- Hardcover: 400 pages
- Publisher: Orion; First Edition edition (15 Nov 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0752891480
- ISBN-13: 978-0752891484
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 16 x 4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 491,323 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Wheel of Darkness: An Agent Pendergast Novel
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Product Description
Book Description
A breathtaking adventure from the hottest names in US thriller writing.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
Perched like a black crow on a crag in the most hostile depths of the Himalayas stands a monastery. For a thousand years the monks have kept guard. Now their sanctum has been violated, the secret carried off. After a millennium of hiding from the world, the guardians of the treasure will have to turn to an outsider for help. Luckily Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast is no stranger. Having trained body and mind in Tibet, he knows the land well. But neither he nor his ward, Constance, are prepared for the truth about what the monks have been protecting. The pursuit of the stolen artefact takes Pendergast and Constance far from the snowy wastes, to where the largest-ever ocean liner is preparing for her maiden voyage. As Pendergast and Constance board, they know they are joined by a cargo of secrets and murderers. As the ship slips into the night, it becomes a deadly race to recover the secret of the monks, or blackness to threaten to fall not just over the ship, but the wider world... A stunning dance of death and mystery, THE WHEEL OF DARKNESS takes the most unusual investigator around on his most thrilling case yet...
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I can see what Lincoln & Preston were trying to do with this novel.
They needed to get a different backdrop / setting than the New York History Museum. I have genuinely enjoyed all their novels involving this formidable location, but it was time for something fresh.
They needed to progress Constance Greene, a character that has had 5 novels of varying degrees of development. Whilst at the same time hanging on to their finest creation of Pendergast.
Those, as I see it were their main criteria. But I have to say for the majority, they failed on both accounts.
There are 2 main locations in this book (with a few travel stop offs en route from one to the other). Location A: An ancient Tibetan monastery. For me this just reeked of cliché. Maybe cliché is the wrong word, but this location has been portayed many times before, more often than not as a comedy backdrop. I mean, even Ace Ventura did it! Location B: A groundbreaking ocean liner (parallel to the Titanic). Again this venue seemed to strike me as slightly wishy washy - evocative of a Ruth Rendl whodunit mystery, crossing off suspects from a list of passengers... And for a while the story played out that way aswell. Location B only managed to redeem itself towards the end of the novel when the focus switched to the operations of said liner.
Constance Greene continued to frustrate me. She was the #2 character in the book - the other main character alongside Pendergast. But she continued to whither blandly in the background and did not fulfil this central role effectively. Maybe it is due to the eclipse effect from the main man, but thinking back to previous novels, other main characters pulled it off; D'Agosta managed to punch his weight, as did Nora Kelly, Margo Green etc (hold on... Margo Green... Constance Greene... is there a connection I've missed?)... Anyhow, Constance has never really flourished. Maybe in future novels.
Pendergast has without a doubt developed as a character. I re-read my Lincoln Preston collection every couple of years, and am amazed at his progression from distant main character role in Relic to central character in subsequent novels. Where as perfection as a character was probably reached around `Dance of Death' / `Book of the Dead', in this book he has gone beyond perfection to become almost godly in his talents / skills / ability. When characters become that perfect, they lose their credibility and believability.
And finally on to the story itself. Despite the above I was compelled to read on... and on... I can never fault Lincoln & Preston's descriptiveness, and ability to keep the reader hooked. They do really manage to conjure up magnificent imagery. Some scenes I felt were stretched out too much; a certain conversation between Constance & Pendergast towards the end for example seems to span several chapters basically repeating the same content.
The plot revolves around the supernatural. I find that where Lincoln & Preston usually excels is backing up a story with scientific fact or at least scientific theory. This one however fell significantly short of this usual pattern, and only a page or so in the epilogue was dedicated to explaining the events through science, and they turned out to be very poor, unbelievable explanations for most of it.
For me this was defiantly their weakest novel to date, but I will continue to bear with them. I hope this is a temporary blip for them. Nearly all of their work prior to this has been exquisite.
They needed to get a different backdrop / setting than the New York History Museum. I have genuinely enjoyed all their novels involving this formidable location, but it was time for something fresh.
They needed to progress Constance Greene, a character that has had 5 novels of varying degrees of development. Whilst at the same time hanging on to their finest creation of Pendergast.
