The Cabinet of Dr. Leng: A Pendergast Novel (Preston & Child) – Review

Posted on January 2, 2023 by John

The Cabinet of Dr. Leng - Preston/Child (A Pendergast Novel)The Cabinet of Dr. Leng
(A Pendergast Novel)
Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

Grand Central Publishing
(January 17, 2023)

SYNOPSIS:

The tremendous new thriller in Preston & Child’s #1 bestselling series features FBI Special Agent Pendergast and Constance Greene in their most extraordinary circumstances yet.

AN INCREDIBLE JOURNEY

Astoundingly, Constance has found a way back to the place of her origins, New York City in the late 1800s, leaping at the chance, although it means leaving the present forever.

A DESPERATE OPPORTUNITY

Constance sets off on a quest to prevent the events that lead to the deaths of her sister and brother. But along the road to redemption, Manhattan’s most infamous serial killer, Dr. Enoch Leng, lies in wait, ready to strike at the slightest provocation.

UNIMAGINABLE ODDS

Meanwhile, in contemporary New York, Pendergast feverishly searches for a way to reunite with Constance—but will he discover a way back to her before it’s too late?

REVIEW:

I enjoyed the true commitment-to-genre ending of Bloodless, the previous Agent Pendergast novel. I was expecting a feint to a mundane explanation for the events of that story, so was pleasantly surprised when Preston & Child went for it, so to speak. Naturally, I was looking forward to The Cabinet of Dr. Leng, as a continuation of that cliffhanger, and was delighted when I got the chance to read an eGalley ahead of the pub date, courtesy of Net Galley. As many readers of the Pendergast novels might guess, The Cabinet of Dr. Leng is the middle book in a trilogy of sorts. (The authors are calling it a quartet, as it expands upon the Dr. Leng story told in my favorite entry in 21-book (so far) series, The Cabinet of Curiosities.)

The novel sets in motion four main plot threads. A distraught Pendergast needs to find a way to follow Constance into the parallel world experiencing a 1918 timeline now that the machine that transported her there has been destroyed. Agent Armstrong Coldmoon, after finally getting his new assignment, investigates a murder on a Lakota reservation. Vincent D’Agosta, similarly, is investigating a murder in the New York Museum of Natural History. Finally, Constance Greene—intent on rescuing her young siblings and the alternate young version of herself from the ravages of society and the deadly depredations of Dr. Leng himself—reinvents herself as a countess navigating high society in the Gilded Age to put herself within Leng’s social orbit.

Pendergast worries that Constance is no match for the brilliant and merciless Dr. Leng, and that her plan for revenge will result in her own death. Sure enough, Leng soon becomes suspicious of the “Countess” and begins to question her identity and motives in a cat and mouse game that soon becomes deadly. As the individual plots begin to overlap and connect to varying degrees, it becomes clear that the book would end without a resolution, basically “to be continued.”

I usually don’t spend a lot of time going over the plot of a book in my reviews since the synopsis (and back cover text) covers it well enough, and I worry about unintentional spoilers. The Pendergast books, are more of an ongoing story, with multiple trilogies within the almost two dozen volumes. The characters and situations evolve and change without a reset-to-square-one of other long-running book series. Event the first and second books in the trilogies provide a satisfying reading experience despite the fact that all the plot threads aren’t resolved until the third book, to varying degrees. If you are a long-time fan of the Pendergast books, you know what to expect.

Barring a final book stumble, the Dr. Leng trilogy (quartet) is a set up to be my favorite of the Pendergast trilogies. The Cabinet of Dr. Leng is an engrossing and satisfying read despite its status as a middle book. Nevertheless, the wait for the ultimate resolution will be excruciating. If I had to make a prediction, I expect Enoch Leng will find his way from his world into ours, and may live on as a formidable foe going forward—a psychopath out of time—for Constance and Pendergast.

Note: I received a free eGalley of The Cabinet of Dr. Leng from Net Galley in consideration of an unbiased review.

This site is a member of the Amazon affiliate partnership program. As such, any links to Amazon products from these pages might generate a small commission for the site, which helps keep the proverbial lights on—but does not affect the price you pay at Amazon.

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The Cabinet of Dr. Leng: A Pendergast Novel (Preston & Child) – eARC Received

Posted on October 27, 2022 by John

I couldn’t be more thrilled to receive an eGalley of The Cabinet of Dr. Leng (the 21st Agent Pendergast novel) for review, considering it’s a sequel to Bloodless, which ended in a cliffhanger I loved and hearkens back to my absolute favorite Agent Pendergast novel, The Cabinet of Curiosities. Really looking forward to this one. Stay tuned for my review!

