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354 reviews for:
Натюрморт с гарвани
Douglas Preston, Douglas Preston, Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child
4.07 AVERAGE
354 reviews for:
Натюрморт с гарвани
Douglas Preston, Douglas Preston, Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child
4.07 AVERAGE
Medicine Creek, Kansas, like many small towns across America, is slowly dying. The young people grow up, leave town, and never come back. There's only one major employer--a turkey processing plant--and it has had to cut back on the number of shifts. The University of Kansas is looking for an area to test a new hybrid corn and they have narrowed the location down to Medicine Creek and the nearby town of Deeper. Being awarded the deal could breathe new life into the chosen community.
But just as negotiations reach the final stages, people begin dying in earnest. The first body is found in circle-shaped clearing in the middle of one of the miles of cornfield. The woman has been horribly mutilated and arranged in a tableau complete with dead crows atop genuine, Civil War-era Native American arrows.Sheriff Dent Hazen doesn't know it yet, but his first murder case is going to be a doozy. FBI Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast arrives from New York, suspecting that the murder bears the hallmarks of a serial killer. When more murders follow, it looks like he is right. The folks of Medicine Creek would like to believe that a crazed stranger is responsible, but Pendergast also suspects the culprit is more of the home-grown variety.
The arrows and the fact that the murdered woman had been digging in the Mounds just outside Medicine Creek revive the legend of the "Curse of the Forty-Fives," a story about a group of ex-Confederates who brutalized the Cheyenne--killing women and children--and who were, in turn, killed by the angry and anguished men who returned to find their families gone. The attack took place atop the Mounds and it is said that the leader of the ex-Confederates cursed the ground for all time. There is something supernatural about the strength needed for the particular method of murder and those who get a glimpse of the murderer and manage to survive describe him/it as a great hulking "creature." Has the creature been summoned by the disturbance of the Mounds? Or is there a more human agent using the legend for his own ends? Pendergast takes on a local young woman as an assistant who is snatched by the murderer. He will have to work quickly to put the clues together and find her before she becomes the latest victim...
Preston and Child certainly know how to write an edge-of-the-seat, scare-the-crap-out-of-you thriller that is so absorbing and fast-paced that even I (the biggest coward when it comes to horror and grisly murders) can read the thing straight through, hanging on every word, and impatient to find out what it's all about. Pendergast is an interesting, nuanced character. We get hints that his is an unusual back story and I certainly hope that we learn more about him as the series goes along. I appreciated seeing his softer side as he plainly wants to give Corrie Swanson (the assistant he takes on from Medicine Creek) a way to make a new start in life (if she gets a chance...).
But, beyond the small quibbles mentioned in the spoiler above, overall this is another excellent thriller Preston and Child. I look forward to reading more of the Pendergast series.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting portions of review. Thanks.
But just as negotiations reach the final stages, people begin dying in earnest. The first body is found in circle-shaped clearing in the middle of one of the miles of cornfield. The woman has been horribly mutilated and arranged in a tableau complete with dead crows atop genuine, Civil War-era Native American arrows.Sheriff Dent Hazen doesn't know it yet, but his first murder case is going to be a doozy. FBI Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast arrives from New York, suspecting that the murder bears the hallmarks of a serial killer. When more murders follow, it looks like he is right. The folks of Medicine Creek would like to believe that a crazed stranger is responsible, but Pendergast also suspects the culprit is more of the home-grown variety.
The arrows and the fact that the murdered woman had been digging in the Mounds just outside Medicine Creek revive the legend of the "Curse of the Forty-Fives," a story about a group of ex-Confederates who brutalized the Cheyenne--killing women and children--and who were, in turn, killed by the angry and anguished men who returned to find their families gone. The attack took place atop the Mounds and it is said that the leader of the ex-Confederates cursed the ground for all time. There is something supernatural about the strength needed for the particular method of murder and those who get a glimpse of the murderer and manage to survive describe him/it as a great hulking "creature." Has the creature been summoned by the disturbance of the Mounds? Or is there a more human agent using the legend for his own ends? Pendergast takes on a local young woman as an assistant who is snatched by the murderer. He will have to work quickly to put the clues together and find her before she becomes the latest victim...
