Verses for the Dead (Pendergast Series #18)

by Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child

Overview

In this #1 New York Times bestseller, FBI Agent Pendergast reluctantly teams up with a new partner to investigate a rash of Miami Beach murders . . . only to uncover a deadly conspiracy that spans decades.
After an overhaul of leadership at the FBI's New York field office, A. X. L. Pendergast is abruptly forced to accept an unthinkable condition of continued employment: the famously rogue agent must now work with a partner.
Pendergast and his new colleague, junior agent Coldmoon, are assigned to investigate a rash of killings in Miami Beach, where a bloodthirsty psychopath is cutting out the hearts of his victims and leaving them with cryptic handwritten letters at local gravestones. The graves are unconnected save in one bizarre way: all belong to women who committed suicide.
But the seeming lack of connection between the old suicides and the new murders is soon the least of Pendergast's worries. Because as he digs deeper, he realizes the brutal new crimes may be just the tip of the iceberg: a conspiracy of death that reaches back decades.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538747186
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	12/31/2018
Series:	Pendergast Series
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	22,010
File size:	727 KB

About the Author

The thrillers of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child "stand head and shoulders above their rivals" (Publishers Weekly). Preston and Child's Relic and The Cabinet of Curiosities were chosen by readers in a National Public Radio poll as being among the one hundred greatest thrillers ever written, and Relic was made into a number‑one box office hit movie. They are coauthors of the famed Pendergast series, and their recent novels include Bloodless, The Scorpion’s Tail, Crooked River, Old Bones, and Verses for the Dead. In addition to his novels, Preston writes about archaeology for the New Yorker and Smithsonian magazines. Child is a Florida resident and former book editor who has published seven novels of his own, including such bestsellers as Full Wolf Moon and Deep Storm.

Readers can sign up for The Pendergast File, a monthly "strangely entertaining note" from the authors, at their website, www.PrestonChild.com. The authors welcome visitors to their Facebook page, where they post regularly.

Place of Birth:

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Education:

B.A., Pomona College, 1978

Website:

http://www.prestonchild.com

Editorial Reviews

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.)

Publishers Weekly

"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

From the Publisher

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

JANUARY 2019 - AudioFile