The Wheel of Darkness

The dynamic duo has done it again. In THE WHEEL OF DARKNESS, their eighth supernatural thriller, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child give us another fast-paced, riveting mystery featuring the seemingly unflappable Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast and his young ward Constance Greene, and the elements of the unknown. The book picks up in the aftermath of THE BOOK OF THE DEAD, with Constance recovering, we suspect, from an aborted pregnancy (the father: Pendergast's villainous younger brother). Constance and the good agent seek solace and solitude through escape. They are drawn to Gsalrig Chongg, a monastery in Tibet, where women historically have not been accepted as students. Recognizing something special about Constance, she becomes the exception to the rule and is welcome by the brotherhood. (Her name, it turns out, translates to "Green Tara," the moniker of the mother of all Buddhas. This revelation forecasts something big to come.) It is, of course, no coincidence that the stoic agent and his frail ward end up amongst the monks. Instead of moving past the tragedy they had just survived, they find themselves drawn into yet another puzzling and harrowing mystery. The monks' sacred trust for generations --- the Agozyen --- has been discovered missing during an annual ritual. Guarded daily and accessible by only a single key, its disappearance is mind-boggling. And terrifying. The treasure holds a deadly secret akin to Pandora's box being opened. The trail of minimal clues leads to Jordan Ambrose, an American rescued and nursed back to health at the monastery when he appeared, half-dead, on the Nepalese border mountain range. Unable to describe the never-seen icon, the monks dispatch Pendergast to bring it back, warning that it is powerful if released and not to be reckoned with. What ensues is pure Preston-Child magic. The maiden voyage of a transatlantic cruise ship is the terrifying setting of the search for the relic. And what could be more frightening than a claustrophobic ship, with its over-arching sense of being trapped in the middle of the ocean with an unknown, undefinable force preying on and menacing the entire crew and guests? Bodies are reduced to mush, others disappear whole-cloth. Panic sets in, mutiny is threatened and control of the ship is lost, all while Pendergast sets about his methodical unraveling of the mystery of the Agozyen and its all-encompassing powers. THE WHEEL OF DARKNESS has the classic clash of good versus evil, the inescapable comparison of East versus West, and the unanswerable questions of coincidence versus fate. A surprise at the end will surely delight all fans of Pendergast and Greene, Preston and Child, and will leave us asking ourselves "What's next?" Surely, there has to be more from these two master storytellers! --- Reviewed by Roberta O'Hara

This is another great Pendergast tale in which the author's have taken him in a "fresh" direction. Pendergast charged with the care of Contance, takes her to a secret learning center for Tibetan monks. While there they learn that an ancient object has been stolen. What is more, it was an object that was to be used to "cleanse" the world from sin when the world becomes out of control. Pendergast is asked to track down the thief and bring the object back before it is unleashed on the world. Pendergast and Constance follow the thief across Europe and the trail leads to an ocean liner making its maiden voyage (the Britannia) to the US. Mysterious things start happening aboard ship, including some grisly murders. Also, some other things happen that could make the Britannia the next Titanic. This is an excellent follow-up to the recent trilogy and we learn more about Pendergast's life, what might have really happened to his brother and what really happened between his brother and Constance. The book picks up momentum like a snowball and heads towards a tense climax!

I found it to be a real page turner. The charactors are developed with every page. As a long time Pendergast fan, I found myself learning much more about him and his companion. You need to read this book with a bright light on, for it can get very creepy. An excellent read.

If it is true that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then it's clear that Preston and Child are none too shy about expressing their unabashed admiration for Conan Doyle's hero, Sherlock Holmes. Just as Holmes struggled to the death with his arch-enemy Moriarty on the brink of Reichenbach Falls and then retired briefly from the world to a life of contemplative meditation in the Tibetan Himalayas, FBI Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast and his ward Constance Greene have sought the peace and solitude of the isolated Gsalrig Chongg monastery after their titanic struggle with Pendergast's evil sibling, Diogenes. This hard won respite and serenity is but short-lived as the monks seek Pendergast's assistance with the recovery of a thousand year old relic. The Agozyen, one of the monastery's most guarded artifacts, has been stolen by a mountaineer who stayed briefly at the monastery to recover from injuries sustained in a climbing accident. The monks are terrified that the thief may inadvertently release the power of the Agozyen prophesied to have the power to cleanse the world of mankind's evil by eliminating all life! Pendergast and Greene ingeniously track the Agozyen and follow its gruesome trail of murder onto the maiden voyage of the ultra-modern ocean liner, the Britannia. At that point, Preston and Child jam the thriller throttle to the stops and never let it up until the delicious ending of an amazing epilogue. Their style is eminently recognizable and, if it isn't trademarked, it sure ought to be! "The Wheel of Darkness" is a superb blend of stoicism, mysticism, philosophy, eastern religion and, indeed, the paranormal with character development of almost astonishing power and depth, exciting dialogue and non-stop high speed standard thriller action and chills. Like all of its predecessors, "The Wheel of Darkness" is also a wellspring of informative, arcane detail on a fascinating piece of technology that somehow furthers the plot - in this case, the minutiae of the construction and operation of a massive modern ocean-going passenger ship! Newcomers to Pendergast, be warned! Unless the idea of getting to the end of a book and saying, "What in the world was that all about?" appeals to you, do NOT read this book without reading the rest of the series first. Do yourself a favour and go back - go way back - to the very beginning and start with "Relic"! Old-time Pendergast fans may also take warning. Enjoy every delicious page and, whatever you do, don't take that proverbial peek at the last page! Highly recommended. Paul Weiss

Preston/Child have done it again, in an astounding new release of "Wheel of Darkness." I have read all of the Preston/Child books and the individual books both these authors have put out, and it always gets better. Agent Pendergast, the blonde, blue/grey eyed, pale millionaire of an FBI agent is one of the quirkiest, intelligent, most fascinating characters in my genre of fictional mystery novels. In this novel, we have Pendergast hot on the trail of an ancient Tibetan article or idol, that if placed in the hands of the wrong person, or with someone with an agenda for the world and all of mankind to be eliminated, would just not be a good thing. I enjoyed the fact that in this novel Constance Green has more of a role with her ward, Pendergast. It lets me look at more of the human element of this waif- like character. Constance plays a great role in this book, especially when place on the Cruise ship, creeping her way around helping her friend, Pendergast out in the search for "the thing!!" I read the book in one sitting----I just couldn't put it down. I can hardly wait until next year when the next in line of Pendergast stories come to light.