The Cabinet of Dr. Leng - Preston/Child (A Pendergast Novel)The Cabinet of Dr. Leng
(A Pendergast Novel)
Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

Grand Central Publishing
(January 17, 2023)

SYNOPSIS:

The tremendous new thriller in Preston & Child’s #1 bestselling series features FBI Special Agent Pendergast and Constance Greene in their most extraordinary circumstances yet.

AN INCREDIBLE JOURNEY

Astoundingly, Constance has found a way back to the place of her origins, New York City in the late 1800s, leaping at the chance, although it means leaving the present forever.

A DESPERATE OPPORTUNITY

Constance sets off on a quest to prevent the events that lead to the deaths of her sister and brother. But along the road to redemption, Manhattan’s most infamous serial killer, Dr. Enoch Leng, lies in wait, ready to strike at the slightest provocation.

UNIMAGINABLE ODDS

Meanwhile, in contemporary New York, Pendergast feverishly searches for a way to reunite with Constance—but will he discover a way back to her before it’s too late?

REVIEW:

Coming soon…

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Hidden Pieces: A Misty Pines Mystery (Mary Keliikoa) – eARC Received

Posted on October 27, 2022 by John

Hidden Pieces (Mary Kelliikoa)Hidden Pieces
(A Misty Pines Mystery)
Mary Keliikoa

Pub Date 25 Oct 2022
Level Best Books, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members’
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers

SYNOPSIS:

Sheriff Jax Turner is staring down the barrel of his broken past. On the brink of ending it all, he feels like a failure following his daughter’s tragic passing and his subsequent divorce. But when a schoolgirl vanishes and her backpack is found in a sex offender’s backseat, the weary lawman drags himself into action and vows to nail one last sociopath.

Shocked to discover the teen’s aunt had lost her life in an abduction years prior, the devastating outcome that he’s taken personally, Jax believes the killer has returned with a vengeance. But as the desperate cop frantically hunts down a mysterious relative in search of a suspect, the girl’s time keeps ticking away…

Can the jaded sheriff take down the culprit in time to bring the young girl home alive?

UPDATE:

Not all books click with all readers. Unfortunately, this title didn’t click with me. That doesn’t mean, however, that it won’t be one of your favorite thrillers of the year. Since I only completed 20% of this one, I didn’t think it would be fair for me to give a full review of it. In lieu of a personal review, here are a few praise quotes from familiar sources:

“A multilayered psychological thriller…that is both poignant and engrossing.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Hidden Pieces is an intense novel offering hair-raising twists and turns and differing plots making it difficult for the reader to discern the culprit. Surprises arise to give the story more power and excitement. A page-turner up to the conclusion this is an exhilarating and spine-tingling read.”
— New York Journal of Books

 

Note: I received a free eGalley of Hidden Pieces in consideration of an unbiased review.

This site is a member of the Amazon affiliate partnership program. As such, any links to Amazon products from these pages might generate a small commission for the site, which helps keep the proverbial lights on—but does not affect the price you pay at Amazon.

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Breathless (Amy McCulloch) – Review

Posted on May 22, 2022 by John

Breathless (Amy McCulloch)Breathless
Amy McCulloch

Anchor

SYNOPSIS:

Journalist Cecily Wong is in over her head. She’s come to Manaslu, the eighth-highest peak in the world, to interview internationally famous mountaineer Charles McVeigh on the last leg of a record-breaking series of summits. She’s given up everything for this story—her boyfriend, her life savings, the peace she’s made with her climbing failures in the past—but it’s a career-making opportunity. It could finally put her life back on track.

But when one climber dies in what everyone else assumes is a freak accident, she fears their expedition is in danger. And by the time a second climber dies, it’s too late to turn back. Stranded on a mountain in one of the most remote regions of the world, she’ll have to battle more than the elements in a harrowing fight for survival against a killer who is picking them off one by one.

REVIEW:

No, I was not surprised to read in the Acknowledgments of Breathless, that first-time thriller author Amy McCulloch is an experienced mountain climber. There are lived-in details in the novel about the ascent of Manaslu that give away the author’s hands-on knowledge of scaling the dizzying and, literally, breathless summits of the world’s tallest mountains. Toss in an unknown murderer and it’s a heady mixture for an effective thriller.

