I normally never buy NY Times bestsellers, as it's usually the morons of America that cause the shittiest books ever written to end up on this list. The Book of the Dead was an exception I made. This time American readers got it RIGHT! I just finished this book and I'm still reeling.

This book is the way a thriller/myster should be written. It's full of complex, well-developed characters, it has an evil genius (part Hannibal Lecter, part Sideshow Bob) conspiring to ruin lives, a cooped-up myst More...

One dreary December evening some years ago, I slogged in to my local Fred Meyer, stamping snow off my shoes, and encountered a tall, friendly, dapper gentlemen hawking paperback books near the door. He introduced himself as Douglas Preston and said the book, Relic, was being made into a movie. I thought, Yeah, sure. So why are you standing here in a deserted grocery store in Kennewick, Washington, on a night like this? I sort of felt sorry for the guy, so I bought the book.

About 24 hours later, More...

i found this book in the bargain bin at the borders where my sister works. the cover interested me and i asked my sister about it, and when she said that people asked her about it a lot, i bought it since with my discount it came to about $2. was a great book and i'm sorry i read it first because its the last book in a trilogy made by the two authors about their FBI protagonist, special agent pendergast. i highly suggest this book, its awesome and i rarely care much for mass market paperback thr More...

This book was so interesting that I read it in one day! I could not put it down! It's rare for me to do this, unless it captivates my imagination, and 'rings true'.

I think information on the Lincoln - Child books are becoming confusing. I read this about two years ago, but do not recall Detective Pendergast, being mentioned anywhere in the storyline. I am not a fan of the Pendergast series, which is written solely by, I believe Child. However, when the two of them get together,...it's always a More...

I found this book at my library book store. The cover interested me, and since it was $2, I bought it. I'm sorry I read it first because it’s the last book in a trilogy. Good suspense, mystery, and surprise throughout it, but not always fully explained. I thought everything was overall fleshed out, I never understood the character of Constance. Her “mysterious past” was never fully brought out. Everything else I felt comfortable with and was brought up to speed on. The main characters had a stro More...

I was happy to discover Douglas Preston and Lincoln Childs because now I have a whole new series of books to read. I'm about halfway through their books and loved every one of them so far.

Spoilers below...

I admit that as much as I love their books, the Diogenes trilogy are my least favorites because I don't like having to put up with the same killer through three books...in the same way I didn't like that CSI had that recurring serial killer character throughout this whole 2011 seasson---I turn More...

I enjoyed Douglas Preston's recent best-selling sci-fi thriller, Impact (also reviewed here on Facebook), but did not much like this one, a bit of airport trash he co-wrote with Lincoln Child. It's not as bad as Ted Bell's Spy (reviewed here: http://pwoodford.net/blog/?p=1314), but it's pretty bad all the same. My biggest problem? The Book of the Dead is one of a series of novels, with a cast of characters introduced (and presumably more fully developed) in earlier novels. Unfortunately, though More...

Warning: I tend to enjoy books in a series more and more when I've developed a "relationship" with the characters. This may not be the best written book in the series, but it feels like it to me because it is so true to the characters.

Raise your hand if you really think a detective can be as near-omniscient as Sherlock Holmes. Uh huh! I didn’t think so. Now, that being said, if you still enjoy suspending your disbelief enough to enjoy the improbable mastery of minutiae that Arthur Conan Doyle as More...

Remember those old movies that blended cartoons and live action? Like Who Framed Roger Rabbit or Cool World? This book reminded me of those, perhaps more the latter than the former.

The book starts with promise, presenting some compelling scenes and introducing some believable characters. Than we're introduced to the villain and the hero, two ridiculous cartoons striding through a world of normals. The plot quickly spins out of the realm of the remotely plausible, as the cartoons seem to infect More...

Things are not going well for Special Agent Pendergast. He's been locked up in a federal prison for a murder he did not commit. His friends, Lt. Vincent D'Agosta, Proctor, Pendergast's butler, and Constance Greene, Pendergast's ward, know who the real killer is: Diogenes, Pendergast's evil brother. The only way they can catch Diogenes is to break his wrongly accused brother out of prison.

At the New York Museum of Natural History, a generous benefactor has donated 10 million dollars to reopen the More...

Lots of threads coming together in this one.

If you like a great escape story, this is the one for you. Pendergast is locked up in prison, awaiting trial. And as we might guess, if anyone has a hope of getting out of an inescapable prison, it's Pendergast.

Diogenes has multiple plans of insidious evil, including against Margo Greene

D'agosta is trying to juggle loyalty and love.

Hayward can't quite put the Pendergast case to rest, no longer satisfied with how neatly (too neatly) all the evidence h More...

The last book in the "Diogenes" trilogy is a fitting finale. Filled with lots of derring-do and thrills, this one is set largely back at the museum where RELIC, RELIQUARY, and CABINET OF CURIOUSITIES were set. This time there is a long-lost Egyptian tomb, curses, and, oh, yes, Pendergast's evil younger brother causing problems.

I enjoyed a lot of the backstory revealed in this book, although there were a few sections (paricularly involving Constance and Diogenes) where I felt some more editing wo More...

The Book of the Dead is the gripping conclusion to the trilogy. The beginning was a bit slow after the exciting finish of the last book but picked up quickly once the story started moving.

