Brimstone

by
Douglas Preston

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Brimstone (Pendergast #5)

by Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child

4.06 of 5 stars 4.06 · rating details · 12,807 ratings · 513 reviews

Agent Pendergast returns in a new suspense thriller from New York Times bestselling authors Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Art critic Jeremy Grove is found dead, his face frozen in a mask of terror. His body temperature is grotesquely high; he is discovered in a room barricaded from the inside; the smell of brimstone is everywhere....and the unmistakable imprint of a c...more

Audio Cassette

Published 2004 by Books on Tape

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Feb 29, 2012 Andy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

I picked this up for a pittance on sale, having read and enjoyed Relic and Reliquary many years back. I've not read the others in the series and only have dim memories of prior events.

The plot is fairly ridiculous, with a potential involvement of the devil rapidly becoming obviously not satanic in nature, though still remaining pretty out-there in terms of ludicrousness. The motivation seems so unlikely that you have to laugh: they really went to all that trouble for that..? There's an entirely...more

2 likes · like · see review

Mar 04, 2013 Dirk Grobbelaar rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-thriller, books-i-own

Review Revisited

This is a fabulous series.

Brimstone is somewhat different from its predecessors. It's more Agatha Christie than Michael Crichton this time round. A little bit less horror; a little more mystery. The authors appear to be paying tribute to a number of literary classics and conventions in this novel. For one thing, one of the characters is lifted exactly out of The Woman in White. Aloysius Pendergast has always been decidedly Sherlock Holmes-like, but it's taken to the next level h...more

12 likes · like · see review

Aug 11, 2008 John rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Nobody

Recommended to John by: Bookstore display

Shelves: not-recommended

OK, more popular genre fiction doing a very mediocre job of representing their genre.

Child and Preston must have a fan at the local independent bookstore because several of these McNuggets of entertainment are on their recommended shelf. After reading a few of them, I'm not sure why.

Two dimensional comic book characters (and not in a good way), over-wrought plots, unbelievable exploits, yadda yadda.

Probably the most fundamental criticism I can make regards their craft. They consistently tell us...more OK, more popular genre fiction doing a very mediocre job of representing their genre.

Child and Preston must have a fan at the local independent bookstore because several of these McNuggets of entertainment are on their recommended shelf. After reading a few of them, I'm not sure why.

Two dimensional comic book characters (and not in a good way), over-wrought plots, unbelievable exploits, yadda yadda.

Probably the most fundamental criticism I can make regards their craft. They consistently tell us about the amazing abilities of Diogenes and Pendergast rather than showing them to us. They seem to want to set up Pendergast as a modern Holmes - Mycroft even - and yet their descriptions of his abilities boil down to magic. "And then through his amazing intellectual abilities, Pendergast saw the solution: 'Aha!' he exclaimed. 'Follow me!' This isn't a direct quote but you see this pattern throughout the Pendergast novels. Similarly they might describe a fight intended to illustrate Pendergast's amazing martial arts skills as follows: "Pendergasts movement blurred and his opponent fell to his feet unconscious. 'Anyone else?'"

We might as well be reading Batman issue #1, here. "Through his amazing super-science, Batman analyzes the crime scene and identifies his culprit."

Also, they make no attempt to make the elements of their stories remotely believable. In Brimstone, for instance, they invent some kind of microwave weapon that you cart about like a bazooka and melt people in their homes. In another story they invent a young lady who has lived an extraordinarily long life and yet remains essentially a pre-adolescent. These elements could have been handled in a credible way - that is, we could have been persuaded to suspend disbelief - but as it is, they are literal comic-book devices, no more intriguing than the Super-Villain of the week back in the Silver Age of comics.

I read this book shortly after reading Jasper Fforde's lampoons of detective fiction - the Nursery Crimes series. I burst out laughing as soon as Pendergast appeared on the scene. A master of disguise, with a sidekick, a bizarrely expensive and impractical classic car, and an unpronouncable name.

Child and Prestons work on these characters was momentarily diverting but ultimately a waste of time and money.

Now don't get me wrong - I *love* comic books, from the classic (and ultimately poorly written) characters to the most innovative thing created today. But a novel isn't a comic book and the worst comic book I've read this year beats this.