The setting for Breathless—which involves a series of mysterious deaths and a potential serial killer lurking among the climbers—is certainly unique, extreme heights, where few ever venture and those who do risk serious harm, everything from hypoxia, where your body is starved for oxygen, to frostbite and accidental death. When severe environments are an integral  part of the story, the author needs to make the reader feel as if they are there for the setting to work as intended. While reading Breathless, I experienced many moments where little and often unexpected details made me feel the bone-chilling cold of the mountain, certainly increasing my enjoyment of the thriller aspects of the novel, and a  testament to McCulluch’s personal experience. When the murderer is unmasked during a frantic descent of the mountain, those telling details bring the story to life.

I had a few nits to pick along the way. When the climb stalled, the story lost a bit of momentum, and some of the motivations of… omission, let’s say, are a little hard to forgive, even factoring in the effects of extreme emotion and even hypoxia on the characters. Despite those quibbles, Breathless is a perfect beach read. And reading something this chilling when you’re baking in the sun will provide some unexpected shivers. Think of that as a welcome side-effect.

Note: I received a free eGalley of Breathless in consideration of an unbiased review.

This site is a member of the Amazon affiliate partnership program. As such, any links to Amazon products from these pages might generate a small commission for the site, which helps keep the proverbial lights on—but does not affect the price you pay at Amazon.

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My Heart is a Chainsaw (Stephen Graham Jones) – Review

Posted on May 22, 2022 by John

My Heart is a Chainsaw (Graham Jones)My Heart Is a Chainsaw
Stephen Graham Jones

Gallery / Saga Press

SYNOPSIS:

“Some girls just don’t know how to die…”

Jade Daniels is an angry, half-Indian outcast with an abusive father, an absent mother, and an entire town that wants nothing to do with her. She lives in her own world, a world in which protection comes from an unusual source: horror movies…especially the ones where a masked killer seeks revenge on a world that wronged them. And Jade narrates the quirky history of Proofrock as if it is one of those movies. But when blood actually starts to spill into the waters of Indian Lake, she pulls us into her dizzying, encyclopedic mind of blood and masked murderers, and predicts exactly how the plot will unfold.

Yet, even as Jade drags us into her dark fever dream, a surprising and intimate portrait emerges…a portrait of the scared and traumatized little girl beneath the Jason Voorhees mask: angry, yes, but also a girl who easily cries, fiercely loves, and desperately wants a home. A girl whose feelings are too big for her body. My Heart Is a Chainsaw is her story, her homage to horror and revenge and triumph.

REVIEW:

I have mixed feelings about My Heart is a Chainsaw (a recent Bram Stoker Award-Winning Novel) by Stephen Graham Jones. The character Jade (and by extension, the book’s author) demonstrates an impressively comprehensive knowledge of the slasher movie genre, sometimes to a fault. In attempting to be so inclusive of every slasher sub-genre offering, I felt at times the narrative lagged. At first, Jade’s internal monologue feels like a post-modern examination of the field, which is certainly entertaining, but as a reader, I would have preferred a little less inclusivity for the sake of pacing. That the story is so inclusive of seemingly every iteration of the slasher through decades of cinema undermines the ending in a way that some may find surprising and refreshing while others may feel a bit cheated. Overall, the novel attempts to straddle the lines between horror and thriller without fully committing to either, challenging reader expectations.

Note: I received a free eGallery of My Heart is a Chainsaw in consideration of an unbiased review, but later purchased a copy of the book during a Kindle sale.

This site is a member of the Amazon affiliate partnership program. As such, any links to Amazon products from these pages might generate a small commission for the site, which helps keep the proverbial lights on—but does not affect the price you pay at Amazon.

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Holly and the Nobodies (Ben Pienaar) – Review

Posted on September 6, 2021 by John

Holly and the Nobodies (Ben Pienaar)Holly and the Nobodies
Ben Pienaar

HellBound Books

SYNOPSIS:

Holly Anderson is a lonely girl, born with the power to materialize living beings from thin air. When she decides to kidnap a ‘real’ person to be her friend, schoolgirl Alex Miller becomes the target. But, when Alex goes missing, her close friend, James, is the only one who suspects what really happened. And, the further James pursues the truth, the deeper into Holly’s bizarre world he finds himself. Even with some of Holly’s odd creatures on their side, it is soon apparent that they won’t get out unscathed – if they get out at all.

