- Hardcover: 464 pages
- Publisher: Little, Brown & Company; First Edition, First Printing edition (14 Aug 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0446576980
- ISBN-13: 978-0446576987
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 15.7 x 3.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 247,025 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Book of the Dead: An Agent Pendergast Novel
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First Sentence
Early-morning sunlight gilded the cobbled drive of the staff entrance at the New York Museum of Natural History, illuminating a glass pillbox just outside the granite archway. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
Early-morning sunlight gilded the cobbled drive of the staff entrance at the New York Museum of Natural History, illuminating a glass pillbox just outside the granite archway. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
As usual, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child confirm their great ability in writing cool, well-conceived page turners.
In this book in particular, a lot of details about some of the characters are unveiled, and the "Pendergast Trilogy" featuring Aloysius vs. Diogenes finally comes to an end... and what an end!
Apart from the praises for the writing style and action scenes, for the characters and the mood, another point I found particularly strong in this book was the obvious amount of research the authors did. I am Italian, and the small details, for example the streets of Florence, or the cuss exclamation of a Carabiniere, or even the cell number of a bus driver (which uses a correct prefix for an Italian cell phone, no fake "555" number) all prove that they really went into research for the book.
Also, the frequent sentences in Italian are correct and do make sense this time (unlike some of their previous books where the sentences were dictionary-translated and light-years from what a "real" Italian would say).
All in all, a fantastic book, definitely well worth it!
If you appreciate Preston and Child's novels, don't miss this one, with a single caveat: for maximum enjoyment you will need previous knowledge of facts and characters, so reading the other books (at the very least Brimstone and Dance of Death, ideally quite a few others) is *strongly* advised.
In this book in particular, a lot of details about some of the characters are unveiled, and the "Pendergast Trilogy" featuring Aloysius vs. Diogenes finally comes to an end... and what an end!
Apart from the praises for the writing style and action scenes, for the characters and the mood, another point I found particularly strong in this book was the obvious amount of research the authors did. I am Italian, and the small details, for example the streets of Florence, or the cuss exclamation of a Carabiniere, or even the cell number of a bus driver (which uses a correct prefix for an Italian cell phone, no fake "555" number) all prove that they really went into research for the book.
Also, the frequent sentences in Italian are correct and do make sense this time (unlike some of their previous books where the sentences were dictionary-translated and light-years from what a "real" Italian would say).
All in all, a fantastic book, definitely well worth it!
If you appreciate Preston and Child's novels, don't miss this one, with a single caveat: for maximum enjoyment you will need previous knowledge of facts and characters, so reading the other books (at the very least Brimstone and Dance of Death, ideally quite a few others) is *strongly* advised.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Final volume of the trilogy centered on Agent Pendergast, the Book of the Dead explains the relationship between Pendergast and his terrible brother Dionysius. Special Agent Pendergast is in federal prisons for murders he did not commit, the diamond collection of the NY Museum of Natural History is returned ground to powder, the museum reopens an ancient Egyptian tomb and curse seems to come back to life.
All of this has been carefully plotted and implemented by Pendergast's Machiavellian brother. Why and how Dionysius is so bent on destroying his brother are the core of the book. Carried along by fast-paced action and hints of the supernatural, the action is mainly centered in the New York Museum of Natural History. Filled with factoids about the museum, about ancient Egypt, about gemology and about psychology this is a satisfying end to the trilogy and opens the door to a whole other series!! Also, if you missed reading Tino Georgiou's masterpiece--The Fates, go and read it.
