Fever Dream by Preston & Child

Preston, Douglas, and Lincoln Child.  Fever Dream.

A new novel featuring Aloyius Pendergast, that strange, eccentric, and vastly wealthy FBI Agent.  I'm hooked on these novels that take the fantastic to a new level.

Realistic?  No.  The adventures are always wild and often supernatural, yet still seize the imagination and force you to take the ride.

 You don't look for reality in these novels;  they are more of a cult of personality, with Aloyius Pendergast--his remarkable abilities, curious habits, unorthodox methods, and ghostly appearance--putting a tiny barb into you and pulling you forward.

I've not enjoyed the last few books nearly as much as some of the earlier ones, but Fever Dream was thoroughly satisfying, and a relief after the books featuring Diogenes.  Crime Fantasy, perhaps, but a gratifying self-indulgence.

 Agent Aloyius Pendergast's wife Helen died when attacked by a lion on an African safari twelve years previously.  On a whim, Pendergast takes the rifle his wife used on the safari from the gun case to clean it and discovers that someone had substituted a blank and failed to cover the evidence.  Realizing that his wife's death was not the terrible accident, he had supposed, but a deliberate murder that involved elaborate pre-meditation, Pendergast dedicates himself to finding out who was ultimately responsible.

He enlists his friend Lt. Vincent D'Agosta, and the two begin their investigation to discover who arranged Helen's death.  Some of the information Pendergast uncovers makes him wonder about his wife and their relationship, but he is determined  root out the answers to his questions.


An enjoyable romp with Preston & Child!

Fiction.  Mystery.  2010.  405 pages.