Those, as I see it were their main criteria. But I have to say for the majority, they failed on both accounts.
There are 2 main locations in this book (with a few travel stop offs en route from one to the other). Location A: An ancient Tibetan monastery. For me this just reeked of cliché. Maybe cliché is the wrong word, but this location has been portayed many times before, more often than not as a comedy backdrop. I mean, even Ace Ventura did it! Location B: A groundbreaking ocean liner (parallel to the Titanic). Again this venue seemed to strike me as slightly wishy washy - evocative of a Ruth Rendl whodunit mystery, crossing off suspects from a list of passengers... And for a while the story played out that way aswell. Location B only managed to redeem itself towards the end of the novel when the focus switched to the operations of said liner.
Constance Greene continued to frustrate me. She was the #2 character in the book - the other main character alongside Pendergast. But she continued to whither blandly in the background and did not fulfil this central role effectively. Maybe it is due to the eclipse effect from the main man, but thinking back to previous novels, other main characters pulled it off; D'Agosta managed to punch his weight, as did Nora Kelly, Margo Green etc (hold on... Margo Green... Constance Greene... is there a connection I've missed?)... Anyhow, Constance has never really flourished. Maybe in future novels.
Pendergast has without a doubt developed as a character. I re-read my Lincoln Preston collection every couple of years, and am amazed at his progression from distant main character role in Relic to central character in subsequent novels. Where as perfection as a character was probably reached around `Dance of Death' / `Book of the Dead', in this book he has gone beyond perfection to become almost godly in his talents / skills / ability. When characters become that perfect, they lose their credibility and believability.
And finally on to the story itself. Despite the above I was compelled to read on... and on... I can never fault Lincoln & Preston's descriptiveness, and ability to keep the reader hooked. They do really manage to conjure up magnificent imagery. Some scenes I felt were stretched out too much; a certain conversation between Constance & Pendergast towards the end for example seems to span several chapters basically repeating the same content.
The plot revolves around the supernatural. I find that where Lincoln & Preston usually excels is backing up a story with scientific fact or at least scientific theory. This one however fell significantly short of this usual pattern, and only a page or so in the epilogue was dedicated to explaining the events through science, and they turned out to be very poor, unbelievable explanations for most of it.
For me this was defiantly their weakest novel to date, but I will continue to bear with them. I hope this is a temporary blip for them. Nearly all of their work prior to this has been exquisite.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
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.
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.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I have a soft spot for Pendergast (the FBI agent hero of the book) and his semi-mystical slant on life and detection. He is a great character if one suspends disbelief at the range and breadth of his extraordinay talents, from card counting to fine art, from physical prowess to lock-picking. His side-kick, Constance, is less enthralling, but who knows may develop in future titles. This novel at times has the feel of a blockbuster disaster movie, but it rattles along quite nicely, as do all P&C novels. A diverting way to spend a wet afternoon or two.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Entertaining romp, disappoining ending
Something has been stolen from a Tibetan monastery and Pendergast along with Constance Greene must track it down. Read more
Published 23 months ago by N. Pearce
Dreadful Yet...
This was my first novel by these authors and I approached it with little anticipation and my cool approach was justified by the start which I found more than a little risible. Read more
Published on 17 Feb 2009 by Mr Perks
The Nature of Sequels
I give this one 4 stars, but maybe 3.5 would be better. I'll give it 4 because of the strength of the series in general - and because of the sub-plot I discuss below. Read more
Published on 22 Nov 2008 by G. C. McGlothlen
From Tibet to the Grand Banks
I normally look out for Sp Agt Pendergast books by these authors but I think that they have come to the end with this one. Read more
Published on 25 April 2008 by Peter R. Moore
New slant to ancient discovery genre
My second PC book. I had given this type of book a rest as all the stories were too similar from all the variuos authors out there. Read more
Published on 26 Mar 2008 by Mr. JJ Gale
Gripping read
Reasonably new to Aloysius' escapades but a fast rising fan of Preston and Child, I found this book a gripping read from start to finish. Read more
Published on 25 Mar 2008 by MM
OH no! Not again!
Please kill Pendergast brother for good!!!!!!!!!
No way we keep reading the 10th ressurrection of this member of the family. Read more
No way we keep reading the 10th ressurrection of this member of the family. Read more
Published on 4 Mar 2008 by A. Azul
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