Brimstone

Another great read in the Pendergast series. While some of these books aren't always a 5-star read, they're still incredibly enjoyable and I always find myself looking to grab the next one of the series at Barnes & Noble when it gets released each year. Hats off to Pendergast and all of his investigations.

Too long. Too unbelievable. Characters I didn't care about. Won't do another Pentergast novel, although I have liked some of them in the past. Waste of time.

Don't know what else to say, other than this is my favorite of the Pendergast series so far. Took a bit to read since it's a long one, but it was definitely worth it. And now...I must go on to book 6. Such a great book all throughout and the ending was great.

This was a better installment in the Agent Pendergast series. This time Preston and Child got the ending correct. There was an ending then an epilogue. They did not drag out the drama with multiple endings. I loved the premise of the mystery. It was very intriguing and thought-provoking. The characters were fun and interesting. And of course, Pendergast both intrigued and frightened me once again.

Each installment of the adventures of Pendergast and company make me more and more excited to read the next. In this novel, we have a twist on the locked-room mystery. Two men have died, in locked bedrooms, by being what appears to be burned/cooked from the inside out.

Pendergast is back on the case with his old partner D'Agosta and Haywood. The case takes them to Florence, Italy and is filled with secret societies, lies, money, and infamy.

A great read!

Another great Pentergast story!

I have to confess, I listened to this book on audio and wasn't always paying close attention. That happens sometimes, especially when I already know the premise and characters of a book. Because of that, most likely, the plot felt a little disjointed. These murders were really all about an old violin? Which appeared kind of coincidentally in the hands of Bad Guy A and which acquisition was, coincidentally, the hearts-desire of Bad Guy B who, coincidentally, had done something with Bad Guy A to set up all the murders nearly 30 years ago? Anyway - a bit of a stretch.

And since I read the third book in this trilogy first (oops), I had hoped to see more of Diogenes, but what we got was satisfying in its own way. Whatever, moving happily on to the next book. :)

Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good! Wait for the twist at the end. Excellent series!

There are so many twists and turns in this story. Nothing is as you'd expect. No lead leads you where you thought it would. What started as a strange murder with a supernatural touch turns into something even worse.

I loved this book because Pendergast and D'Agosta are working together almost the entire book. There is so much action when these two are concerned that the story is full of edge-of-the-seat moments. The danger they find themselves in is real. Unlike previous books, the story in Brimstone is richer. A lot of history, art and even personal stories make this story. I was afraid we'll get to read more about D'Agosta's marriage. Fortunately, that wasn't the case.
The villains are truly evil. The fact we are talking about ordinary human beings makes them even worse.
Furthermore, there are characters here whom you can't simply put in an 'evil' category. They are in a grey area. One is a despicable journalist you are familiar with if you've read the previous books (Smithback's rival from the Post). The other is a religious nut whose scenes made me so angry I saw red. "There wasn't much else to do: magazines were showcases of materialism, television was worse, and books other than the Bible seemed full of profanity, violence, and sex." Because the Bible doesn't have them at all.

Brimstone ends with a cliffhanger of sorts. The case itself is resolved if you can call it that. You get to know who the villains are and the reason behind whatever happened in this book. However, I am not satisfied with it. Yes, you do find out the basics and yes, there is a suitable punishment for those who deserve it, but it was not enough. D'Agosta didn't get to know everything in the end and as far as I am concerned I wish there was a worse punishment.
And the last thing, this book is said to be the first in a Diogenes trilogy. Pendergast's brother, Diogenes, appears only few times and doesn't play a role in Brimstone story other than to be used in the cliffhanger. Usually I hate them, but this one is special.

I'm sitting on the edge of my seat wondering what comes next. I know that Agent Pendergast cannot be dead and I know who has come to dig him out. I feel lost in limbo.
Argh!!!!
But overall, another fantastic read from Preston and Child. Since I listened to the audiobook, it seemed a bit stretched and I wondered at times when the twists and turns would end. But it was brilliant. Thank you, gentlemen!

This is the fifth book in the series, and it just keeps getting better. It was hard to put down, and every evening I couldn't wait to get back into it. And the ending! I'm so happy I'm reading this now, and not in 2004 when it was published. I get to move right on to the next book (Dance of Death). If I read this back in 2004, I would have had to wait a year for the next book, and that would have been torture!

Was given this book as a gift and haven't read any others in the series or by these authors. It's not a bad book but I feel like I was dumped into the middle of a story and was missing details on events that went on before. I also found the dialogue a bit cheesy at a few points and details that didn't feel like they lined up with the characters.

