74 of 78 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not their best, but still pretty good, June 23, 2003
I've been a fan of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child since "Relic", and during that time I have come to expect quality writing, great characters, tons of plot twists and bizarre, unexpected endings from them. Generally speaking, "Still Life With Crows" lives up to those expectations, but the ending unfortunately falls short, and the resolution leaves some troubling holes. That's not to say this is a bad novel, but fans of the authors may find that it doesn't quite live up to their expectations.
Set in a small town in Kansas, "Still Life With Crows" has a creepy vibe from the very beginning that the authors superbly develop over the first two hundred pages. All too often, novels set in small towns are replete with stereotypes that detract from the story. Preston and Child, however, have written their best characters yet as they capture the full spectrum of small town Americana. From the sheriff is a wonderfully complex character who brilliantly plays the part of a typical rural sheriff even as he masks a deeper, more thoughtful man, to the aging local newspaperman, who is no less sophisticated than his big city counterparts, the authors weave a tapestry that draws the reader in.
At the same time, Preston and Child exercise their considerable gifts for descriptive writing. Their ability to capture the still, oppressive heat of the plains and to imbue sprawling cornfields with a latent menace is admirable. Moreover, as the town of Medicine Creek falls prey to a murderous rampage, the authors create their most genuinely scary settings since "Relic". The murders are performed in an oddly ritualistic fashion that haunts the town even as they defy explanation by traditional means.
Thus, it is no surprise that the authors call upon their familiar protagonist, Special Agent Pendergast to save the day. The difference this time is that he plays a larger role in this book than in any of his prior appearances. Thus, it is up to the authors to develop him to a much greater extent, and they do so quite successfully. It would be regrettable, but not surprising, if Pendergast took on an almost superhuman aura, considering the huge variety of his considerable faculties. Fortunately, Preston and Child have made him a true Renaissance man, but a man nonetheless; he is not superhuman, and has human flaws and frailties just like anyone else. At the same time, the authors have filled his background with mystery and regret that add to his personal legend even as they reveal other information. Thus, after four books, Pendergast is both better developed and more mysterious than he was when he first appeared in "Relic" which is no mean accomplishment.
The other difference with Pendergast this time around is that he takes on an assistant in the form of a local misfit teenager, Corrie. While this may sound horribly hackneyed, it was actually quite effective, and her development and the relationship with Pendergast were both well executed. In fact, I would go so far to as to say that Corrie is one their best character's to date, and the rare well written teenager (authors all too often get stuck in stereotypes when writing adolescents).
Unfortunately, all of this excellent stage setting and character development falls somewhat flat in the end. As the murders become more bizarre, and Medicine Creek teeters on the brink of oblivion, it is obvious that there is something unprecedented happening, possibly something that is tied to an Indian massacre in the 1870's. As the characters run down blind allies, fracture and then come together in the caves honeycombing the county, the reader is drawn into a nightmare scenario that is impossible to put down. However, when the climax is finally reached, it is too convenient at best, and it leaves a lot of questions unanswered. For example the source of the killer's preternatural strength and speed is hinted at, but never answered effectively, and the bizarre tableaus are addressed, but in a manner that seems contradictory to other information about the killer. My final complaint is that there are two or three chapters that reference events from "The Cabinet of Curiosities", and hint at an upcoming sequel, that are nothing but marketing. They add nothing to the story, in fact they distract from it, and they serve only to allude to future plotlines. I'm honestly surprised that an editor would let them through, and I hope this isn't a trend for authors whom I've come to respect.
"Still Life With Crows" isn't a bad book, in fact most of it is quite good. As I alluded to above, the authors' writing, and particularly their characterizations, continue to improve with each novel. Moreover, with this novel they have proven themselves masters of ambiance, as they deftly ratchet up the pressure and sense of ominous foreboding. Nonetheless, a book must be judged as a whole, and the conclusion of this one just isn't up to what I've come to expect from these authors. Is it awful? No, not by a mile. Did I enjoy reading it? Yes, and it's much better than most popular fiction you're likely to find. Did it live up to the high expectations I have for Preston and Child? Unfortunately no; one of the reasons why Preston and Child are among my favorite authors is because their plot twists inevitably lead in completely unexpected directions. And while their twists are better than ever in "Still Life With Crows", their denouement leaves something to be desired. This one is worth reading, but not their best.
Jake Mohlman
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31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
From All the Hiding Places, December 16, 2003
This is the fourth book by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child in which FBI Special Agent Prendergast has played a special role. In the last book (The Cabinet of Curiosities) he has been promoted to a main character. Prendergast is an almost over-cultured southern gentleman who is almost a classic model of the aesthete. He has an irritating superciliousness and an unorthodox approach that inevitably puts him at odds with the powers that be.
In Still Life With Crows, an intriguing series of killings draws Prendergast to the little town of Medicine Creek, Kansas. The killings are bizarre - a dead woman arranged in a ring of valuable arrows, a dog killed just for its tail, disemboweled and stuffed corpses. Equally eerie are the towns old legends of the Curse of the Forty-fives - a story of a ghostly band of Indians that arose from nowhere and killed the white men who were hunting them.
Prendergast inserts himself in the investigation, drafting Corrie Swanson, the town's sole Goth and trouble-maker as his chauffer and assistant. An unlikely relationship that grows slowly as Corrie's suspicions relax, almost stealing center stage from the murders.
As they have done repeatedly, Preston and Child demonstrate excellent story-telling skills building both characters and tension, filling a plot with details, creating a horror story out of cornrows and stalactites. They do have one habitual flaw, though. By halfway through the book the reader can make an intelligent guess about the nature of the murderer. Identity and motive are still a mystery, but the writers simply drop too many hints. They try to make up for this by using the last 100 pages for a frantic, high tension pursuit, but some damage cannot be undone.
Of course, this flaw is forgivable because Preston and Child are high quality writers. If you like both mystery and suspense, then you may not even notice the problem. I lean more towards the puzzle solving aspects, and so feel the solution shouldn't have been as obvious as it was. Regardless of this, I enjoyed the book, as will all but the true sticklers for deductive fiction.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good book to take to the beach, July 2, 2003
Without official sanctioning, FBI Special Agent Pendergast arrives in Medicine Creek, Kansas to investigate a serial killer leaving behind eerie signatures to include a mutilated corpse inside a circle of crows "nailed" to stakes. The elegant Pendergast seems like a polished apple among cornstalks as his urbane lifestyle clearly sticks out in this rural community.
He hires as his chauffeur and overall local guide rebel without a cause teenage girl Corrie Swanson, who also sticks out in the middle of the cornfields. Additional murders occur and Pendergast, using the Bhutanese meditation technique Chongg Ran, links them to a nineteenth century Indian massacre of outlaws. As the local law enforcement resent Pendergast's interference on the case, the killer abducts Corrie forcing Pendergast to follow into the cat's cave to try to rescue his local escort before she becomes the latest victim.
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's tale is fun though STILL LIFE WITH CROWS seems like a weaker than usual entry. Pendergast is like a debonair modernized cross between Holmes and Flint with Corrie being his "Watsonette". The story line is crisp, but the killer seems unacceptable once Douglas Preston and Lincoln Childs reveal the identity of the culprit. Fans of the series will appreciate the latest tale, but newcomers will be better suited to try previous works like THE CABINET OF CURIOSITIES to obtain the full rich flavor of the tea.
Harriet Klausner
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