Pendergast is Back!

Mark your calendars readers, the new Pendergast thriller is due out next Tuesday, May 12! 

When I was a senior in high school, I worked on a project in which I had to compare films and the books they were based on. At the time, The Relic was just out for rent, which was fortunate for me because I really wanted to see it, and because it got me hooked on Preston and Child. 

The Reliquary was already out when I read Relic, so of course I had to get it, too. 

Now, before the third Pendergast title, Cabinet of Curiosities, was released in 2002, I had plenty of time to catch up on some of the other titles Preston and Child released, one of which was Thunderhead, Nora and Smithback's story. In Thunderhead, Nora is involved in an archaeological dig in Utah, hoping to find the ancient city of Quivira, and Smithback is the weasly (so Nora believes) reporter covering the dig. 

If you've not had the pleasure of reading these books, you should know that the non-Pendergast titles can be read whenever you please, but I think it's key to read Thunderhead before you get too far into the Pendergast books, because Nora and Smithback are part of the "series" as well. As added trivia, Ice Limit gets some mention in other Pendergast books, though with a slightly altered title (Eli Glinn makes an appearance in a later Pendergast book as well).

The other two stand-alones are Mount Dragon a sort-of medical thriller about genetics, and Riptide, which has to do with pirates and treasure. 

But back to Pendergast. When Cabinet came out, it was the first time that I realized Pendergast was going to be BIG. And I mean, BIG. Or maybe it was the first time I truly realized how vastly awesome the character was becoming. He's a modern-day Sherlock Holmes. He's cool, calm, collected, and utterly brilliant. He even has an arch-nemesis and a creepy family (he's from New Orleans) and he just rocks as a character! He even has his own Wikipedia page. 

When you read Cabinet, you'll want to dive immediately into the rest of the Pendergast books (because you won't want to wait to see what's happening next!). Still Life With Crows comes next and is followed by the Diogenes trilogy, Brimstone, Dance of Death, and Book of the Dead. Then comes The Wheel of Darkness and now Cemetery Dance. 

In Cemetery Dance, within just a couple of pages one of the core characters is dealt a surprising blow. As a reader, my jaw literally dropped! I won't give it away, but seriously, I'm still reeling. I keep expecting them to jump in and say "Haha, just kidding!" Anyway, if you're a zombie and voodoo fan, this is it! Yep, Pendergast is investigating what appears to be a murder by zombie!

As usual, this latest is a combination of interesting history (some very made up, I don't believe The Ville exists in Inwood, though it would be pretty cool if I could find out if this was based on an actual place), science, "fringe" science, police procedural, and detective novel. And, as usual, it's been keeping me up at night! 

So again, save the date (May 12) and add the book to your "Must Have" list for this spring -- all of the cool kids will be reading it!