Dance of Death (novel)

Dance of Death (novel)
This article is about the novel. For other uses, see Dance of Death.
Dance of Death  
Dance of Death
Author(s) Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Cover artist Bernt Notke
Country United States
Language English
Series Diogenes Trilogy
Genre(s) Thriller
Publisher Warner Books
Publication date 2005
Media type Print (Hardcover and paperback)
Pages 451 (Hardcover)
ISBN 0-446-57697-2
OCLC Number 57669819
Dewey Decimal 813/.54 22
LC Classification PS3566.R3982 D36 2005b
Preceded by Brimstone
Followed by The Book of the Dead

Dance of Death is a 2005 novel by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. It is the second book in a trilogy: the first book is Brimstone, released in 2004, and the last book is The Book of the Dead, released in 2006.

Contents

Synopsis

The book follows FBI Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast and his sidekick, Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta. Pendergast was last seen at the end of the first novel, Brimstone, where he was buried alive behind a brick wall in Castel Fosco. His estranged brother, Diogenes, rescues him and nurses him back to health. However this is not a true act of kindness; Diogenes has a dark agenda and needs his brother alive in order to carry out his nefarious plans.

Pendergast's ward Constance Greene requests Vincent D'Agosta's presence for a very important meeting. D'Agosta is shown a letter written many months previously by Pendergast about his brother Diogenes. In the letter, Pendergast writes that he does not know of Diogenes's whereabouts, but does in fact know one thing—a date, January 28. D'Agosta presumes that this will be the date of Diogenes's greatest crime. Having been hated by and hating his family, Diogenes obviously cannot be trusted.

Reviews

Reviews of the book were generally positive. Publishers Weekly noted that "While it's not as good as some of their earlier efforts, it's still pretty darn good."[1] Similarly, Barbara Lipkien of Bookreporter wrote that "Dance of Death may be a bit more melodramatic than the others in this series, but overall the book holds up."[2] Writing for the Library Journal, Jim Ayers called the novel "A rare second book in a trilogy that actually improves on the first." [3] Reviewers also commented favorably on the cliffhanger ending.[1][2][4]

References

  1. ^ a b Dance of Death. Publishers Weekly. http://literati.net/preston-child/preston-child-reviews.htm#Dance. 
  2. ^ a b Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum. "Dance of Death". Bookreporter. http://www.bookreporter.com/reviews2/0446576972.asp. 
  3. ^ Jeff Ayers (May 15, 2005). Library Journals. 
  4. ^ David Pitt. "Dance of Death". Booklist. http://literati.net/preston-child/preston-child-reviews.htm#Dance. 

External links

v · d · eWorks by Douglas Preston and/or Lincoln Child
Agent Pendergast series:

Relic (1995) · Reliquary (1997) · The Cabinet of Curiosities (2002) · Still Life with Crows (2003) · Brimstone (2004) · Dance of Death (2005) · The Book of the Dead (2006) · The Wheel of Darkness (2007) · Cemetery Dance (2009) · Fever Dream (2010) · Cold Vengeance (2011)
Other novels:

Mount Dragon (1996) · Riptide (1998) · Thunderhead (1999) · The Ice Limit (2000) · Gideon's Sword (2011)

Novels by Douglas Preston:

Jennie (1994) · The Codex (2004) · Tyrannosaur Canyon (2005) · Blasphemy (2008) · Impact (2010)

Novels by Lincoln Child:

Utopia (2002) · Death Match (2004) · Deep Storm (2007) · Terminal Freeze (2009)

Works by Douglas Preston
and Mario Spezi:

The Monster of Florence (2008)


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