Jeeze - enough with the negative reviews - gotta post something I like.

(less)

3 likes · like · see review

Feb 19, 2009 Andrew Sydlik rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror-and-fantasy

Fifth Pendergast book, first in the "Diogenes trilogy," although Pendergast's diabolical brother hardly appears in this at all, so I don't understand why it is lumped with the next 2 books. Anyway, it is pretty typical of the Pendergast series - fast-paced action, mysterious crimes, a blend of science and the spiritual.

I like the complexity of the mystery and Pendergast's eccentricities, which remind me of Poe's detective stories. However, some of the narrative seems unnecessary, such as the sec...more

2 likes · like · see review

May 20, 2013 Michael rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, mystery, thriller, new-york-city, italy

I had some thrills with this one, the 5th in a series of 12. A mysterious death of a hated Manhattan art critic is judged as caused by internal heating, and a cloven hoof print and bit of brimstone at the scene raise the specter of the Devil’s work. FBI agent Prendergast and police liaison Sergeant D’Agosta make a team similar to Holmes and Watson. The victim’s guests and telephone calls made the night of his death have overtones of a man who has made a pact with the Devil fearful of payback tim...more

10 likes · like · see review

Jan 04, 2013 Alison rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the first book I've ready by Douglas Preston and I'm ready to read more. Agent Pendergast is quite a character, a little of James Bond, a little of David Copperfield, and little like a cat with nine lives - which all makes it that much more interesting to read on to discover how he's going to get out of all the scrapes he gets into! Spontaneous Human Combustion? The Devil? are two of the theories put out there when a body is discovered burnt although nothing else in the house has been to...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jun 25, 2012 Ward Bond added it · review of another edition

Agent Pendergast returns in a new suspense thriller from New York Times bestselling authors Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.

Art critic Jeremy Grove is found dead, his face frozen in a mask of terror. His body temperature is grotesquely high; he is discovered in a room barricaded from the inside; the smell of brimstone is everywhere...and the unmistakable imprint of a claw is burned into the wall. As more bodies are discovered--their only connection the bizarre but identical manner of death-

...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 01, 2012 David rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Pedergast is an interesting, if not obnoxious, hero. I say obnoxious because of the way his assistant in this case D'Agosta, hero worships him. Perhaps the authors wish us to think of Pendergast as a touch of Sherlock Holmes with the refined culture and genius of someone like Hannibasl Lector. There very fact that he carries lockpicks secreted about his body in the manner of a clever magician\escdape artist seems, on its face, to be absurd, even if it does manage to facilitate the plot by permit...more Pedergast is an interesting, if not obnoxious, hero. I say obnoxious because of the way his assistant in this case D'Agosta, hero worships him. Perhaps the authors wish us to think of Pendergast as a touch of Sherlock Holmes with the refined culture and genius of someone like Hannibasl Lector. There very fact that he carries lockpicks secreted about his body in the manner of a clever magician\escdape artist seems, on its face, to be absurd, even if it does manage to facilitate the plot by permitting escape at climactic moments.

The mystery involved here (apparent cases of spontaneous human combustion) was quite well thought out and the author4s managed to tie it up neatly, even if using a James Bond type story mechanism to move the plot forward. I kept expecting the villain to want to invade Fort Knox or turn around in his chair with a white cat craddled in his arms. And the real world explanation of the deaths was pretty much what I figured, it wasnt too terribly hidden, but the explanation of the motivation behind the killer was clever. Interjected into the story are a number of science fiction\science fact concepts that kept the story from bogging down in the actual tying up the knots of the mystery.

I was not pleased with the book's conclusion. When you get there, you will recognize the Saturday morning seriel approach to a conclusion, where there's a cliff-hanger that doesn't set the reader on edge, but simply served to annoy me as being a typical cliche of the hero surviving what surely had been certain death, even if by the skin of his teeth.

Finally, the artsy-fartsy discussions of art and such were to me like ultra-sweet candy-- a bite or two was nice, but too much just sets your teeth on edge. I had the impression that the authors, like their hero, were simply wanting to show off their rather large storage locker of fascinating history and art world inside stuff (and I don't actually know enough about these things to know whether any of the facts, artists, etc. are real- with the exception of the designer of the famous Stradivarios violins)-- so at times it came across as overload. The discussion of opera vs. classical instrumental music sounded to me like an arguement that the authors had possibly held with each other at one point. While it helped set the stage for some of the story, it went on too long and was interjected once too often to please me.

