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A review by jgintrovertedreader
Cemetery Dance by Douglas Preston
4.0
FBI Special Agent Pendergast is assisting Lt. D'Agosta in the investigation of a murder that has hit them both close to home. Their friend, Bill Smithback, has been murdered in his home on the night of his first anniversary. The perp has been positively id'd by Smithback's wife, Nora Kelly, and several others in the building as neighbor Colin Fearing. The problem? Colin died about two weeks earlier. Twists and turns lead through animal rights groups, allegations of voodoo, squatters on public land, and rumors of zombiis.
I have to admit that I always see problems with Preston and Child novels and yet I can't ever seem to put them down. I don't even particularly like any of their characters, but the convoluted plot lines keep me so intrigued that I just keep turning pages.
Parts of this were just silly. Let me see how I can phrase this...The way the bad guy is stopped actually made me laugh, it was that silly. I hope that's vague enough. Pendergast is pretty much superhuman. In the two books of his I've read, he knows about voodoo, he can perform the Japanese tea ceremony, he's mastered some sort of transcendental Buddhist meditation technique, and I'm pretty sure he's a master of at least one martial art form. I don't know much about any of these things, but I do think I know enough to know that each one of these would take years and years and years to master. And he's mastered them all, plus more? C'mon.
I would have liked a little more resolution at the end. The crashing climax is big, complicated, and messy, but only the main point is addressed. There were all kinds of issues raised that had absolutely no resolution.
I am surprised that these books haven't been made into movies. They're just exactly the kind of thing that would rake in beaucoup bucks at the box office, and they already even play like movies in my head. The authors must not want it to happen. I feel sure that offers have to have been made.
For a quick, mindless page-turner, this is a lot of fun. It would be perfect in between weightier books. There is a bit of an order though, so you might want to pick up [b:Relic|67035|Relic (A Pendergast Novel)|Douglas Preston|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170665293s/67035.jpg|23046], the first Pendergast novel, first. I've read them all out of order though, and I think I've missed out on a little, but not much.
I have to admit that I always see problems with Preston and Child novels and yet I can't ever seem to put them down. I don't even particularly like any of their characters, but the convoluted plot lines keep me so intrigued that I just keep turning pages.
Parts of this were just silly. Let me see how I can phrase this...The way the bad guy is stopped actually made me laugh, it was that silly. I hope that's vague enough. Pendergast is pretty much superhuman. In the two books of his I've read, he knows about voodoo, he can perform the Japanese tea ceremony, he's mastered some sort of transcendental Buddhist meditation technique, and I'm pretty sure he's a master of at least one martial art form. I don't know much about any of these things, but I do think I know enough to know that each one of these would take years and years and years to master. And he's mastered them all, plus more? C'mon.
I would have liked a little more resolution at the end. The crashing climax is big, complicated, and messy, but only the main point is addressed. There were all kinds of issues raised that had absolutely no resolution.
I am surprised that these books haven't been made into movies. They're just exactly the kind of thing that would rake in beaucoup bucks at the box office, and they already even play like movies in my head. The authors must not want it to happen. I feel sure that offers have to have been made.
For a quick, mindless page-turner, this is a lot of fun. It would be perfect in between weightier books. There is a bit of an order though, so you might want to pick up [b:Relic|67035|Relic (A Pendergast Novel)|Douglas Preston|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170665293s/67035.jpg|23046], the first Pendergast novel, first. I've read them all out of order though, and I think I've missed out on a little, but not much.