Dance of Death by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

We have seen glimpses of the insane and diabolically evil Diogenes Pendergast in at least two earlier books by Preston & Child, dogging the steps of his brilliant and hated older brother Aloysius. Aloysius Pendergast is a special agent for the FBI with a multitude of talents, including being an escape artist and a master of disguises. I've seen him compared with the Sherlock Holmes character and I don't think I'd dispute that. Pendergast's "Dr. Watson" would have to be Lt. Vincent D'Agosta of the NYPD.

In Dance of Death Diogenes "returns from the dead" to torment and taunt his brother by killing off Aloysius' closest friends and acquaintances one by one in not only a brutal way but also a way that mimics the deaths of ancestors of the Pendergast family. Apparently, this family has a big insanity gene running through it and Aloysius seems determined not to pass it on. Diogenes is also unattached and seems not to have any children.

Why does he hate his brother so much? That's a question I asked myself throughout the book. I found Diogenes to be thoroughly despicable with not one shred of redeeming quality about him. On the other hand, Aloysius Pendergast may be emotionally distant and an oddball but he genuinely cares about his friends and partners in crime and investigation. How could two brothers be so different? There was one scene that really intrigued me but left me feeling unsatisfied. Pendergast and D'Agosta go to visit a profiler, a character that appeared in an earlier non-Pendergast book. Eli Glinn has Pendergast hypnotized to try and find out the source of Diogenes' hatred...but the episode goes no where. It just seems that Diogenes is a "bad seed". Somehow, I get a feeling it's not the whole story. Maybe it's one of those "Mother always liked you best" reasons--that's my guess anyway.

I felt frustrated by the Constance Greene character. I may have to go back and read Cabinet of Curiosities again (I believe she was introduced in that book) but I have a feeling I would still be mystified and I don't like that feeling being dragged on book after book.

This book was more interesting for me to read than the first one in the series, Brimstone. I think it was because I was anticipating this battle between the brothers in the first book and it just didn't happen. Sometimes I had the feeling I was reading a movie, not a book especially with the wild chase scene on Eastern Long Island. Look forward to the next one and I sure hope the Constance Greene mystery is eventually explained. I also noted that there is a character named Margo Green and wonder what is up with using that color as a last name?