Still, I read this one quickly and despite its flaws, I feel that the majority of the flaws were minor and the issues I might see as flaws in regards to cultural refinement are likely my own ignorance and lack of cultivation in the areas of art. (When I tested for Jeopardy, the one area I failed badly in was related to art and artists) So, with those caveats, I will recommend this one.
(less)

like · see review

Aug 09, 2011 Seth rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Probably my favorite of the Pendergast novels, since Pendergast and D'Agosta are reunited in their crime-solving efforts. The two characters are at their best when they are playing off of one another. In some ways the novel is reminiscent of Thomas Harris's Hannibal, however that's likely just because they share a setting in Florence, Italy. Overall, it's great fun, like all of Preston and Child's books, and the cliffhanger ending is quite a nasty one. It's also the beginning of their "Diogenes...more

2 likes · like · see review

Oct 28, 2010 Jennie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: thriller, trashed-it

I didn't hate this 5th installment of the Pendergast novels as much as the other four. For one thing, there really wasn't a creature-of-the-week theme, and another thing: the cops weren't all jerks. Sure, there was the requisite stupid jerk cop, but he didn't dominate the story this time.

As with all of the Preston/Childs books I've read, this book could have been at least half as long as it was. At a whopping 700+ pages, chopping out half the book would still leave a decent-sized, and much more...more

like · see review

Jun 17, 2010 "grindy" Jake rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

First off, let me say that I am somewhat well-versed the subject of satanism and similar occult things. Upon reading the summary of "Brimstone", my eyes lit up. He guess that the title had something to do with the infamous "fire and brimstone" had proven right. Not really being in the loop as far as modern best-sellers, I hadn't read any of the other Pendergast novels, and luckily the story was told in a way that even a newcomer like myself will not feel like they're missing out on anything, bes...more First off, let me say that I am somewhat well-versed the subject of satanism and similar occult things. Upon reading the summary of "Brimstone", my eyes lit up. He guess that the title had something to do with the infamous "fire and brimstone" had proven right. Not really being in the loop as far as modern best-sellers, I hadn't read any of the other Pendergast novels, and luckily the story was told in a way that even a newcomer like myself will not feel like they're missing out on anything, besides maybe one or two things that I'm pretty sure are referring to scenes from previous novels. I don't want to spoil much about the plot in case any of you reading this are planning on checking it out, so I'll just cover some of the major, basic aspects of it, keeping it relatively spoiler-free. Basically, there are a series of mysterious murders where the victims appear to have been inexplicably cooked from the inside out. Various details such as a hoof print burned into the floor suggest that good ol' Lu has something to do with it. It up to washed-up has-been Vincent D'Agosta and the generally perfect Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast to figure out what the hell is going on. A religious cult builds in Central Park, with hundreds of people eventually coming out to camp in tents and listen to the words of Buck, a convict-turned-priest. There are some interesting bits dealing with theology which really grabbed my attention. If only the characters were as interesting. Pendergast is your typical FBI superman, able to worm his way out of any situation imaginable. D'Agosta is your typical loser who randomly becomes the equal of the FBI superman. It's rather typical fare. And by the way, there's a brief sex scene that feels extremely random and painfully forced. It just comes out of nowhere and does little to enhance the story. There was absolutely no need for it. The ending left me rather unsatisfied. It was a dumb ending. All in all, I would certainly not say that Brimstone is a bad book. It's simply mediocre. It really drew me in early on, but as it went on, its grasp on me was slipping. Just to make this clear, I'm teetering on a 3/5. Think of it as maybe a 2.9 or so.(less)

like · see review

Mar 26, 2010 Jeff Zimmel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I enjoyed my last book by Douglas Preston so much (The Codex) I asked Gina to bring one home from the famous duo Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. She brought me Brimstone. It was a fun book. I like when the main story splits off and then has multiple stories happening at once but then will bring them all back in to wrap up the story.