All of this has been carefully plotted and implemented by Pendergast's Machiavellian brother. Why and how Dionysius is so bent on destroying his brother are the core of the book. Carried along by fast-paced action and hints of the supernatural, the action is mainly centered in the New York Museum of Natural History. Filled with factoids about the museum, about ancient Egypt, about gemology and about psychology this is a satisfying end to the trilogy and opens the door to a whole other series!! Also, if you missed reading Tino Georgiou's masterpiece--The Fates, go and read it.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a highly enjoyable book and exciting conclusion to a trilogy. One young? character certainly comes into her own here and looks to be the focus of the next book, Wheel of Darkness. Preston and Child are top rate writers of suspense. They are masters of writing highly descriptive paragraphs that don't bog down the flow of the narrative but rather intensifies the suspense. The cat and mouse chase in Florence was page turning stuff.
Poor New York Museum! How many strange occurences and deaths can the museum survive? Wheel of Darkness does look to take the setting far away from New York.
The word from the authors at the end was interesting: a nice way to summarise their novels so far and give a reminder of who appeared where. For instance, I had forgotten that Eli Glinn appeared in The Ice Limit. Keep turning the pages past the Wheel of Darkness sample to find a little addition by Corrie Swanson. And the website's real too! Does this mean that Corrie will get caught up in a future New York mystery along with Smithback, D'Agosta and friends?
Looking forward to more about Penderghast or any other interesting characters the duo can dream up.
Poor New York Museum! How many strange occurences and deaths can the museum survive? Wheel of Darkness does look to take the setting far away from New York.
The word from the authors at the end was interesting: a nice way to summarise their novels so far and give a reminder of who appeared where. For instance, I had forgotten that Eli Glinn appeared in The Ice Limit. Keep turning the pages past the Wheel of Darkness sample to find a little addition by Corrie Swanson. And the website's real too! Does this mean that Corrie will get caught up in a future New York mystery along with Smithback, D'Agosta and friends?
Looking forward to more about Penderghast or any other interesting characters the duo can dream up.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
"Draaaaag-thump. Draaaaag-thump." and "Du calme. Du calme."
Judging by the ancillary material published with this book, co-authors Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child are prolific and successful purveyors of popular pot boilers. Read more
Published 21 months ago by L. E. Cantrell
Need to read the others in the series first
This is not a stand alone book and makes not sense unless you have read the rest of the series. Unfortunately I had not read the rest of the series so am still none the wiser... Read more
Published on 11 Aug 2008 by Pickle
Great ending to the trilogy
This was my favourite of the trilogy and a satisfying end to the plots involving Diogenes, Pendergast's brother. Read more
Published on 24 Mar 2008 by Glaucon
Preston & Child do it again
The Book of the Dead is the final installment of the so called 'Diogenes trilogy'.
In my opinion it is the best of the three books and another very enjoyable read from... Read more
In my opinion it is the best of the three books and another very enjoyable read from... Read more
Published on 31 Dec 2007 by G. Peters
Cheesy but fun
A slightly ramshackle plot and cheesy characters and dialogue somehow don't detract from the fun of this compulsive if forgettable read. Read more
Published on 8 Nov 2007 by Mr. Warren M. Fisher
Best in a while
I first read The Relic 10 years ago and have enjoyed their books since. The trilogy makes the best read in some years and well worth waiting for. Read more
Published on 28 Mar 2007 by M. Allen
Simply brilliant!!!
What a fantastic finale to a really great trilogy!! Since stumbling upon my first Preston/Child book, I have had the compulsion to buy and read all of them. Read more
Published on 10 Jan 2007 by Rena Ruadh
Time for change.
If the purpose of fiction is to suspend your disbelief, then this book almost makes it. Unfortunately the background setting, yet again entrenched in the New York Museum is... Read more
Published on 20 July 2006 by Rob Shipton
Fantastic!
This is the third book in a triology which started with "Brimstone" and "Dance of Death", and sees the return of Agent A.X.L. Read more
Published on 23 Jun 2006 by B. VICKERS
Good, but. . .
OK, this has been a fun little series but I am ready for new characters and new plot lines! The only reason for this one seems to be tying up all the loose ends, don't get me... Read more
Published on 13 Jun 2006 by Phil Gaston
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