When I first picked up the audiobook, Wheel of Darkness, I thought it was my first encounter with
best-selling authors Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. I dived into this delicious story and only later
realized that I had met those authors nearly ten years ago in their blockbuster book, Relic, which was
made into a major motion picture. I could barely put that book down! It was no surprise, then, that I had a
rollicking good time with Wheel of Darkness.
Preston and Child have expanded on their character, FBI agent Aloysius Pendergast, throughout the series,
and have included his ward, Constance Greene, who apparently was introduced in the last book. In Wheel
of Darkness, listeners find Pendergast and Greene on a quest to recover a relic, the Agozyen, stolen from a
Buddhist monastery. If the enigmatic weapon falls into the wrong hands, the world will suffer dire consequences.
From Tibet, the duo pursue it to the maiden voyage of the world's largest and most luxurious passenger liner as
it makes its way across the Atlantic. When people start dying, Pendergast knows that the evil within the
Agozyen has been awakened.
This thriller reminded me of The Shadow and The Phantom, whose grand adventures were the hallmark of the 40s.
Placing a hero who employs deep meditation / mind-controlling techniques in pursuit of an ancient relic amid the
affluence of a luxury cruise ship is very reminiscent of mystery thrillers of a past era. Preston and Child are
able to bring the romance of those years into the twenty-first century, along with characters dealing with
modern problems. The murders create a sort of expanded locked-room puzzle because they take place on a ship
where no suspect can escape or no new one can come on board.
I absolutely loved this audiobook! Rene Auberjonois, who has read five other Preston and Child audiobooks,
shines here. His extensive Broadway, film, and television experience has allowed him to breathe life into a
motley cast of characters. He also keeps the pace going at a fast gallop, allowing the listener time periodically
to ponder new clues and new suspects.
Well done, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child! Now, when is the next
installment coming out, hmmmm?
Reviews
of other titles in this series
The Cabinet
of Curiosities, #3 [audio
1 ] [audio
2 ]
Still Life With Crows, #4 [book]
[audio]
Brimstone, #5 [audio
1] [audio
2] [book]
Dance of Death, #6 [book]
Book of the Dead, #7 [audio]
Wheel Of Darkness, # 8 [book]
[audio]
Cemetery Dance, #9 [book]
[audio]
Fever Dream, #10 [book]
[audio]
Cold Vengeance, # 11 [audio]