If you like thrillers or mysteries you'll love this one. Here's what Barnes and Noble has on it:
ANNOTATION
Art critic Jeremy Grove is found dead, his face frozen in...more

like · see review

Feb 09, 2010 Johnny rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

At first glance, Brimstone seems like it would be more fantasy than mystery. Readers of books by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child will immediately recognize the mixture of fantasy elements and mystery because the writing duo always seems to walk a tightrope (or would it be paces within an "unbroken circle") between the modern and the fantastic. To say that Pendergast (and I confess to reading the Pendergast mysteries out of sequence) defies credibility in the modern era as much as Sherlock Holm...more At first glance, Brimstone seems like it would be more fantasy than mystery. Readers of books by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child will immediately recognize the mixture of fantasy elements and mystery because the writing duo always seems to walk a tightrope (or would it be paces within an "unbroken circle") between the modern and the fantastic. To say that Pendergast (and I confess to reading the Pendergast mysteries out of sequence) defies credibility in the modern era as much as Sherlock Holmes must have defied credibility in the era of his detective work would not be an exaggeration.

Pendergast is an FBI special agent (perhaps, consultant would be more accurate, but he holds the agent designation for the Bureau's convenience) with impeccable credentials in art history, oenology, music, history, and science. He is wealthy. He is able to shoot, fight, and pick locks. He has multiple bases of operations and his own way of doing things.

Brimstone is fascinating because I quickly figured out the methodology for the mysterious deaths, but couldn't find the right suspect. In fact, I followed the wrong line of evidence for much of the novel. But it was well worth it! The showdown between the investigator and the cause of the events was a brilliant duel of interlocking gambits. And the literary allusion during the penultimate events was perfect--of course, I've always been a fan of Poe. More on the literary allusions, later!

First, however, I must mention the parallel story. The events on the edge of the supernatural arouse an ex-con turned evangelical preacher to migrate to New York and preach to the diverse group of people assembled outside the scene of the first crime. His message is an authentic message. This is no caricature of an uneducated preacher. Though untrained and ultra-right wing in his theology, this is a sincere man who only gets derailed in one way. And even in his personal derailment, there is a certain modicum of truth that has been misunderstood.

Now, for the allusions. Brimstone is full of them. One character who weaves in and out of the plot is named Count Fosco (an homage to Wilkie Collins' Woman in White). A minor character is named Aspern, a quiet reference to Henry James' The Aspern Papers and its protagonist, Jeffrey Aspern. More than a nod is made to Edgar Alan Poe's "A Cask of Amontillado" and Macchiavelli's The Prince gets an appropriate consideration. Of course, the Bible gets its share of references, as well. And, although I can't cite the specifics, I remember numerous classical musical themes playing through my mind as references to great composers and their works were placed on the lips of the protagonist and other characters.

To be honest, I was expecting an amusing read and wasn't prepared for the cultural, metaphysical, and forensic joy ride that Brimstone launched me upon. I highly recommend this book and the earlier Pendergast books, as well. I would probably like them more if I reread them now.(less)

like · see review

Jan 31, 2010 Cornerofmadness rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As in most series, some are great. They’re what bring you to the series in the first place. Some are good but not that memorable and some just are bad. This was one of the great ones in this series.

Grove, a wealthy man, has died in the most bizarre way, burnt from the inside out with a cloven hoof burned into the flooring. D’Agosta, former NYPD and former character of other novels, is now on the Southampton PD after a failed career as a crime novelist. Grove happens to die in his jurisdiction....more

like · see review

May 08, 2010 Dhuaine rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: thriller, crime-mystery

It started well enough: gruesome murders with paranormal flair, no suspects, no clues, looking like the work of a devil. Even Pendergast was pretty stumped, which got my hopes up that there will be some freaky unnatural factor in the case.

Unfortunately, as the book progressed, the supernatural mystery deteriorated into action novel with thriller elements and slice-of-life miscellany, like sitting in cafes and discussing art. Pendergast is The Hero, together with unexplained tricks and aces out o...more

like · see review

Jul 24, 2009 Jennifer rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Now I am prepared to suspend my disbelief to a point, and this book went past that point. The problems is I can't say why without giving away the ending of the book.