REVIEW:

While reading the eGalley for Holly and the Nobodies, my first impression was a haunted house tale combined with “It’s a Good Life,” the 1961 Billy Mumy episode of The Twilight Zone. Like Mumy’s character, Anthony Fremont, Holly has seemingly limitless mental power she lords over those around her with little restraint and an undeveloped—maybe even atrophied—conscience, unmoored by her need for instant gratification. A malevolent house combined with a supernaturally powerful child—who moonlights as an immature mad scientist to create her bizarre and sometimes bloodthirsty ‘nobodies’—makes for a deadly combination. First-time novelist Pienaar imbues Holly’s maze-like house with an impressive amount of claustrophobia and, once Holly secures her two young captives, the walls really do close in on them, literally and figuratively, producing a growing sense of dread and hopelessness. Even so, the story managed to subvert my expectations at several turns.

Since I read an eGalley rather than the finished book, I was not too surprised to find a few rough spots in the prose, likely smoothed over in the final edit. Otherwise, a few minor gripes include: wanting to know more about the genesis of the house and its affinity for Holly; the parents of her captives come across as little more than convenient ciphers almost unconcerned about their children’s welfare; speaking of Alex and James, I wanted a bit more of their relationship pre-capture, though, debatably, that may have bogged down the start of the novel; finally, what felt like a false emotional note or two relating to extreme bodily trauma, but this is a bit of an authorial judgment call.

This site is a member of the Amazon affiliate partnership program. As such, any links to Amazon products from these pages might generate a small commission for the site, which helps keep the proverbial lights on—but does not affect the price you pay at Amazon.

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Falling: A Novel (T. J. Newman) – Review

Posted on August 11, 2021 by John

Falling (T.J. Newman)Falling: A Novel
T. J. Newman

Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster

SYNOPSIS:

You just boarded a flight to New York. There are one hundred and forty-three other passengers onboard. What you don’t know is that thirty minutes before the flight your pilot’s family was kidnapped. For his family to live, everyone on your plane must die. The only way the family will survive is if the pilot follows his orders and crashes the plane. Enjoy the flight.

REVIEW: (minor spoilers)

Falling, the debut novel by former flight attendant T.J. Newman has a great hook: a seasoned pilot forced by terrorists to sacrifice his family on the passengers on his plane. The story begins with a literal nightmare scenario right before the real-life nightmare begins. Newman wastes no time placing pilot Bill Hoffman in this impossible situation and the plot, admirably, remains taut throughout. Violating strict instructions from the terrorists, Hoffman informs his flight crew of his impossible dilemma. From that point, Falling ricochets between several viewpoints, including Bill in the cockpit where he receives demands from the terrorists through his wifi-connected laptop, the flight crew as they prepare for the worst without panicking their passengers, and Hoffman’s kidnapped family, along with the FBI agents who need to rescue Hoffman’s wife and kids—or prepare the military to shoot Hoffman’s plane before he’s forced to crash it into a high profile target. As with all good thriller writers, Newman adds surprises and reversals along the way to keep the reader guessing. Falling is a non-stop thrill ride is a perfect beach read. And may all your flights be much less interesting.

 

*Since this site uses Amazon affiliate links, if you make a purchase after clicking on one of these links, I may receive a small ‘finder’s fee’ which helps keep the virtual lights on.

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The Last House on Needless Street (Catriona Ward) – Review

Posted on July 18, 2021 by John

The Last House on Needless StreetThe Last House on Needless Street
Catriona Ward

Macmillan-Tor/Forge
Tor Nightfire

SYNOPSIS:

In a boarded-up house on a dead-end street at the edge of the wild Washington woods lives a family of three.

A teenage girl who isn’t allowed outside, not after last time.
A man who drinks alone in front of his TV, trying to ignore the gaps in his memory.
And a house cat who loves napping and reading the Bible.

An unspeakable secret binds them together, but when a new neighbor moves in next door, what is buried out among the birch trees may come back to haunt them all.

REVIEW:

I’ll warn you up front: The Last House on Needless Street is not an enjoyable book. And it doesn’t try to be. Overall, it’s an unsettling read. Anxiety and uneasiness spread across every page as Ward spins her claustrophobic tale through the haunted eyes and emotionally damaged minds of a succession of unreliable narrators. The tension mounts throughout because the reader never experiences the sensation of standing on solid narrative ground, the fiction equivalent of spotting something creepy out of the corner of your eye. And no matter how fast you look, whatever you thought you saw remains a disturbing mystery yet somehow manages to crawl under your skin. While The Last House on Needless Street reads like a haunted house novel, it’s really a story of haunted lives.

