luckily better than its predecessor
Summary: 3 Stars
A dead body gruesomely arranged in a corn field at the edge of a very small Kansas town? This is exactly the right case to solve for FBI Special Agent Pendergast. Alone and on his own initiative he shows up in this small corn-growing town in die middle of nowhere to investigate. Could the recent killings really be linked to a 19th-century massacre of a band of outlaws by Indians in the same area? Soon Pendergast finds himself under pressure to solve the riddle before the death toll keeps piling up any further...
From previous Preston/Child books most reader will remember Pendergast as one of the most charismatic and also strange characters in a long time. This time he teams up with Corrie Swanson, a rebellious local teenage girl hired as his driver and guide. As you can imagine not everybody is in favor of Pendergast. The local cops don't like him, nor do the local politicians. And sometimes even the reader is not 100% sure about him. ;-)
The story features interesting and strange characters, some really gruesome killings and scenarios as well as lot of mystery from past and present. Exactly what books from Preston/Child are well established and liked for.
However there is at least one bigger deviation to former books. This time not only Pendergast finds the key to the solution. Even if he withholds information (as usual) from his helper, the police and also from the reader, nevertheless 3 different parties understand where they have to search for the perpetrator. This search leads to an extremely long showdown which is about a third of the book long! Quite an unusual writing style for Preston/Child.
Even if the identity of the villain as well as the final solution might be absurd to some and even ridiculous to other readers, the story and its outcome are not as far fetched as "Cabinet of Curiosities". (But there are some references that former book in this story.)
The only really stupid incident here is Pendergast's mental journey (a form of mental concentration as a combination of memory palace and an ancient form of meditation) in order to understand the mystery of the past and its link to the present. Leaving your body mentally and traveling through time?! Gimme a break!
Overall it is a conclusive story with a far better and more satisfying solution in comparison to "Cabinet of Curiosities". The book is entertaining and far from boring but nothing that will keep you glued to your seat (partly due to the very long showdown). Other books from Preston/Child are better. I would recommend reading "The Relic", "Reliquary" and "Riptide" (first).
Summary of Still Life With Crows
New York Times bestselling authors Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child return with a suspenseful midwest Gothic thriller about a serial killer who terrorizes a small town. Medicine Creek, Kansas, has been slowly dying for the last century. A small, quiet place, the primary occupation is still farming, Main Street is a stretch of old and dusty businesses, and the nearest mall is 200 miles away. In a town where nothing changes, the community is terrified after a series of grisly murders takes place. Even more alarming, the bodies are displayed in bizarre tableaus. With the entire town in shock, FBI Agent Pendergast arrives from New Orleans to investigate. From the fields to the local caves, Pendergast discovers the remnants of a Prohibition-era moonshine operation and the truth behind one of the town's greatest mysteries: who was behind the Medicine Creek Massacre of 1865. Now, Pendergast must discover the twisted secret hiding within a four-generation Kansas family--before someone else is murdered.Book Subjects
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