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69 of 74 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Smoke on the Water, September 8, 2007
For pure escapist adventure fiction with serial cliffhangers, and enough science and history to add, if not feasibility, at least a touch of credibility, it doesn't get much better than Preston and Childs. And for a unique and engaging protagonist, it doesn't get much better than Aloysius Pendergast, the eclectic and urbane the FBI special agent who seems to do just about everything except work on cases for the FBI.
Notwithstanding, I found this talented duo a bit off their game in "The Wheel of Darkness", a mildly interesting but less inspiring mystery than some of the Preston/Child classics like "Relic" or "Cabinet of Curiosities". To retrieve the mysterious "Agozyen", an ancient Eastern version of Pandora's box, the globetrotting Pendergast treks from a remote Tibetan monastery to a trip across the ocean on the Britannia, a mammoth-sized luxury ocean liner on her maiden trans-Atlantic voyage. Tagging along while helping to drag "Darkness" to a substandard effort is Constance Greene, who adds little to the story besides a dose of tedium and a bridge to the sequel. As the Holmes/Watson team of Pendergast/Greene sleuth this titanic love boat in search of their prey, they quickly find themselves facing down a serial killer and a ship's officer bent of revenge and self-destruction.
"The Wheel of Darkness" had its share of suspense, and enough intelligence to keep the pages turning. But the pace was uneven, and while the "Agozyen" and the consequences it wrought was a fresh idea, the incarnation of the Agozyen's demon was bizarre to the point of nearly being funny. Further bogging down the story was a slight overdose of eastern asceticism vs. western decadence, and the authors' standard rap against anything corporate. But I quibble. All in all, while not the best of the series, this is a fast and mostly enjoyable read, and more than adequate way to pass a lazy few evenings or a long plane ride.
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28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing, October 11, 2007
I've been an Preston/Child fan for many years, ever since I picked a copy of "The Relic" up off my mom's coffee table and started thumbing through it.
Since that time, the books have gotten better and better, and I was both thrilled and saddened when the series seemingly came to a resounding and satisfying ending in "The Book of the Dead".
Imagine my joy when I came across "The Wheel of Darkness" while on vacation. I can't say it's a terrible book, it's not. It's just not as good as any of it's predecessors.
The plot feels rushed with minimal setup and little follow-through, and while there is a suspension of disbelief required in any work of fiction (especially fiction dealing with themes of the occult)"Wheel" asks too much of the reader.
While the majority of the Pendergast series deals with events and murders that seem supernatural but are ultimately revealed to be merely bizarre, "Wheel" asks us to believe in malevolent "thought forms" that can physically manifest and go out to do evil deeds. Scrolls that imbue those
who view them with inhuman abilities and avarice that drives them mad.
The story suffers from an anemic cast of characters, I miss police detective D'Agosta and many of the others I've come to know. Constance has always been, in my opinion, a relatively weak character, the authors don't seem to know what to do with her. Pendergast and Constance as a duo are less interesting than Pendergast by himself.
In the final analysis "Wheel" seems like weak tea, watered down and lacking the qualities that made previous books a bracing, refreshing read.
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57 of 66 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Short and Unremarkable, September 5, 2007
I've been eagerly awaiting the latest Preston/Child novel, but once again I was disappointed. Pendergast was at his best in "Cabinet of Curiosities" (perhaps my favorite Preston/Child book), but my interest in him has declined with each additional book.
This story breaks from past Preston/Child tales in that there is no gruesome and puzzling murder in the opening scene. Instead, Pendergast and his ward Constance travel to a Tibetan monestary for some meditation and study. The pacing is rather slow and I had to force myself to continue reading, which is unusual for a Preston/Child story. A mysterious artifact was recently stolen from the monestary, which provides a bit of intrigue and a mission for Pendergast.
But then the chase leads to an ocean liner at which point the story felt like an episode of "Murder She Wrote" and I couldn't help but picture Angela Lansbury as Pendergast. Pendergast breaks a card counting scheme in the casino, but not much else of interest occurs until the end of the book. The ship gets hijacked in order to ram it into some rocks and then I felt like I was reading the script to "Speed 2", which was a horrible movie not to be emulated in any fashion.
The monster was only briefly introduced and was not scary and created little tension or suspense. Constance was mostly a vehicle for Pendergast to explain his theories. She is very shallow and uninteresting now that we know her origin. Unfortunately, the authors are developing her to be Pendergast's crime solving assistant. I'm sorry, but I don't want another Batman and Robin. I wish Preston/Child would drop Pendergast and Constance, but the end of this book indicates they will be back.
Finally, the book seems short. There is a bit of description of the monestary, but most of the story takes place on the ship. The description of the ship and its workings was pretty thin-I learned more on my recent Disney cruise. Despite my disappointment, the book is still better than most of its ilk. I just think the authors can do better.
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