The book started off promising, a body is found and it looks like something possibly supernatural killed the person. Hints at the devil having possibly killed the person are made and the cops are stumped as to how it was done. It was interesting reading about the murder because it did make me start to think how the murder could have...more

like · see review

Jan 24, 2010 Cassie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I enjoy Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's Pendergast novels a lot. They're genuinely good thrillers, perfect if you want an adrenaline rush. Although most are intended to be standalone novels, they are all interconnected so reading them in order really gives a sense of character development.

This particular book is the fifth in the series, but the first in the informal Diogenes trilogy. As with most of Preston and Child's novels in this series, there is some kind of gruesome murder that brings...more

like · see review

May 25, 2009 Teresa Watson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Someone has killed Jeremy Grove, New York's most hated art critic. From the looks of the crime scene, people would swear it was the devil himself. They won't miss him; he was an mean man. But to FBI Special Agent Pendergast, there is more to Grove's death than meets the eye. When two more people are killed, and more evidence of a satanic nature are found at each crime scene, Pendergast, with the help of Sgt. Vincent D'Agosta, travel to Italy to find out what happened to four young men decades ag...more

like · see review

Apr 16, 2013 Zev de Valera rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Before I begin, I would like to say that I'm rather put out that this site does not have a spell check! Since losing a spelling bee to a nasty little bitch named Cathie (yes, spelled with 'ie' rather than 'y') when I was nine, spelling has been the bane of my existence. I blame most of this problem on the laptop keyboard which I believe is totally uncondusive (or is that incondusive?) to clean writing.

I recently finished reading Lincoln Child's The Third Gate. I thoroughly enjoyed this light, ad...more

like · see review

May 17, 2013 Jaime rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Regardless of the fact that I have enjoyed the duo of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, I did not set any level of expectation when I started reading this novel. It was an entertaining read but it has one major and several minor problems. My major beef is the whole story line with the character Rev. Buck. It was silly and took away from the energy of the book. It should heve been left out. Other issues included: Captain Laura Hayward being wasted and serve no purpose except as a love interest f...more

1 like · like · see review

Sep 23, 2011 Catherine Siemann rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

From time to time, I begin one of these reviews with "I don't usually read . . . urban fantasy/historical romance/YAs/whatever, but something about this caught my eye." And often proceed to not really like the book, because it's not so much my thing.

I don't usually read thrillers, but I was idly looking through a bookshelf, and I picked this one up and discovered that the authors had lifted Wilkie Collins's wonderful character Count Fosco wholesale into the 21st century, and used him as a charac...more

like · see review

Sep 09, 2009 Mary Taitt rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-crime, mystery-crime-fiction

My latest read and I've started another book by Douglas Preston, Brimstone--one thing I have to say, they start quickly. No waiting for the book to get good, no wading through page after page of dull introductory stuff--these are good within the first few words--if you happen to like gruesome murders. I don't. I do like the writing and the sense of not truth of the fact that these guys know a lot or manage to make it seem like they do. I like Pendergast because he's cool and nice and not a jerk...more

like · see review

May 21, 2013 João Carlos rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: l2013

