Power. Unstoppable power beyond your imagination. For many years men (and women) have searched for ways to obtain power. Some try for wealth and riches, others politics and the halls of government, and some take to the world of crime and robbery. However there are those who believe power is worth any price, even their soul. These unlucky few have sought other ways not of this world…

----- Plot Introduction -----

In the gated communities of Southhampton, Long Island there is an unspoken feeling of safety, security, and of sheltered exclusivity. This makes it all the more unsettling when a murder takes place in a locked estate in late summer, with no sign of entry or egress. The alarm system is armed and the doors locked, yet wealthy art critic Jeremy Grove is very dead. To the naked eye his situation looks very much like that rarest of occurrences, spontaneous human combustion. However several things at the crime scene don’t add up correctly. Little things like specks of brimstone, hairs which appear to come from a goat, and of course the cloven hoof mark seared deep into the wooden floor.

There are whispers that Mr. Grove had secrets of his own, things done in years past that weren’t talked about by people in his high-society circles. As another man dies in a highrise penthouse with alarms and locks engaged the public begins to wonder, are these gruesome deaths the sign of a serial killer with uncanny talent or is there a more sinister force at work. It's up to FBI Agent Pendergast to search Heaven, Hell, and Manhatten for the answer behiind these murders, before another victim is taken.


----- My Impressions -----

My first book from Preston and Child was Riptide, a remarkably complex and engrossing thriller which captured me from start to finish. I’ve missed quite a few of their novels, yet managed to hit Relic and Thunderhead over the years. One of the things that’s always amazed me about this writing duo is the symbiotic relationship that seems to emerge in their books. Child writes skillfully on his own, and Preston does fine as well, but their books written together are something to behold.

Several familiar characters return from previous Preston/Child books to fight evil in Brimstone, most notably FBI agent Aloysius Pendergast from Relic, Reliquary, Cabinet of Curiosities, Still Life With Crows, etc. Also back for another round is NYPD cop Vincent D’Agosta from Relic. Alas, it seems as though D’Agosta is perpetually typecast to play Scully to Pendergast’s Mulder, but the formula works and so it continues. The line between main characters and supporting cast is very dim in Brimstone, I’d say there’s at least 15 names you’ll need to remember by the books end to keep everything clear in your mind. The action ranges from slow and tense dark-hallway creeping to life-or-death chases through the streets of New York and Florence Italy. As usual the dialog is alive and witty, mostly thanks to Pendergast and his ridiculously immense vocabulary.

While I’m a big Preston/Child fan I don’t think Brimstone is their best work, although it’s still a great book. I say this mostly because the content is surprisingly disturbing (to me at least) and takes away a little of the detachment the reader normally feels with novels. The way Preston and Child link together details and characters in a very believable chain of events can at times lead you to think you’re reading a book about past events. I’ll agree with other reviewers and say that sometimes the shear volume of information you’re expected to remember is on the heavy side. I’d recommend reading this book in as short a time as possible in order to keep everything fresh in your mind.

----- Bottom Line -----

For fans of the authors this is a must-buy book as it’s more of the same characters they’ve come to know. New readers to Preston and Child would be better off picking up Cabinet of Curiosities, Riptide, or Relic. If you’re going to start reading you might as well start at the beginning, right? Brimstone is a good book for a cold winter night and a warm fire, although at times you’ll begin to feel a little too warm, I guarantee it. The ending has quite a twist that had my head spinning for a while, but that’s to be expected with these two. If you’ve read Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons or are fans of that type of fiction this book should be right up your alley.


Related Links:

Matthew Reilly: Scarecrow
Matthew Reilly: Contest
Matthew Reilly: Area 7
Matthew Reilly: Ice Station

Carsten Stroud: Black Water Transit
Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child: Still Life With Crows
Lincoln Child: Utopia
Dean Koontz: The Taking

Thanks for reading and feel free to comment!

Openroad


Recommended: Yes