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A review by johnbreeden
Two Graves by Douglas Preston
5.0
Two Graves is the completion of the Helen Pendergast arc within the overall Agent Pendergast novels.
What I liked about this novel:
• I like the father / son conflict between Pendergast and Alban. The two acting in opposition is engaging. Which is the better man: detective or killer? That this dichotomy is not resolved at the end of the story leaves me looking forward to more from Alban in the future.
• I'll have to say I loved the old lady Wintour and her manservant characters. Her eccentricities and her nonchalant willingness to have Felder killed amused me for some reason.
• Pendergast's disguises and performances - along with the references to self-medicating with drugs - gave me some serious Holmes flashbacks. I've always pictured Pendergast as a little bit like Jeremy Brett's performance, and I couldn't be happier with the associations to Sherlock.
• This whole series has been about shattering Pendergast's world. The Diogenes trilogy did a bit of that, but these three novels have taken it several steps further. I really enjoy getting into Pendergast's personal history.
What was So-So:
• I liked lady Wintour and Dukchuk. What I was on the fence about was the entire Dr. Felder/Constance thread running through the book. I don't quite get what the point of it all was. It provided cut scenes between other major chapters, but I don't feel like it added greatly to the novel. I enjoy Constance's character, but I don't see why Dr. Felder was needed. I can only guess that this thread has implications in the future.
• I also wasn't enthusiastic about the Corrie Swanson side story with her father. I understand how this connects with the theme of parenthood. This point is also brought out in the relationship between Colonel Souza and his son. I just don't feel like this was as engaging as the main plot and was a little distracting.
What I didn't like:
• Bringing Viola into the story seemed to be poor judgement. I don't quite understand why this was done. It did not bring him out of his stupor. If anything, having someone he's had feeling for arrive so soon after his wife's actual death would be less likely to help Pendergast. Lincoln & Child like to run threads through the series, and I suspect, with the evidence of the letter he is writing at the end of the book, that more is to come of this. It just felt like an emotional tug in the wrong direction, given his suicidal state. He says at the end that her arrival gave him pause, but I didn't feel that when I was reading that scene.
• Why on earth would Pendergast work on picking a fight with Agent Gibbs? I kept thinking that maybe Gibbs was somehow connected with Helen, or the Nazis, or might actually be the killer - for a bit. That entire conflict just seemed to go nowhere to me. And it led to:
• The betrayal by D'Agosta. This really put me off for a bit. Forgiving the fact that the entire Hotel Killer plot dropped off the pages when Tristram was abducted, I didn't see why a rift needed to be set up with D'Agosta. Here again, I assumed it was for a future novel, but then it's wiped clear at the end of the story. It didn't make sense.
Overall, this was a sound Pendergast story with action and consequences. Definitely worth a read, or listen. The audio edition with Rene Auberjonois as narrator was incredible. You definitely have to read the previous novels, especially Fever Dream and Cold Vengeance, to follow the plot overall.
Spoiler
The first two novels, Fever Dream and Cold Vengeance deal with the mystery surrounding Helen's death and the eventual revelation that she was still alive. Both books were swift, engaging reads, and Two Graves is also. Its themes, however, evolve after Helen is kidnapped and then murdered into a tale of paternal struggle. After a series of Hotel Killer murders, Pendergast finally realizes that the killer is his biological son; a son he did not know existed. Then, another son, a twin, is delivered to Pendergast's doorstep. The discovery of his parenthood, and the Cain and Abel differences between his sons, gives depth to Pendergast's search for this murderer. Developing further, it draws upon the Nazi organization that the previous novel brought to light, giving further depth. After the innocent son is kidnapped by his brother, Pendergast must go to root out the Nazi plot.What I liked about this novel:
• I like the father / son conflict between Pendergast and Alban. The two acting in opposition is engaging. Which is the better man: detective or killer? That this dichotomy is not resolved at the end of the story leaves me looking forward to more from Alban in the future.
• I'll have to say I loved the old lady Wintour and her manservant characters. Her eccentricities and her nonchalant willingness to have Felder killed amused me for some reason.
• Pendergast's disguises and performances - along with the references to self-medicating with drugs - gave me some serious Holmes flashbacks. I've always pictured Pendergast as a little bit like Jeremy Brett's performance, and I couldn't be happier with the associations to Sherlock.
• This whole series has been about shattering Pendergast's world. The Diogenes trilogy did a bit of that, but these three novels have taken it several steps further. I really enjoy getting into Pendergast's personal history.
What was So-So:
• I liked lady Wintour and Dukchuk. What I was on the fence about was the entire Dr. Felder/Constance thread running through the book. I don't quite get what the point of it all was. It provided cut scenes between other major chapters, but I don't feel like it added greatly to the novel. I enjoy Constance's character, but I don't see why Dr. Felder was needed. I can only guess that this thread has implications in the future.
• I also wasn't enthusiastic about the Corrie Swanson side story with her father. I understand how this connects with the theme of parenthood. This point is also brought out in the relationship between Colonel Souza and his son. I just don't feel like this was as engaging as the main plot and was a little distracting.
What I didn't like:
• Bringing Viola into the story seemed to be poor judgement. I don't quite understand why this was done. It did not bring him out of his stupor. If anything, having someone he's had feeling for arrive so soon after his wife's actual death would be less likely to help Pendergast. Lincoln & Child like to run threads through the series, and I suspect, with the evidence of the letter he is writing at the end of the book, that more is to come of this. It just felt like an emotional tug in the wrong direction, given his suicidal state. He says at the end that her arrival gave him pause, but I didn't feel that when I was reading that scene.
• Why on earth would Pendergast work on picking a fight with Agent Gibbs? I kept thinking that maybe Gibbs was somehow connected with Helen, or the Nazis, or might actually be the killer - for a bit. That entire conflict just seemed to go nowhere to me. And it led to:
• The betrayal by D'Agosta. This really put me off for a bit. Forgiving the fact that the entire Hotel Killer plot dropped off the pages when Tristram was abducted, I didn't see why a rift needed to be set up with D'Agosta. Here again, I assumed it was for a future novel, but then it's wiped clear at the end of the story. It didn't make sense.
Overall, this was a sound Pendergast story with action and consequences. Definitely worth a read, or listen. The audio edition with Rene Auberjonois as narrator was incredible. You definitely have to read the previous novels, especially Fever Dream and Cold Vengeance, to follow the plot overall.