 

*Since this site uses Amazon affiliate links, if you make a purchase after clicking on one of these links, I may receive a small ‘finder’s fee’ which helps keep the virtual lights on.

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Project Hail Mary (Andy Weir) – Review

Posted on July 18, 2021 by John

Project Hail Mary (Andy Weir)Project Hail Mary
Andy Weir

Ballantine Books: (May 4, 2021) ISBN-10 ? : ? 0593135202
 ISBN-13 ? : ? 978-0593135204

SYNOPSIS:

Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.

Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.

All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.

And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.

Or does he?

REVIEW:

First off, I enjoyed THE MARTIAN, in book form and the faithful feature film adaptation that followed. PROJECT HAIL MARY looked equally interesting, if not more so. And my initial impressions were confirmed—blown away even. Project Hail Mary succeeds and exceeds The Martian on all fronts. While The Martian dealt with one man’s impossible, but personal, struggle for survival, Project Hail Mary ups the ante to unimaginable levels, literally to global significance. Ryland Grace awakens alone in deep space, with no memory of who he is, where he is or why? Not only does he not know how important his mission is to the fate of humanity, he has no clue about the mission itself. As his memory gradually returns, Ryland is faced with one impossible problem after another, each requiring a combination of guts, imagination and ingenuity to resolve if he is to complete his ‘hail mary’ mission.

Project Hail Mary is a compulsive read—a genuine page-turner—boasting a propulsive plot filled with energy and wit, self-deprecation and surprises, and a generous amount of humor considering the future of humanity is at stake. If you enjoyed The Martian, this is a no-brainer: grab a copy of Project Hail Mary today. I can’t recommend this book highly enough.

 

 

*Since this site uses Amazon affiliate links, if you make a purchase after clicking on one of these links, I may receive a small ‘finder’s fee’ which helps keep the virtual lights on.

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The Twin Paradox (Charles Wachter) – Review

Posted on June 14, 2021 by John

The Twin Paradox (Charles Wachter)The Twin Paradox
Charles Wachter

Trevaney Bay (August 23, 2020)
ISBN-10 : 1735361224
ISBN-13 : 978-1735361222

SYNOPSIS:

With ten years passing for every three minutes on a remote stretch of Texas coast, planes fall out of the sky, evolved species are on the hunt, and people die inside one of the most vicious ecosystems ever grown—all a result of the government’s efforts to slow down time.

A lot can happen in ten years. That’s the point.

Governments are always racing for supremacy, for scientific breakthroughs, for technological advantages—and these things take time.

Until something goes wrong.

With the grounded yet massive world-building of READY PLAYER ONE, thrilling scientific questions of JURASSIC PARK, and the time-bending teen drama of BEFORE I FALL, Wachter’s THE TWIN PARADOX is a brilliantly plotted tale that is both intimate and massive, relentless yet deliberate, and explores the themes of self-acceptance, self-confidence, and natural selection in a richly hued and unforgettable world. Ultimately the eternal question of Nature versus Nurture is boiled down into this fast-paced thriller told over the course of five days and culminates in one single question:

Do we get to choose who we are?

REVIEW:

Wachter’s debut novel, The Twin Paradox, boasts a lot of interesting, exciting and innovative ideas in a fast-paced SF thrill-ride that reintroduces famous and infamous people from history—in various incarnations. There’s some YA angst as several young characters discover shocking truths about their identities, political intrigue as multiple governments jockey for power in a new type of arms race, and the makings of a predatory dystopia by way of an extremely evolved and deadly ecosystem that may escape confinement. And not only is time not a constant in this tale, it is used in various intriguing ways as a deadly weapon. As the story opens, the reader might expect a sobering tale of (recycled) fate and shaded musings on the nature-vs-nuture debate, but Wachter skillfully veers away from those expectations to deliver one clever surprise after another.

Needless to say, I’m looking forward to Divine Paradox, the book two in The Twin Paradox Series, arriving January 2022.

 

 

*Since this site uses Amazon affiliate links, if you make a purchase after clicking on one of these links, I may receive a small ‘finder’s fee’ which helps keep the virtual lights on.

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