When a Hamptons resident appears to have died from spontaneous combustion in which the body is burned but nothing else in the room of the estate, FBI Special Agent Pendergast is assigned to investigate. The only other clue is a cloven hoof that has been burned into the floor near the body. Already present at the scene is Southhampton Police Sgt. Vincent D'Agosta, who was initially introduced to the reader in Relic. D'Agosta is assigned to assist Pendergast in the investigation, which soon leads to a NYC penthouse, when an acquaintance of the first death dies in a similar method, however the cloven hoof is replaced by a facial representation of the devil. Their investigation eventually takes them to Florence, Italy where they will find themselves in the midst of several dangerous people who are not hesitant in using deadly means to thwart Pendergast.Although this novel was similar to previous novels which finds Pendergast and those assisting him in life-threatening situations, I found the thrills in this book so intense that I found myself driving around the neighborhood when nearing home to listen to a few minutes more. Since there are now nineteen novels in this series, I know that Pendergast "lives for another day", however, this novel was left with a cliffhanger. If you enjoy thrillers where the protagonist uses ingenuity to escape apparently insurmountable odds, you should read the Pendergast series by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.

Loved how creepy this book was. How the murders were being committed was a huge mystery to me. When the truth was revealed, I wasn't sure if it was possible to kill someone like they did in the story, but it sounded like it could be true and that was good enough for me.

A real page turner

Pendergast continues to be a fascinating character, but the answer to the central mystery of this one ends up being vague and disappointing, and almost an afterthought in many ways.

In this Pendergast novel, someone is found, seemingly burned from the inside-out and there is a burnt hoof-print in the room. I liked the beginning and end of the book, but much of the middle lost my interest. I’ve listened to many of the Pendergast novels, but have not been happy with them, so I finally tried an ebook, but I’m not sure it’s worth another chance. This one was way too long, and I don’t think I’m enjoying them enough to continue on. The ending has me a bit intrigued, but I’m not sure it’s enough. Hmmm, I’ve looked back and I liked more than I thought of the previous books. I guess it’s just the couple I didn’t like as much that stuck in my head. Maybe I should keep going, after all.

More than a whiff of the infernal realm infuses this series-within-a series, fifth in the Special Agent Pendergast series and the first of the "Diogenes trilogy," in which the chief antagonist is Pendergast's malevolent, hate-driven brother Diogenes. In fact, "the gates of hell" might serve as the theme of the trilogy, beginning with the seemingly inexplicable diabolical elements of a series of gruesome deaths.You don't have to be superstitious to think something supernatural could be afoot when a corpse is found horribly burned from the inside out, with what looks for all the world like a hoofprint scorched into the floor nearby. Here, Special Agent Pendergast teams with former NYPD lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta to track down a brilliantly calculating killer who is driven to recover an ancient family treasure at any cost.Details of setting, history, and lore add a dimension to this gripping tale, lifting it out of the class of mere page-turner and meriting the extra half-star for a rating within the mystery-thriller genre.Rating: 3½ stars, and 4 within the genre.

Another fantastic Pendergast book. Wow...what an ending!

This easily would've been a five star review, maybe even higher, had it not been for the unnecessary padding of Laura Hayward's storyline. The rest of the novel is deeply rooted in the occult, in horror stories, in classic mysteries and adventures, and it reads like a modern classic - but the novel sinks a bit in those wheel-spinning, "oh that's really it?" scenes. That said, it ends on a terrific cliffhanger and I've come to count not just Pendergast but D'Agosta as well as characters who I'm privileged to spend time with - I've already delved into the next book because, well, why wait?

More TK at RB:

Just finished this fifth Pendergast novel and ready to run over to the library for the sixth. I'm really enjoying these books and I feel myself fortunate that I can read one after another instead of having to wait until the next one is published. Oh, there will come a time when I'll have to wait, but until then let Agent Pendergast continue to excite and entertain.

Pendergast is my new favorite detective! It would have seemed this modern-day Holmes faced his ultimate challenge in Brimstone but for the great teaser for the next story. Pendergast's ever-cool demeanor and eccentric ways have captured my interest. I liked seeing Pendergast and D’Agosta share the limelight pretty equally this time, with intriguing insights into both characters. The villain was a fascinating creation. Be sure to read the authors’ note at the end regarding him. The secondary villain that served to annoy Sgt. Hayward seemed a bit extraneous (and long-winded). But the story and the suspense soon got back on track every time. I admit I didn’t see the final resolution to the mystery coming (not before Pendergast, at least), and that was refreshing. Overall an exciting and enjoyable installment in the Pendergast series. And a note on the audiobook, which I listened to: Scott Brick has been great in the Pendergast series, and in Brimstone his Italian was fairly good. (It can ruin an audiobook experience to have a narrator mangle a language!) It was quite fun to see D'Agosta's discovery about his language skills!

LOVED Cabinet of Curiosities but I was not that impressed with this one. It dragged a bit although it had some interesting twists.

I'm quite enjoying this duo's suspense novels featuring FBI Special Agent Pendergast, even though my reading of the books is pretty scattered as I pick them up at used bookstores. When I've found them all, I may have to pick a quiet summer and re-read them from the beginning. This one features a gruesome killing that seems straight out of medieval days, a spontaneous combustion with features that suggest a pact with the devil. Pendergast, police officers Vincent D'Agosta and Laura Hayward search for an explanation, but as similar murders occur, it becomes apparent that they are linked by an unholy pact made thirty years ago by the victims. Another well-written book by this pair, with a whodunit twist that took me completely off guard.