O “Enxofre” foi a minha estreia literária com a dupla Douglas Preston e Lincoln Child – primeiro livro de uma trilogia intitulada Diogenes – a que se segue “A Dança da Morte” e “O Livro dos Mortos”.
O início do livro é verdadeiramente sensacional: Numa esplêndida propriedade com uma imensa mansão é encontrado morto o odiado crítico de arte Jeremy Grove, cujo corpo está “cozinhado” de dentro para fora, ainda fumegante, com um intenso e desagradável cheiro a enxofre, uma cruz marcada na pele e a ma...more O “Enxofre” foi a minha estreia literária com a dupla Douglas Preston e Lincoln Child – primeiro livro de uma trilogia intitulada Diogenes – a que se segue “A Dança da Morte” e “O Livro dos Mortos”.
O início do livro é verdadeiramente sensacional: Numa esplêndida propriedade com uma imensa mansão é encontrado morto o odiado crítico de arte Jeremy Grove, cujo corpo está “cozinhado” de dentro para fora, ainda fumegante, com um intenso e desagradável cheiro a enxofre, uma cruz marcada na pele e a marca de uma pata fendida gravada a fogo no soalho de madeira… A sua hispânica e religiosa empregada Agnes Torres já vira muitas pessoas mortas durante a sua infância e “Mr. Jeremy parecia mais morto do que qualquer delas. Tão morto quanto se podia estar."
Com esta sequência de abertura está criada uma atmosfera de suspense literário que se mantém sempre a um ritmo vertiginoso, sem tempos mortos ou frases inúteis, que servem progressivamente para adensar o mistério da história principal e das histórias paralelas de um enredo com mais cadáveres assassinados com semelhante “modus operandi”, direccionando-nos para um ajuste de contas simbólico com o diabo e que nos transporta de Nova Iorque para a mítica e enigmática cidade de Florença em Itália.
A morte de Jeremy Grove é um acontecimento surpreendente que ocorreu após um jantar em que estavam presentes Maurice Vilnius, Lady Evelyn Milbanke (outrora amantes), o Conde Isidor Fosco e Jonathan Frederick e é nessa investigação criminal que contactamos inicialmente com o agente especial FBI Aloysius Pendergast e o Sargento Vincent D´Agosta (ex-tenente e escritor (ou ex-escritor) de romances policiais), duas personagens distintas e com comportamentos diversificados perante factos e acontecimentos, mas que convergem num esforço descomunal em busca de uma verdade e de uma justiça - a que se junta uma esbelta e bonita capitão Laura Hayward, num início de uma relação amorosa com o Sargento Vincent D´Agosta, numa visão feminina da investigação e com um comportamento irrepreensível, que valoriza admiravelmente o suspense e a narrativa literária.
A história paralela do ex-presidiário Wayne P. Buck, a sua viagem em direcção a Nova Iorque, a aglomeração de fanáticos no Central Park e a pregação aos seus fiéis a aguardarem pela segunda “vinda” de Cristo é simultaneamente realista e hilariante, conjugada e ampliada pelas reportagens sensacionalistas do jornalista Bryce Harriman.
A dupla de escritores Douglas Preston e Lincoln Child revela igualmente um talento excepcional em conhecimentos enciclopédicos sobre a temática dos rituais satânicos, introduzindo complementarmente na narrativa vários temas – a combustão humana espontânea (CHE), os instrumentos de corda (violinos e violoncelos) Stradivarius, as metodologias jornalísticas para a investigação e a elaboração de notícias e títulos sensacionalistas, a tecnologia de vanguarda militar aeroespacial, os negócios obscuros da venda e comércio com chineses, entre muitos outros - revelando e divulgando todos os processos de construção destes instrumentos ou equipamentos de uma forma simples e científica.
No final tudo tem uma explicação lógica e científica, com uma descrição brilhante das personagens e das diferentes tramas e subtramas, num enredo construído em capítulos curtos, por vezes alternados no ritmo e com um carácter mais intimista na história de cada personagem e em que o mistério se vai adensando, de uma forma emocionante e sufocante, como uma noite escura e tempestuosa.
Um livro diabolicamente brilhante na sua génese e no seu conteúdo…
(less)

1 like · like · see review

Mar 25, 2011 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Brimstone is the first book I've read from authors Preston and Child. It is therefore the first Agent Pendergast book I've read, though not the first in the series. I really enjoyed Agent Pendergast's character and found myself wondering what I missed learning about him in the first few books in the series. He is such a mysterious, ultra clever character. Is he merely a super intelligent mortal man, or is there something supernatural about him? Another minor character in the story is Constance,...more

like · see review

Jul 29, 2008 Jane rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This thriller took my breath away. Preston and Child are master storytellers, and they're at the top of their game here. The way they weave their tale and build suspense in matchless. The first--and I think the best--book in the Diogenes Pendergast trilogy, which is simply not to be missed.

