The Wheel of Darkness by Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child
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Book Reviews of The Wheel of Darkness
Book Review: Another good piece from Preston and Child
Summary: 4 Stars
Another book by Preston and Child on the adventures of agent Pendergast. Thrilling as usual. Pendergast and Constance are tracking down a thief and stolen artifact on behalf of Tibethan monks.Book Review: Pendergast Interlude
Summary: 3 Stars
I enjoyed the book, but was also disappointed. I'm a fan of Special Agent Pendergast so I'm pretty happy to tune in just to watch his usual antics. (P.S. Thanks for the shirtless scene, guys. Yum!) But Pendergast and his ward, Constance, seem locked in a stasis for this book when it comes to character development or meaningful conflict. Though Pendergast is theoretically concerned with his ward's mental health, and his efforts in that direction set up the plot, the book drops the ball, and if Pendergast is feeling any fallout himself from his harrowing and excruciatingly personal battle with Diogenes, we don't see it effect the course of events in any meaningful way.
I get that the authors want each book to stand alone, but that's no excuse for zero character arc. Of course it's nice that Agent P. saves the world, but it's just a mental exercise if we can't connect to the characters. Also missing was any acknowledgment the consequences of the Special Agent's single-minded and conscienceless manipulation of others in pursuit of the greater good. While I'm making up a wish list, another thing that would be nice is if he could be thwarted once in a while by his obvious flaws.
SPOILER! A missed opportunity was a point in the book where Pendergast becomes EVIL (!!!) Given how super human the authors have made this character, this could have, and I would argue, should have, been extremely terrifying. Instead, we learn that his big plan, now that he is a being of pure evil, is to hole up in his mansion with a few thousand good books. Which, I find kind of charming actually (see my fangirl confessions above) but still... Also disappointing was that he apparently has no romantic notions whatsoever towards Constance since he displays no sexual interest in her even when freed of all moral and cultural inhibitions. (So sue me! I like a bit of romance, and some sexual menace doesn't go amiss either.) I was so sure that Constance had a crush on her guardian, and that she would be made to painfully confront it.
I'm thinking of this as an entertaining interlude, and hoping that the next book will hit the ground running.
Book Review: Interesting Story
Summary: 3 Stars
FBI agent Aloysius Pendergast and his ward, Constance Greene, travel to a monastery in Tibet. While there, they learn that the Agozyen is stolen by a mountain climber that the monks rescued a month or so before. The monks, the keepers of the Agozyen, cannot say what it is, just describe the box that it has been kept in. So, Pendergast goes on the hunt for the stolen item followed by Constance when she is done with her teachings.
Pendergast follows the climber to his hotel room where he is found murdered then to the maiden voyage of the Britannia, where he meets up with Constance. On board, everything seems to be going as expected. But you learn that the Captain and the staff captain are at odds for one reason or another but the main problem is the staff captain is a woman and should have been captain on the Britanna. Then a woman disappears. At first security thinks that she is with another male passenger until they find long blonde hairs sticking to the side of the ship.
Then another woman goes missing, a black shadow is lurking on the ship, a murderous passenger needs to be found, and a captain that wants to beat a previous record for crossing the Atlantic despite the circumstances are what comes next.
This was an OK story. It had possibility but I found it lacking. There was some action and mystery that kept me reading but not enough to really want to finish. I was disappointed by several things, such as the situation with the Captain and staff captain. I think this is one of those books that you may or may not like.
Book Review: Just a bit too far-fetched
Summary: 3 Stars
The story begins as Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast and his young side-kick, Constance Greene, climb a perilous Himalayan mountain path to an ancient Tibetan monastery where the monks need some help. Their inner sanctum has been violated and a dangerous treasure has been stolen. The artefact must be recovered before it wreaks havoc on the human race.
The trail takes the agents on a maiden voyage cruise aboard the world's newest, biggest ocean liner. The sophistication of the on-board automation both helps and hinders the pair. There are some strong personalities in this story, but the culprit has to be the weakest character. There are a lot of supernatural twists, but they are too transparent.
Reading this is quite frustrating, because I kept hearing myself say, "That could never happen that way, even in fantasy fiction." I like to be able to believe that there is the faintest possibility that some of the strange events could actually happen. I felt this way when I used to read Dennis Wheatley, and this book reminds me a lot of that style of writing; but, Wheatley out-classes Preston and Child by a long way, in my opinion.
Worth a read if you have the time on your hands.
Book Review: Silly, but a guilty pleasure
Summary: 3 Stars
The language is arch to the point of smugness, the situations are ridiculous, and the characters are absurd, but I couldn't put it down. It's as if two writers got together and said "let's take a junior high boys' James Bond fantasy and see how far we can stretch it before it breaks."
And, for some odd, reptilian-brain reason, it worked, at least for me. A major theme involved Tibetan mysticism, which added a fun, exotic feel. I also enjoyed the fact that much of the action took place on an ocean liner, which gave the authors an opportunity to give you an interesting behind-the-scenes look at how luxury liners work today.
The book was silly, and it didn't make me want to read another Preston/Childs book (it got my desire to read at least one Preston/Childs book out of my system), but it was a fun guilty pleasure.