Publishers Weekly
12/03/2018
The crimes under investigation in Preston and Child’s underwhelming 18th thriller featuring FBI agent Aloysius Pendergast (after 2018’s City of Endless Night) are tame by the bestselling authors’ usual standard. Walter Pickett, an FBI assistant director recently assigned to the New York City field office, is determined to keep maverick Pendergast under his control, unlike his predecessors, and assigns him a partner, Special Agent Coldmoon . Coldmoon is to keep a close eye on him as the two investigators head to Miami Beach, where a human heart has been left on the grave of Elise Baxter, who strangled herself with a bedsheet in Maine 11 years earlier. A note signed Mister Brokenhearts and quoting T.S. Eliot was left along with the freshly harvested organ. Pendergast insists that the choice of grave was an intentional one, and that circumstances of the old suicide be reexamined, even as Mister Brokenhearts strikes again. The X-Files pilot–like plot of a younger agent assigned to spy on a brilliant but eccentric colleague is old hat, and Pendergast himself doesn’t appear to best advantage in an outing that shows the series’ age. Agent: Eric Simonoff, WME. (Dec.)
From the Publisher
"Multifaceted and complex. Legendary. Working together, Preston and Child are masters at crafting a story that goes beyond a simple mystery or thriller ... Readers unfamiliar with Pendergast will find this novel a fantastic launch point. He's a modern-day Sherlock Holmes, and the story reads like classic literature."—Associated Press
"Doug Preston and Lincoln Child's master detective A.X.L. Pendergast is every bit the modern equivalent of Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot. And his investigative skills have never been sharper than in the altogether brilliant VERSES FOR THE DEAD.... A throwback to classic crime fiction while maintaining a sharp, postmodern edge."—Providence Journal
"The 18th installment in the Pendergast series by Preston and Child gives the hero a partner in the hunt for a strange killer... Pendergast is highly successful in closing cases on his own but 'was about as rogue as they came,' and suspects tend not to survive his investigations. Agent Coldmoon's secret assignment is to keep a close eye on his partner, 'a bomb waiting to go off' ... [VERSES FOR THE DEAD has] a nerve-wracking finish. Readers will love the quirky characters in this clever yarn. Pendergast and Coldmoon make an excellent pair. "—Kirkus (starred review)
"This is mystery thriller writing of the highest order."—Providence Journal, on CITY OF ENDLESS NIGHT
JANUARY 2019 - AudioFile
This new entry in the popular long-running series featuring FBI special agent Pendergast adds two new wrinkles for the sharp-as-a-tack investigator: a new boss and a new partner. Narrator Rene Auberjonois brings an acerbic delivery and deliberate pacing to his performance, encapsulating the tension between the two agents as they investigate a series of gory murders on the East Coast. Pendergast, ever in control, is deliciously nervous when interviewed live by a television reporter. Auberjonois, best known for his work on the Star Trek series “Deep Space Nine,” draws the listener into the engaging thriller with a knowing and friendly tone. Fans will revel in the back-and-forth between the partners and enjoy the shocking climax and takedown of the killer. R.O. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine