Cemetery Dance

Great author and book

This was the first book by this excellent duo that I have read, and I am definitely hooked on their books now! I am a #1 fan for life! I have never before read such interesting books in the mystery/horror genre and I have been reading this type of book for at least fifty years. I had given up on horror based books because Stephen King and, especially Dean Koontz, have gotten just too far out to be interesting or believable to me anymore and Koontz's books are just too weird, they are downright creepy and not to my taste anymore.But when I read "Cemetery Dance" I found it to be one of the most interesting books I have ever read. I cannot explain why it was such a wonderful, edge-of-your-chair-read, because it is very creepy also, I mean, Zombies in New York City? what could be more far out or creepier, but the book is written in such a way, it is very, very interesting, not just a lot of blood and gore. All of the background info about earlier times in New York City helps keep it more on a realistic level, I think, and that helps. And everything is explained in a rational way before the book ends, though how can Zombies be rational? This writing team of P.& C. just has a way with words and uses them in the right way to make it all interesting and tie together neatly and smoothly, which makes it easy for us to half-way believe, I think. And the history that they include in their books helps them to be believable though we know in our hearts that these things (like real Zombies) is impossible, right? But Preston & Child can make us doubt this obvious fact and we can't help but wonder, "well, maybe it's possible." Since reading this book I have already ordered and received several other of the books that this duo has written with Agent Pendergast featured as the main protagonist. I have several other of the books in this series on order and should receive them soon. I will not stop until I have read every one of the books in the series and then I will start on other books by these two authors! They have spoiled me for other books as none that I try to read now can hold my attention and interest as these books do. Preston and Child are such good researchers and go so far back in their research of ancient things and places, you really learn a lot by reading their books. The only other book that I have read in the last couple of years that held my interest and made me want to know more about the characters and inspired me to do a lot of my own research is "Catherine" by Anya Seton, and it is a biography of Catherine Swinford, mistress and eventually wife, of John O'Gaunt,(son of King Henry of England) in the 14th Century. Nothing at all in the same genre as the Lincoln Child-D.Preston books but it was just a really good book if you are interested in history, and it also held my attention beyond the norm, as "Cemetery Dance" did. If you want a really good, edge-of your-seat read, this is it! A fabulous mystery story. I am currently reading another of their books "The Cabinet of Curiosities" and it is as good and as interesting as "Cemetery Dance" and was actually written before "Cemetery..." If you want to start with the first book in the series, start with "Relic." I am going to read that one next and then read all the others in order of publication dates. For lots of good info on each of the books, read all of the customer reviews on amazon for the books and the reviews will lead you to more and more of the books in this series and let you know what order it is best to read them in and also, you can decide if you want to skip any one of them due to it not being as good as most of the others. The people who have read them are usually very honest in their reviews. I find the customer's take on the books of great value when I am trying to decide if I may want to buy a particular book.

I've decided that I'm going to designate this book as a "ripping good yarn" because, by golly, that's what it is. This is one of those books where you just have to say to yourself, okay, this is totally escape reading and it's so far-fetched that it can't possibly ever be true. Once you get past that hurdle, then you can do what the authors intended for you to do: sit back, relax, and have fun with it. If you can't do that, then move along, because this book is definitely not for you. Literary snobs need not apply.I enjoy "ripping good yarns" (aka escape fiction) once in a while, especially from these two authors both together and independently. I especially enjoy the Agent Pendergast series, which I've been following since he first came out of Preston and Child's collective imaginations. He's an enigma and I like enigmas. I've read all of these stories; I've pre-ordered or bought each one as soon as I heard of its release, and I happen to like them. I am a Pendergast junkie.I absolutely cannot tell you much, because of the plot twists in this book. To tell is to ruin. The book opens with the murder of an old friend from other books in the series (whose name I will not divulge here -- but if you're a Preston and Child follower, you'll be a bit sad). The identity of the murderer is not in doubt -- it was one Colin Fearing, who lived in the same building, and was caught on tape at the building at the time of the murder. Several people recognized him. The only problem is that Colin Fearing was dead at the time the murder was committed -- his body had been even been identified by a relative. So...enter Agent Pendergast, who was a very good friend to the murder victim, and another recurring character, Lt. Vince D'Agosta of the NYPD. What begins as a bizarre case of murder gets even more bizarre as the investigation takes our heroes into the bizarro world of religious animal sacrifice and voodoo. But when a second killing occurs at the hand of another dead person, it just gets very weird, and their efforts to find the killer puts Pendergast and his pals in a very dangerous situation where their very lives are at stake.This book has it all...the supernatural, mystery, suspense...that is the hallmark of the writing of Preston and Child. There are plot twists that you won't see coming (or at least I didn't), and it's generally a very fun novel with quite a bit of action.Yes, it's a bit unbelievable, and it's a bit over the top in some spots, but the authors managed to grab me from the start and I didn't stop until I was finished. I think you'd want to read the other Pendergast novels rather than making this your first foray into the minds of these two authors. This book was much better than the last one -- Wheel of Darkness -- and I hope there are many more Pendergast novels in their futures.I'd recommend this book to people who enjoy fun escape fiction or to those who like a supernatural cast to their mysteries. These two authors are very good at their craft and now I'll just wait patiently until the next installment arrives -- sigh --

Preston & Child never dissappoint. They took me on another trip through a land of strange occurances. Dealing with unbelievable situations and characters until we reach an exciting race to the finish line. Always a joy.

This book was so exciting I could hardly put it down. It was also so fearful It made me look in corners.

Cemetery Dance hooked me immediately by killing off of one of the main characters in the series in the very first chapter! I didn't see it coming and I applaud the authors for trying to shake their cast up a little. It's another fascinating tale from Preston and Child, with Pendergast back in New York, mixing it up with a strange cult that deals in voodoo style ceremonies.A great book yes, but also a somewhat familiar one. I can appreciate nine books into a series fresh ideas are not as easy to come by as they once were, but several scenes from Cemetery Dance are rehashes of events that have already happened in the series. Nora Kelly chased through the museum by a homicidal killer - already seen that in Cabinet of Curiosities. A protest march, starting out seemingly small, but growing out of control with police unable to stop the violence - already seen that in Reliquary. Police leadership acting like buffoons, leaving the ever reliable Laura Hayward to step in because she's seemingly always right and her commanding officers (always male) are completely inept - already seen that in pretty much every book Hayward has been in (that one in particular has far outworn it's welcome). Still a great book, but I'm hoping for something a little different in the next one.

I am sort of teetering between three and four stars for this review, because it's more than just OK, but it's my least favorite of the series. The story is good and Pengergast is as great as usual, so I cannot pinpoint the reason I wasn't pulled into this story as much as the others. Maybe it's because I am a fan of Smithback (not really a spoiler alert - he bites it right at the beginning.) It also might be because I read most of the series back-to back (though not in order - I already read Wheel of Darkness and Fever Dream) - and maybe by that time everything was getting a little old.Still, it's a good read. My personal fav - The Cabinet of Curiosities.

Ein fabelhaftes Werk voll Spannung und Gruselfaktor. Nie wird es langweilig und wann war es nicht schön, alte, liebgewonnene Charaktäre wieder zu treffen?! Preston und Child verstehen es einfach, ihre Leser (mich zumindest ;) ) immer wieder in den Bann zu ziehen.

Perfect!

Arrived by the estimated date. Exactly as described.

Da ich es nicht abwarten konnte, bis die deutsche TB-Version erscheint, habe ich bei der englischen Version zugeschlagen. Dies ist das dritte Preston/Child Buch, welches ich in der OV gelesen habe und ich muss sagen, dass sich die Mühe lohnt. Pendergasts spezieller Humor und D'Agostas schroffe Art kommen einfach ganz anders zur Geltung als in der Übersetzung.Zum Buch kann ich sagen, dass es wieder mal eine überdurchschnittlich gute Leistung der beiden Autoren darstellt. Es führt das beliebte Ermittler-Duo wieder in eine spezielle Location New Yorks in der sie den Mord an einem alten Freund aufklären müssen. Spannend geschrieben ist die Story allemal und es werden auch keine allzu großen Gedankensprünge vom Leser erwartet. Ein in sich schlüssiger Roman, den ich innerhalb kürzester Zeit durchgelesen habe. Einzig fehlen die besonderen Momente aus den früheren Werken wie "Relic" oder "Attic", die so sehr fesseln, das man schon mal die Haltestelle verpasst.Dennoch kann ich "Cementary Dance" nur empfehlen und freue mich schon sehr auf "Fever", den nächsten Roman der Pendergast-Reihe!