Reviews

The Cabinet of Dr. Leng by Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child

binnythebarista's review

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

stanleys1's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

dialakeil26's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I’ve been reading the Pendergast novels for years, and the best ones remain some of my absolute favorite books. I’ve been a bit disappointed in the previous two as they seemed to stretch what I consider plausible in their final acts. With this one being a direct follow-up to the previous one, I’m reviewing it on its own terms. It’s a solid story, and we definitely see the main character’s flaws put them all in a more dire situation. I’m not sure how the Coldmoon case connects to anything else, which is probably the book’s greatest flaw. On the whole, this is my favorite of their last few, but still doesn’t quite live up to their best Pendergast tales.

tiffml's review

adventurous fast-paced

4.0

kleonard's review

2.0

Oh ugh, Preston and Child and the unending litany of sexist tropes and still-hoping-for-another-movie-deal writing. This nth episode in their long-running series is so over-the-top I almost didn't finish it. It ends with a cliff-hanger, but I don't think I care about these characters any more. They've gotten more simplistic and. in a lot of cases, unpleasant, since the early books. I'll re-read the older ones.

gatun's review

4.0

I choose The Cabinet of Dr. Leng because I really enjoyed The Cabinet of Curiosity, an earlier book in the series. I did not realize how many books I missed in the series. It left me confused and trying to pick up the series threads. This is on me and not the authors.

Prendergast is one of my favorite characters in literature. He is odd and compelling. Constance is a good character. For a woman out of her time, she is independent and fearless. Without understanding how the events/characters of this book connect to the last book I read, I still enjoyed the book. Preston and Child are terrific writers. Both their joint books and individual books are worth reading.

Netgalley provided a copy of the book. After reading it, I wrote an honest review.
@Netgalley

tiffschwartz's review against another edition

5.0

Finishing on “to be continued” is just mean

jakekilroy's review

4.0

At times, this is some of the tightest storytelling they've assembled. At the same time, it's perhaps the wildest, yet it feels so lateral. Maybe that's why everyone's so damn flippant about time manipulation. There's an old-school quality to the series that sometimes loses a war to the present, but this removes all that, since there's no need for gadgetry details or current slang. No one can be out of touch when traveling between worlds. But, my goodness, what a ride it is to do so.

lazwright's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

2.75

shamajuju's review

4.0

After a mixed bag spent reading the new Nora Kelly’s, which I’ve now sworn off of, it was good to be back with Pendergast. I wasn’t too sure about the focus on Constance, as she’s never been all that compelling to me, but this held my interest to the end - and what an end! It’s not a spoiler to say this ends on a cliffhanger, which I usually hate, but this was good.

Also, I listened to the audiobook in small snippets only during my afternoon commute - the time taken to “read” this wasn’t because it was mediocre.