As I stepped out of my car into the near total darkness of the garage, I silently cursed myself for not turning on the overhead light. Blackness engulfed me as I locked and slammed shut the driver’s side door.
The hollow sound reverberated with a dull shudder against the creaky wooden walls.
My eyes struggled to adjust to the gloom, lightened only by the dim swath of a distant street light. I listened for the bark of a dog or a rustle of leaves, but there was nothing. Sniffing the cool, still air, my body tensed and the skin prickled on my arms as I realized I was completely alone…
And completely paranoid.
That’s what I get, I thought ruefully, for zipping through another achingly suspenseful murder mystery by authors Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. In their series of crime novels featuring FBI Special Agent Aloysius (pronounced al-o-wishus) Pendergast, many an unsuspecting victim has met their untimely and bloody demise going about their daily – and nightly – routines. In the deep shadows of my garage, it wasn’t difficult to imagine falling prey to one of Preston-Child’s psychopaths.
I read my first mid-series Pendergast novel, The Book of the Dead -?number?seven in their collection of?eight -?last year. I’ve since backtracked and read the preceeding books, with the exception of their first – Relic. In 1997, Relic was made into a movie and I’ve been debating whether to watch the movie or read the book.
To be honest, I’m not sure my heart could take either one after reading their latest – The Wheel of Darkness. Wheel of Darkness is set partially in Tibet, but most of the story takes place on an extravagant ocean liner headed on a strangely Titanic-like course through the iceberg-laden northern Atlantic.
In the midst of my read I’m sure I felt a serious palpitation coming on. Actually, the books?are probably not that scary to the reader seasoned on Steven King, but a friend who’s seen the movie warned me it’s “very wierd.”
Considering I’m not a fan of horror or otherwise gory stories, it has?surprised me that I like the Pendergast series so much.
These books do have murder-a-plenty and they spare no expense with the blood-letting and gruesome autopsy scenes. The hook for me, I’ve decided, is Preston-Child’s blend of intellect, charm and?cool non-challance all wrapped up in their lead character.
For instance, in what is perhaps my favorite Pendergast novel, Still Life with Crows, the setting is a one-horse west Kansas town in which a bizarre series of unexplainable – and?disturbingly artistic – murders takes place. Enter Pendergast, who steps off a bus into 100 humid degrees of brutal summer sun wearing a conservative black suit. Oh, and he doesn’t even break a sweat.
In this fictional town of Medicine Creek, which is all too easy to imagine, the FBI agent stuns the conservative, close-minded?community when he hires a purple-haired?Goth?teen with attitude as his sidekick.?
Later, unimpressed by the meatloaf special on offer at the greasy spoon,?he orders a sirloin steak – ground.?After adding a few ingredients, he consumes the mess raw to the horror of his fellow patrons.
Besides the small town America setting – complete with bored cops, puritanical spinsters and endless corn fields – Preston and Child have created a fantastic subterranean world?full of largely unexplored?crystal-lined caves?dotted with treacherous?bottomless pits.?
The underground caverns make?for?several seriously disturbing scenes in which victims?lost in blinding darkness?are relentlessly?hunted.
The only part I found hard to believe throughout the book had to be when the fictional Kansans referred to Kansas State University as “KSU” instead of “K-State.” Fiction indeed.?Who in their right mind would mention K-State in a book? (Ha ha, just kidding Wildcat fans.)
Seriously, the mis-reference?nearly drove me crazy.
Other things I adore about the extraordinarily?wealthy?Agent Pendergast (a gazillionaire who’s a cop just for fun) include his philanthropic tendencies – he create a?trust fund for his smart-mouthed albeit spunky driver – and his penchant for breaking the rules, i.e. he’s an expert picker of locks. He also delves into the transcendental, practicing an intense form of meditation which gives him a metaphysical edge when it comes to solving crimes.
If you haven’t read the Pendergast series but like murder mysteries, give them a shot. Each book is a stand-alone story, but I found reading them in order enhanced my enjoyment – and fright – and helped me keep up with the lives of other quirky repeat characters.
So, if waiting until morning to take out your garbage because you’re too spooked to do it at night appeals to you, start reading. I promise, you’re guaranteed a creep-fest from this?Preston and Child collection.