Constance Green Introduced but not Explained, Pendergast off his game, D'agosta meets Laura Hayward, preacher subplot superfluous,

Another one hit out of the park by Preston & Child. I can't help it; I have a soft spot for modern interpretations of Sherlock Holmes, and these guys do it best. Pendergast and D'Agosta are fantastic characters, although D'Agosta could use some more depth, and the mysteries never fail to intrigue and excite. Brimstone has moved away from the truly supernatural aspects that marked the series when it started, into high-tech explanations for seemingly supernatural events, but that's okay...it works better with the Sherlockian feel, honestly.I'm going to have to go track down the rest of the Pendergast books now.

Brimstone is the first book in Preston & Child's Pendergast trilogy. Thrown into the mix are multiple characters from earlier novels including Special Agent Pendergast, Vincent D'Agosta, and Laura Hayward. And while the plot might seem like a hodge-podge of varying themes, P&C do a great job pulling them all together. The story starts off with a grisly death in the Hamptoms, seemingly from spontaneous combustion. It progresses from there to New York City and then to Italy, with more spontaneous combustion deaths, deals with the devil, car chases, Italian nobility, doomsday cults, evil corporations, two romances, and the hunt for a long lost Stradivarius violin. Sound confusing? If you ever read the book, it won't be. As I've said in other reviews, Preston and Child are great storytellers, so it should come as no surprise that they manage to pull it off. This thriller is an good page-turner with easy to digest dialogue, action, and imagery. The characters aren't especially innovative, but they're dynamic. The authors manage to give their characters a layer of complexity that keeps them interesting but keep them somehow familiar. One of the things I appreciated the most about the novel was the attention to detail when it came to art and history, especially that of Italy. It seems something of an info dump at times, but as it's a subject I'm interested in, I didn't mind. I also had to laugh at how P&C worked tributes to their favorite classics into the novel. There's the nod to Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado" at the cliffhanger ending, but even more than that, their main villain is not only modeled after, but bears the same name as one of the villains of "The Woman in White." Some people might be annoyed that they couldn't come up with an original character, but I, for one, appreciated that little bit of classic literary fanfiction.I did feel like Pendergast's romantic interest was sort of haphazardly thrown in there, a segue into the next novel in the series. In the past P&C novels, Pendergast didn't seem to possess a penis at all, and suddenly he becomes interested a tangental female character. It was kind of out of the blue, if you ask me. I also dislike the perfection of the Pendergast character, but since I've gone into that in other reviews, I'll spare you. The only other gripes concern the villains in the novel. The diabolical device Count Fosco uses to perpetrate his dabolical plan is a bit too diabolically chinchy for my tastes, too pulpy for the tone of the rest of the novel. I like pulp, but only when it fits with the work as a whole. The injection of Pendergast's evil brother and nemesis into the story is equally pulpy (and reminiscent of a Doc Savage tale or two), but I can forgive them that. Overall it's just a good story, and that's what really matters.

Well, dummy me, I didn't realize that The Book of the Dead was the first of this 'trilogy', which is not a big deal as they each work well as stand alones. The only issue is that I kind of found out a few spoilers, but still Brimstone was another unputdownable book for me. Good action, unusal characters...really unusal.  

A worthy entry into the Pendergast series, but far from the best of them. Billing this as the first of the Diogenes trilogy is a bit of a stretch, as Diogenes never appears and is only obliquely and briefly referred to. A single incident sets up the next book, Dance with Death, but other than that, this book is fairly self-contained. A perk for me was getting to spend more time with D'Agosta -- Brimstone cuts down on its cast of primary characters, so unlike some of the earlier novels, there aren't quite as many viewpoints on the story, which is both good and bad. I appreciated D'Agosta's heightened importance, but I missed Bill. Brimstone is also at times more of a straight whodunnit mystery than the other novels, though it retains Preston and Child's wonderful thriller blend.

Fire features prominently in this "who done it?" that features police officers Laura Hayward and Vincent D'Agosta and FBI Special Agent Pendergast. At times that suspense carries the plot and at other times it is the detail. Preston Child fans are accustomed to thoroughly researched storylines and this book does not disappoint.I enjoyed this book immensely and if you occasionally buy books in hardback rather than wait for the paperback edition, this is one that is worth the expense.In the "how I would improve this book" category is the elimination of the annoying habit of the authors to incorporate a unique or particularly effective visual word on multiple occasions in close proximity. In this book the word is "cadaverousness" on page 32 and "cadaverous" on page 40. Editors, please do your job!I noticed at least one reviewer was critical of some of the chases in the book opining their inclusion was merely a pretext for the movie. I would enjoy a movie with the chases and they certainly did not lessen my enjoying the book. The story does end with a loose end or two. They will undoubtedly be tied in a subsequent tale, which is one of the inherent problems of reoccurring characters - their immorality. It is too painful to kill the franchise.