I first met FBI Special Agent Aloysius X.L. Pendergast in the novel Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, where he came face to face with a real life half-man, half reptilian monster. Well, let’s just say after this book I have read every Pendergast novel since then.

Pendergast is fascinating, handsome, thrilling, a southern gentleman and possesses a steel-trap mind that rivals that of Sherlock Holmes (what? I like him a lot). Besides, I’m attached to a few of the characters in this series, not just Pendergast. I’m a huge fan of the Pendergast series, I’ve read the entire series.

Waiting on “pins and needles” for the next installment – City of Endless Night, yes I have already pre-ordered it, I will have it in my hands, well not in my hands exactly, more like on my tablet, September 26, 2017.

You will see in this series that some of the of characters will meet their demise, in sometimes quite interesting ways, yes even those I have become attached to. But, of course, plots always center around solving horrifying murders right, executed by some seriously depraved human beings (if they can be called humans). So, it’s not all sunshine and roses at the end and during the story.

This is not your ordinary police procedural just so you know. Agent Pendergast only takes cases he finds “interesting”. So readers are taken on a bit of a ride through plots with a bit of science, Tibetan meditation, nursery rhymes and for good measure throwing in a seriously disturbing family, where hints of insanity and murder are talked about throughout. Absolutely amazing.

Revenge is not sweet: It is essential.

Let’s take a peek into Fever Dream, one of 3 books, (the other 2 being Cold Vengeance and Two Graves) that delves into what happened to his wife Helen Pendergast. Here he embarks on a harrowing quest to uncover his wife’s murder. However, he soon realizes that he may not have known her as well as he thought. This journey sends him deep into Helen’s murky past – but it’s the past he soon learns, she had wished to keep hidden.

I won’t be revealing much of that past here. It’s best you find out for yourself.

The beginning of the book takes us 12 years into the past, in Africa where she was killed by a lion. At his Louisiana residence, he was going through his gun collection when he discovers the rifle Helen used in Africa was filled with blanks. Well, looks like we are looking at one hell of a set-up, aren’t we?

This is a very, very cold case, and so he enlists the help of his friend, NYPD Lieutenant, Vincent D’Agosta and a few others to help him find out exactly what happened to his wife all those years ago. Unfortunately for Pendergast getting too close to the truth may put himself and his friends in mortal danger.

As he gets deeper into the mystery – the answer is revealed in a night of shocking violence, deep in the Louisiana bayou. There he finds himself faced with the question of the century: who was this woman that I married?

For those just starting to read Preston and Child’s Pendergast series. It’s a great series to get into. Their high level of teamwork, gunfire, explosions, dry humor, some serious Sherlock Holmes level of deductive/inductive reasoning and a lot of intrigues. If you love cliffhangers, well you will get it here. As for me am usually just staring at the page cursing no one in particular, since there’s really nothing I can do but wait for the next installment.

If you are a fan of Preston and Child, or you want to read something different. I say go for it!

Synopsis from book jacket

Yesterday, Special Agent Pendergast still mourned the loss of his beloved wife, Helen, who died in a tragic accident in Africa twelve years ago.

Today, he discovers she was murdered.

Tomorrow, he will learn her most guarded secrets, leaving him to wonder: Who was the woman I married? Why was she murdered? And, above all….Who murdered her?