1 like · like · see review

Aug 10, 2012 Elizabeth rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

One of my favorite parts of this book is the afterword, where the authors apologize to some readers for "purloining" the Wilkie Collins character of Count Fosco from his book, THE WOMAN IN WHITE. I am such a huge Wilkie Collins fan that one might think I would be offended...but I'm not at all. Preston and Child know their nineteenth-century literature, and love to throw Poe allusions into all of their books, so why not add Collins to the mix? Besides, Fosco is a delightful character, and I for o...more

like · see review

Jul 19, 2012 Scott Rhee rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The writing team of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child is hit or miss with me. I enjoyed "Relic" but I didn't enjoy the sequel "Reliquary". "Brimstone" is apparently a part of series featuring NYPD detective D'Agosta (of the "Relic" series) and a wise-cracking older FBI agent named Pendergast. I haven't read the books in this series, but I think I may have to. "Brimstone" is a fun, clever, and creepy murder mystery with a supernatural element. Lots of weird and unnatural things are going on in, i...more

like · see review

May 13, 2012 Jeanne rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

After reading Thunderhead, Cabinet of Curiosities and Still Life With Crows, I was really looking forward to reading Brimstone and i thoroughly enjoyed it. That said, it's not anywhere near as good as those previous novels.

Vincent D'agosta returns to help agent Pendergast investigate a series of unusual deaths that appear to be the work of Lucifer, where the victims seem to have traded their soul's for fortune and glory.

The story is interesting and takes a few unexpected turns while Pendergast h...more

like · see review

Feb 25, 2012 Monica Rodriguez rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: christianity, italy, murder, mystery, new-york, pendergast, religion, suspense

Pendergast is my new favorite detective! It would have seemed this modern-day Holmes faced his ultimate challenge in Brimstone but for the great teaser for the next story. Pendergast's ever-cool demeanor and eccentric ways have captured my interest. I liked seeing Pendergast and D’Agosta share the limelight pretty equally this time, with intriguing insights into both characters. The villain was a fascinating creation. Be sure to read the authors’ note at the end regarding him. The secondary vill...more

like · see review

Jan 20, 2012 Jonathan Trinder rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Unforgivable. This is the fifth Preston/Child book I've read (reviews are pending), and the cracks that existed in the others are now too big to ignore. The constant references to Pendergast's gentility and appearance. His apparent knowledge of, well, everything. Excessive instances of a character 'shuddering'.

What else? There's a subplot here that is gruesomely unnecessary. It literally adds nothing to the story at all. As for the main story, the villains here are simply nowhere near as though...more Unforgivable. This is the fifth Preston/Child book I've read (reviews are pending), and the cracks that existed in the others are now too big to ignore. The constant references to Pendergast's gentility and appearance. His apparent knowledge of, well, everything. Excessive instances of a character 'shuddering'.

What else? There's a subplot here that is gruesomely unnecessary. It literally adds nothing to the story at all. As for the main story, the villains here are simply nowhere near as thought-provoking as in the previous books. Some of these issues undoubtedly happen when you have two authors, but still, where is the editing? In paperback Brimstone weighs in at 700 pages. Ideally, it's a 350-page story.

If you ask me what really puts the nail in the coffin this time, it's the ending. There are SPOILERS here. Once the identity of the villain is known, Pendergast and D'Agosta confront him in his lair. He defeats them, trapping Pendergast. D'Agosta escapes with proof. He brings the police back, but is unable to use the proof in such a way as to satisfy the local police. He is forced to walk away. What happens after this? He gets the device working, but instead of going back to the police to show them, or perhaps use it to torture the location of Pendergast out of the villain, what does he do? He goes back to the lair (through a hole the villain should have sealed), kills the villain without a word (totally out of character) and flies back to the States! Lazy, lazy, lazy. After that sequence of events, I'm now somewhat reluctant to give Dance of Death a chance. There are too many well-argued one-star reviews of it.

It's a shame. A Relic/Reliquary/Cabinet trilogy that ended with Pendergast hooking up with Hayward would have been good enough for me. Instead, the authors are up to number eleven (!), and although I'm sure they've come up with some original ideas involving Pendergast's backstory that make him even more of a badass from every possible angle, for me it's not enough when everything else has become so stale. Sorry boys. Was fun while it lasted.(less)

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (42)

More editions...

