It all started in 2024 when I read a post on Steve Lewis’s wonderful blog (you can read it here) and that motivated me to read Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child’s first two novels in their Pendergast series (you can read that review here).
I’m a fan of origin stories, so Pendergast–The Beginning reveals more of enigmatic FBI Special Agent Aloysius X. L. Pendergast who in this novel is just beginning his crime-solving career. Pendergast is paired with a veteran, FBI Agent Dwight Chambers–who has lost his partner and his wife. Nearing retirement, Chambers hoped to coast the rest of his career at the New Orleans Field Office. But Pendergast–who has FBI “influence”–arranges to be partnered with the experienced Chambers.
Together, Pendergast and Chambers investigate a series of strange deaths where the victim’s right arm has been surgically removed. Chambers slowly learns that Pendergast operates in a unique fashion and discovers clues long ignored. The two Agents uncover a trail that leads back several years to Tulane University and a special program–that seems to have been completely erased.
Fans of Pendergast will learn more of his history and the source of his vast wealth. I was surprised to learn Pendergast’s favorite writer is Anthony Trollope! The tangled plot leads to an explosive ending and transitions into a chapter from The Relic. If you haven’t read any of the Pendergast mysteries, you’re missing out on a strange and clever series. GRADE: B+
AGENT PENDERGAST SERIES:
1 The Relic (1995)
2 Reliquary (1997)
3 The Cabinet of Curiosities (2002)
4 Still Life with Crows (2003)
5 Brimstone (2004)
6 Dance of Death (2005)
7 The Book of the Dead (2006)
8 The Wheel of Darkness (2007)
9 Cemetery Dance (2009)
10 Fever Dream (2010)
11 Cold Vengeance (2011)
12 Two Graves (2012)
12.5 Extraction (2012)
13 White Fire (2013)
14 Blue Labyrinth (2014)
15 Crimson Shore (2015)
16 The Obsidian Chamber (2016)
17 City of Endless Night (2017)
18 Verses for the Dead (2018)
19 Crooked River (2020)
20 Bloodless (2021)
21 The Cabinet of Dr. Leng (2023)
22 Angel of Vengeance (2024)
23 Pendergast: The Beginning (2026)
I read the first book when it first came out. Although I have a number of others on= Mount TBR, I never followed up with the series. Don’t know wh;, probably other new and shiny books appeared. It may be time to dig those other Perdergasts out of Mount TBR.
Jerry, I have all the Pendergast books on my shelf. Like you, I was distracted by other books, but now that I’ve read PENDERGAST–THE BEGINNING I’m energized to read more of the series!
I have an advanced reading copy but haven’t gotten to it yet. I have listened to a lot of the books on audio, but none recently
Maggie, not many series last over 30 years in publishing anymore.
I read one years ago and was meaning to get back to the series. Maybe this will do it.
Jeff, I’m going to work my way through the Pendergast series eventually. But, it’s a long series and it may take a couple of years…
Rationalized horror/fantasy elements, or the supernatural is meant to be taken as supernatural?
Todd, without revealing any spoilers, think telepathy…
Twenty-three books in the series, and I haven’t read one myself. Not yet, that is. Now I have to decide: either the first one, or maybe this one, the origin. That might actually work.
Steve, PENDERGAST–THE BEGINNING gives you a good story of this character in action. This is Pendergast’s first Big Case with the FBI…and it’s a doozy!
FLETCH WON was a good beginning volume of the McDonald books for me, even given it was a number of years in…and the first couple of Fletch novels as written/published were a bit better.
Todd, it probably won’t surprise you to learn I’ve read all the FLETCH series. The quality declined as the series progressed. The PENDERGAST series is unusual because the authors were able to sustain the character and the intensity of the books over three decades. Not an easy task…