Diogenes is definitely a psychopath but he comes off simultaneously as a little more homicidal and a little less insane in this book. I liked how Preston and Child let us into his psyche for an extended period. He still intrigues me...

Constance has a bigger role in this book. I really think she's a love her or More...

Au Museum d’Histoire naturelle de New York, Nora Kelly se prépare à présenter au public le sarcophage de la momie égyptienne Senef. Mais c’est oublier la malédiction qui semble lui être attachée…

En effet, plusieurs employés sombrent dans la folie et assassinent leurs collègues.

Pendant ce temps, avec l’aide de ses amis D’Agosta et Constance, Pendergast parvient à s’échapper de prison. Très vite, il comprend que le responsable des meurtres n’est autre que Diogène, son propre frère.

Le soir de l’ou More...

A friend gave me this book, and when I started reading it I had no clue it was actually part of a series (and in fact the last book in a trilogy within that series). I had noticed it in passing at bookstores and such, and always assumed it was a stand-alone book. So when I began reading it, (and subsequently had the feeling I was missing something big) I looked it up online and discovered the truth.

I think it says something about this book that I still enjoyed it, despite my lack of knowledge ab More...

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I am fan of Preston & Child, however the Agent Pendegrast books do not rank among my favorites.
"Book of the Dead" is fast paced and action packed but relies heavily on relationships developed in previous novels. Events happen quickly with little or no set up. The characters suffer little or no consequences when they break the law, and plot lines are tied up with an abrupt "Oh, never mind."
"Book of the Dead is simplistic to put it mildly, perhaps due to laziness on the part of the authors. Wh More...

Well, I guess the magnificent run of Pendergast novels couldn't last forever. This was a good book, but I felt cheated. The Tomb of Senef with its colourful history and its macabre 'curse' offered so many real opportunities. In the end, when The Event was revealed, the whole thing just fell flat. Also, I wasn't too impressed with the wrap-up of the whole Diogenes sequence. What's this? Is this the same Diogenes who was so masterfully powerful in Dance of Death (Pendergast, #6)? I don't want to r More...

If you haven't read Preston & Child, you're really missing out on one of the best series of thrillers written, period. Forget James Patterson, folks, these guys know what they're doing and do it better than pretty much anyone. Why? Thorough, well-researched storylines, but not the type (i.e. Da Vinci Code) that bogs down the thrust of the storytelling. Oh yeah, and most of their novels feature one of the most compelling protagonists in modern fiction...Special Agent Pendergast. Many of their More...

THIS IS THE ONLY TIME I WILL ACTUALLY REVIEW SOMETHING OK BECAUSE I AM PISSED.

this was so spectacular but the end was RAGE INDUCING. not only was I denied an absolutely fascinating, enthralling and tense final confrontation between two brothers, but (view spoiler)[the death was horribly quick and at the hands of a character that I honestly couldn't care less about (hide spoiler)]. I was already upset that Pendergast and Diogenes never had a serious conversation outside of when they "spoke" at the end of Dance of Death, but my More...

Final volume of the trilogy centered on Agent Pendergast, the Book of the Dead explains the relationship between Pendergast and his brother Dionysius. Special Agent Pendergast is in federal prisons for murders he did not commit, the diamond collection of the NY Museum of Natural History is returned ground to powder, the museum reopens an ancient Egyptian tomb and curse seems to come back to life.

All of this has been carefully plotted and implemented by Pendergast's Machiavellian brother. Why and More...

I just love the mix of history and thriller. Especially the museum history is fascinating. I'll try to get more of these.

Nota bad read. Having not read any of the other Pendergast books i sort of jumped in the middle. There's a lot of backstory I need to make up i guess. The book itself is well researched and well written. The plot points fall where one would expect plot points to fall, a little formulaic, but the plot points themselves are delicious in places. Pendergast seems to be something I have not yet seen. His "ward" seems almost vampyric as does he himself and his brother. The ,man himself is almost a mac More...

Woo! This installment of Agent Pendergast and Co.'s adventures was a bit different from the previous. First, Pendergast was indisposed for a good part of the book, so I got to follow the storylines of several other characters. Diogenes, Pendergast's evil brother, was in full form, artfully plotting after Constance. He's such a shady fellow. Boo, Diogenes, boo!

When I finally got to see Pendergast, I was NOT disappointed. In this book, readers gained a lot of insight into his character - what make More...

Out of all the Pendergast books so far, this is my least favorite. Using same exact plot devices is getting a bit ridiculous "disaster will strike at a New York Museum exhibit opening" "some one will die a gruesome death that cannot be explained in the Museum" " Smart characters cannot put 2 and 2 together"

I like these reads they are fast paced and entertaining, but for the first time I found myself jerked out of the story by repeated plot devices and predictability of the narrative. For exampl More...

While a little on the predictable side, this is an exciting story that will hold your attention and keep you coming back for more! I stayed up late on several nights, just not wanting to put the book down. The characters are unique, interesting, and quirky.

There are 2 authors and it does feel like the story is coming from 2 directions. However, it does come together nicely...so it works!

This is from a series and "The Book Of The Dead" is book 6 or 7? in the series it was the first one I had rea More...