REVIEW: "Dance of Death" by Preston and Child

Just finished reading "Dance of Death" and I thought I'd give the
world (or the two or three readers of this group) the benefit of
my wisdom.

Interesting twist on an old, frequently used idea. The great FBI
agent Pendergast has an evil brother who is killing his friends.
Or does he? Is it possible that the evil Daedalus is only in
Pendergast's imagination? Is it possible that Pendergast is
himself killing his friends, and trying to catch himself? We don't
really get any indication until very near the end of the book, and
even then, we can't be completely sure that we've understood what
is going on.

All our favorite Preston and Child characters play roles in this
manhunt. Pendergast enlists the aid of everyone he's worked with
on previous weird cases, such as the museum monster case and the
thing in the cornfield case. Margo Green makes a spunky
appearance, as does that annoying New York Times reporter and
writer of best sellers. Pendergast is helped by his NYPD detective
friend, who throws away his career because he has faith in
Pendergast. All his friends stand by him, but as usual, the
establishment is out to crucify him.

The novel kept my interest all the way through. The only
frustrating thing is that it is really half a novel. The second
half will be written in the next novel, one assumes. The ending
really leaves the reader hanging, with Pendergast in jail accused
of the murders committed by his evil brother, and the evil brother
roaming free, able to target Pendergast's friends while he remains
helpless to protect them. That is, assuming that Pendergast and
his brother aren't one and the same person. In which case, the
plan to break Pendergast out of prison is a really bad idea.

Preston and Child write the most solid novels on the racks. The
stories work, the characters work, the dialog works, and the prose
is tight and easy to read. Even on a bad day they are better than
Stephen King or Dan Brown on their best days. True, the basic
plots of their novels tend to be somewhat derivative, but their
execution is so skilled and innovative, this is a minor complaint.
"Dance of Death" is a great read.