CRIMSON SHORE
A Pendergast Novel
By Preston & Child
Grand Central Publishin
370 pgs
Whenever people ask us what is the
best New Pulp Fiction being published today, we’ll invariably point them to the
Agent Pendergast novels by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. In the same way Clive Cussler’s Dirk Pitt is
a modern interpretation of the classic pulp hero, Doc Savage, FBI Special Agent
Aloysius Pendergast is our Shadow. We
first became aware of this series when years ago a dear friend sent us copies
of “Still Life With Crows” and “The Cabinet of Curiosities,” two of the early
entries, as a Christmas gift. Thus leaving us with a debt we’ll never be able
to completely repay. That we instantly
were enamored with Pendergast and his world would be a gross understatement.
Preston
and Child, in the grand tradition of the classic pulps, pull out all the stops
and their plots are incredibly far-fetched, over-the-top, crazy mysteries
filled with the most bizarre villains, monsters and incredibly brave heroes.
Okay, if the above paragraph hasn’t
won you over, there’s no need to continue reading this review. “Crimson
Shore” is the 15th
book in the series. It begins when
Pendergast and his beautiful young ward, Constance Greene, travel to a small
fishing hamlet on the coast of Massachusetts
named Exmouth. They have been hired by a
well known sculptor, who resides in the village. His priceless wine collection has been stolen
from the cellar of his lighthouse cottage.
During their investigation, they uncover a centuries old murder which
sets them on a hunt for a mysterious killer who lives in the marshes along the
shore. Soon both Pendergast and
Constance are delving into Exmouth’s sordid past; a history connected with the
infamous Salem Witch Trials.
When several people are slain and
their corpses found tattooed with arcane symbols, panic begins to grip the
small, close knit community and our heroes are quickly caught up in a
suspenseful chase that will lead them into shadowy horrors beyond anything they
have ever faced before. “Crimson Shore” is a roller-coast page-turner
that will keep even the most jaded reader up till the wee hours of the
night. Its final mystery is one we never
saw coming and one we will never forget.
Kudos to Preston and Child for this
masterful series that shows no signs of plot fatigue yet. And in this day and age, that’s saying quite
a lot.
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