Genres

Thriller

222 users

Horror

87 users

Suspense

52 users

Thriller > Mystery Thriller

51 users

Mystery > Crime

27 users

Mystery

25 users

Fantasy

21 users

Adventure

21 users

Mystery > Detective

17 users

Fantasy > Paranormal

12 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Douglas Preston

Douglas Preston was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1956, and grew up in the deadly boring suburb of Wellesley. Following a distinguished career at a private nursery school--he was almost immediately expelled--he attended public schools and the Cambridge School of Weston. Notable events in his early life included the loss of a fingertip at the age of three to a bicycle; the loss of his two fr...more Douglas Preston was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1956, and grew up in the deadly boring suburb of Wellesley. Following a distinguished career at a private nursery school--he was almost immediately expelled--he attended public schools and the Cambridge School of Weston. Notable events in his early life included the loss of a fingertip at the age of three to a bicycle; the loss of his two front teeth to his brother Richard's fist; and various broken bones, also incurred in dust-ups with Richard. (Richard went on to write The Hot Zone and The Cobra Event, which tells you all you need to know about what it was like to grow up with him as a brother.)

As they grew up, Doug, Richard, and their little brother David roamed the quiet suburbs of Wellesley, terrorizing the natives with home-made rockets and incendiary devices mail-ordered from the backs of comic books or concocted from chemistry sets. With a friend they once attempted to fly a rocket into Wellesley Square; the rocket malfunctioned and nearly killed a man mowing his lawn. They were local celebrities, often appearing in the "Police Notes" section of The Wellesley Townsman. It is a miracle they survived childhood intact.

After unaccountably being rejected by Stanford University (a pox on it), Preston attended Pomona College in Claremont, California, where he studied mathematics, biology, physics, anthropology, chemistry, geology, and astronomy before settling down to English literature. After graduating, Preston began his career at the American Museum of Natural History in New York as an editor, writer, and eventually manager of publications. (Preston also taught writing at Princeton University and was managing editor of Curator.) His eight-year stint at the Museum resulted in the non-fiction book, Dinosaurs in the Attic, edited by a rising young star at St. Martin's Press, a polymath by the name of Lincoln Child. During this period, Preston gave Child a midnight tour of the museum, and in the darkened Hall of Late Dinosaurs, under a looming T. Rex, Child turned to Preston and said: "This would make the perfect setting for a thriller!" That thriller would, of course, be Relic.

In 1986, Douglas Preston piled everything he owned into the back of a Subaru and moved from New York City to Santa Fe to write full time, following the advice of S. J. Perelman that "the dubious privilege of a freelance writer is he's given the freedom to starve anywhere." After the requisite period of penury, Preston achieved a small success with the publication of Cities of Gold, a non-fiction book about Coronado's search for the legendary Seven Cities of Cibola. To research the book, Preston and a friend retraced on horseback 1,000 miles of Coronado's route across Arizona and New Mexico, packing their supplies and sleeping under the stars--nearly killing themselves in the process. Since then he has published several more non-fiction books on the history of the American Southwest, Talking to the Ground and The Royal Road, as well as a novel entitled Jennie. In the early 1990s Preston and Child teamed up to write suspense novels; Relic was the first, followed by several others, including Riptide and Thunderhead. Relic was released as a motion picture by Paramount in 1997. Other films are under development at Hollywood studios. Preston and Child live 500 miles apart and write their books together via telephone, fax, and the Internet.

Preston and his brother Richard are currently producing a television miniseries for ABC and Mandalay Entertainment, to be aired in the spring of 2000, if all goes well, which in Hollywood is rarely the case.

Preston continues a magazine writing career by contributing regularly to The New Yorker magazine. He has also written for National Geographic, Natural History, Smithsonisan, Harper's,and Travel & Leisure,among others.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/dougla...(less)

More about Douglas Preston...

Books by Douglas Preston

The Cabinet of Curiosities (Pendergast, #3)

The Book of the Dead (Pendergast, #7; Diogenes, #3)

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Brimstone

1 trivia question

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from Brimstone

“He found Pendergast's cool gaze on him, and he fidgeted. He'd forgotten about those eyes. They made you feel like you had just been stripped of your secrets.” — 8 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Brimstone
avg rating	preview: Brimstone Goodreads rating: 4.06 (12807 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21985.Brimstone?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]/assets/nocover/111x148.png[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21985.Brimstone?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Brimstone by Douglas Preston[/url]

Brimstone (Pendergast #5)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website