The Wheel of Darkness – Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

This series just gets better and better! “The Wheel of Darkness” opens with both Pendergast and Constance recovering from their final battle with Pendergast’s evil brother Diogenes. They travel to Tibet, where after staying at a monastary and learning new meditation techniques from the mystical monks there, they are asked to retrieve a sinister artifact called the Agozyen. They are given very little information about this artifact. Just that it’s something ancient which was created solely to bring about the destruction of humanity. It was stolen by a visitor and Pendergast tracks its current whereabouts to an ocean liner. Once on board, Pendergast and Constance not only have to find the Agozyen, but to also survive the voyage itself. The book goes back and forth between Pendergast and Constance, and various other characters. You would think this would be distracting, but the way the authors put together the different plot threads it’s not. You find more about Pendergast’s and Constance’s relationship and even Diogenes makes another puzzling appearance. Pendergast is one of the most interesting literary characters I’ve read about in a long time, and this bookin which we are introduced to his dark side intrigues you even more. The way the book ended left me with breathless anticipation for the next one. I cannot recommend this series highly enough!