A review by lckrgr
Gideon's Sword by Douglas Preston

3.0

Reading the reviews of this book made me laugh. People were upset by the absurdity of the plot-- it's a Preston and Childs novel, all of their plots are absurd! And while of course they vary in quality (I had a hard time with The Ice Limit, but Thunderhead and some of the Pendergast books are great) their plots are generally impossible. I mean their first book was about a monster eating people in the Natural History Museum-- yes it was "science-y" but it was no less absurd than this book

So anyway, the long and short of my review-- this should definitely not be the first Preston and Childs book a person reads. Start with one of their better one's (i.e. Still Life with Crows or Cabinet of Curiosity)and learn their writing template: murder related to a vaguely-scientific or spiritual issue + lots of gruesome and silly deaths (think Final Destination) of tangential characters + inexhaustible funds + flawed but earnest protagonist = fun! Then once you are a semi-convert to the writing style and character building they do, you'll find this book fits right into the bunch. It may not be as weighty or serious as the others, but it was still pretty fun.

I liked the character of Gideon he was like a fusion of Pendergast and Smithback.