Preston and Child certainly know how to write an edge-of-the-seat, scare-the-crap-out-of-you thriller that is so absorbing and fast-paced that even I (the biggest coward when it comes to horror and grisly murders) can read the thing straight through, hanging on every word, and impatient to find out what it's all about. Pendergast is an interesting, nuanced character. We get hints that his is an unusual back story and I certainly hope that we learn more about him as the series goes along. I appreciated seeing his softer side as he plainly wants to give Corrie Swanson (the assistant he takes on from Medicine Creek) a way to make a new start in life (if she gets a chance...).
Spoiler
I really enjoyed the way Preston and Child played off of nursery rhymes for the solution of why the killer laid out his victims in the particular tableaus he did--and what the crows and the dog's tail meant. I haven't read such a good use of nursery rhymes since Agatha Christie. I am a bit perplexed as to why living in the dark caves would make the man SO extra-strong (I mean stronger than average, yes--but the feats he performs seem a bit over-the-top) and especially SO fast. What has living in the cave got to do with speed?But, beyond the small quibbles mentioned in the spoiler above, overall this is another excellent thriller Preston and Child. I look forward to reading more of the Pendergast series.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting portions of review. Thanks.
So much corn. Review to come. ;)
Edit****
~~~~
This was the first Pendergast case not located in NY. I missed the museum, but I must admit I did not miss Smithback. (Of course there was another journalist in the story to bug me.) So, this story is basically about corn and things that happen in, around, and amongst the corn. Don’t worry though. You have Pendergast and a whole bunch of weirdos and just rather an interesting cast of characters to keep things Fresh amongst the fields. One character that Pendergast picks to be his assistant is particularly interesting and I hope shows up later.
I feel the happenings in this one were definitely made for the long creaky stalks of corn, and weirdness described in this small town.
Edit****
~~~~
This was the first Pendergast case not located in NY. I missed the museum, but I must admit I did not miss Smithback. (Of course there was another journalist in the story to bug me.) So, this story is basically about corn and things that happen in, around, and amongst the corn. Don’t worry though. You have Pendergast and a whole bunch of weirdos and just rather an interesting cast of characters to keep things Fresh amongst the fields. One character that Pendergast picks to be his assistant is particularly interesting and I hope shows up later.
I feel the happenings in this one were definitely made for the long creaky stalks of corn, and weirdness described in this small town.
Interesting entry in the Pendergast story. It was fun seeing Pendergast interact in the great midwest.
FBI Special Agent Pendergast tracks down a creepy serial killer in the Kansas cornfields.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I really wanted to like this book, but it was a pretty terrible read. Far-fetched, flat characters, and maybe the world’s longest [very not awesome] ending. Would have been dramatically better if an editor had said “hey, maybe there doesn’t need to be 200+ pages of pointless nothing?” Also, the main character’s deduction skills are obviously top-notch, but come across as 100% non-believable and incongruous to every relationship and setting throughout the story.
Loved this! So atmospheric, creepy and tension filled. And that epilogue was amazing!
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I have a little crush on Aloysius Pendergast, I do believe. He's a great character; very Sherlock Holmes-esque, but rather more bizarre -- he makes Sherlock Holmes seem like a normal guy.
Anyhoo, I really enjoyed this; I thought it was a lot better than Brimstone, which is the other Pendergast novel I've read (yes, I know I'm reading them all out of order); the secondary characters were fleshed out nicely, and there was a lot of good humor as the natives of a tiny Kansas town try to figure out what to make of this FBI fellow (and vice-versa). As with Brimstone, I found the actual revelation of the villain to be a bit of a let-down -- these novels seem to suffer from the same problem that plagues a lot of horror movies, which is that once you show the monster it's just not as scary. Still, this was a great, diverting read.
Anyhoo, I really enjoyed this; I thought it was a lot better than Brimstone, which is the other Pendergast novel I've read (yes, I know I'm reading them all out of order); the secondary characters were fleshed out nicely, and there was a lot of good humor as the natives of a tiny Kansas town try to figure out what to make of this FBI fellow (and vice-versa). As with Brimstone, I found the actual revelation of the villain to be a bit of a let-down -- these novels seem to suffer from the same problem that plagues a lot of horror movies, which is that once you show the monster it's just not as scary. Still, this was a great, diverting read.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated