Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child are back to intrigue us with more murder and mystery and some familiar faces are on the case. At the beginning of Cemetery Dance, reporter William Smithback and his wife Nora Kelly are brutally and viciously attacked in their Manhattan apartment by an assailant who was declared dead a week and a half previously. Homicide Detective Vincent D’Agosta, a friend of the couple, begins the investigation in earnest and discovers another long-time acquaintance, FBI Agent Aloysius X. L. Pendergast, PhD already leading the charge. The two investigators find themselves following a trail of clues that lead to a secluded religious community, rich entrepreneurs and, possibly, voodoo resurrected zombiis. Along the way one long-time friend is murdered and a couple of others find their lives in jeopardy, all the while perceptions are challenged and loyalties are tested.
Special Agent Pendergast and Lieutenant D’Agosta are characters that have existed for nearly fifteen years now, yet don’t read as boring or overused. Pendergast follows in the footsteps of other unorthodox fictional FBI agents such as Fox Mulder and Dale Cooper in having unusual affectations you don’t normally find among government agents. Much like those other two, Pendergast also never seems to fit in with society at large, not adhering to any sort of social graces and being less concerned with offending people than with uncovering the truth. Curiously, outlandish supernatural explanations don’t seem to surprise him nearly as much as having his theories or suspicions proven to be invalid. That isn’t to say, however, that he is bereft of pomp and circumstance. His mode of transportation is a chauffeured 1959 Rolls Royce, he takes tea with an eclectic assortment of consultants and he dresses well. If he wasn’t identified as a southern gentleman from New Orleans, you’d swear he was an upper-class Londoner. Also, he has the coolest base of operations this side of Batman, consisting of three interconnected apartments in the Dakota overlooking Central Park. The description of the interior and all it houses alone would make Bruce Wayne jealous and Sherlock Holmes weep. By contrast, Lieutenant D’Agosta is a gruff and gritty New York cop, albeit one with a heart of gold. He reminds me of Andy Sipowicz trying to channel Colombo with some occasionally insurmountable difficulty. He is a very effective detective, however, one who’s gut instincts, while being spot on, generally tend to get him into difficult situations. His physical description and general demeanor lead me to picture him being played by Jon Polito, although he was played by Tom Sizemore in the film adaptation of his first appearance, The Relic. While seemingly from different walks of life, together D’Agosta and Pendergast are a formidable team and they trust each other implicitly.
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child have written thirteen novels together, but this is the first one I’ve read. I plan to read every one of their previous novels I can get my hands on. The two have a deceptively simple writing style that starts out sufficiently grabbing your attention, but before long you realize you are reading something far more complex and compelling than a standard horror novel. You spend the first half of the novel assured that you’ve figured out their game and know exactly where the story is heading before slowly realizing you’ve had the rug subtly pulled out from underneath you. Preston and Child are so deft at this, however, that long after you’ve finished reading the book you find yourself reconsidering earlier sections in light of the resolution. Oh, and pick a weekend where neither work nor sleep are an overriding factor because you’ll find putting this book down to not be an option. And while at times this will feel like a juicy murder mystery, you will be brutally reminded that this is indeed a horror novel, so be aware of that. Just comfort yourself with the fact that no one meets a more gruesome end than the main villain, and deservedly so. I’m also impressed that there is no discernible change in narrative tone to indicate any division of writing duties as can be evident in other writing collaborations. There is nothing among the pages that would let you know this was written by a duo so they obviously have things down to a science as far as presenting a singular literary voice. The only downside, really, is having no idea when the next Pendergast novel might be coming out. Fortunately, I have the previous adventures to keep me occupied until then.
While this is the latest in a long series of novels featuring the same group of characters, there is nothing to prevent a first-time reader from jumping on board. There are events and characters from previous books that are mentioned, but never in an obtrusive way that detracts from what is going on. Indeed, these moments only serve to enhance the characters and give them an added depth. The story is compelling and interesting in several ways and, as previously mentioned, very difficult to put down for things such as sleep and food. I highly recommend you make Cemetery Dance the next novel you read, you will not be disappointed.
