In this #1 New York Times bestseller, Special Agent Pendergast must stop a serial killer who is terrorizing New York City with a trail of headless victims. When Grace Ozmian, the beautiful and reckless daughter of a wealthy tech billionaire, first goes missing, the NYPD assumes she has simply sped off on another wild adventure. Until the young woman’s body is discovered in an abandoned … Until the young woman’s body is discovered in an abandoned warehouse in Queens, the head nowhere to be found.
Lieutenant CDS Vincent D’Agosta quickly takes the lead. He knows his investigation will attract fierce scrutiny, so D’Agosta is delighted when FBI Special Agent A.X.L. Pendergast shows up at the crime scene assigned to the case. “I feel rather like Brer Rabbit being thrown into the briar patch,” Pendergast tells D’Agosta, “because I have found you here, in charge. Just like when we first met, back at the Museum of Natural History.”
But neither Pendergast nor D’Agosta are prepared for what lies ahead. A diabolical presence is haunting the greater metropolitan area, and Grace Ozmian was only the first of many victims to be murdered . . . and decapitated. Worse still, there’s something unique to the city itself that has attracted the evil eye of the killer.
As mass hysteria sets in, Pendergast and D’Agosta find themselves in the crosshairs of an opponent who has threatened the very lifeblood of the city. It’ll take all of Pendergast’s skill to unmask this most dangerous foe-let alone survive to tell the tale.
I’ve enjoyed all the Pendergast novels, some more than most. Fever Dream stands out as my favorite, with this novel, Cabinet of Curiosities and Still Life with Crows vying for second. Pendergast is in top form, doing what he does best–solving crimes–and with headless bodies piling up, what a crime to solve! I applaud Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child for keeping this character and series going at such a stellar pitch. I realize a number of reviewers didn’t care for the book but I thought it was fantastic. The mystery kept me guessing, the side plot with Bryce Harriman was woven seamlessly, and the climatic ending had me glued to my Kindle. I loved the cat and mouse hunt game between Pendergast and the killer. I could have done without the bonfire of vanities plot thread, but even that had a good wrap to it. Best of all, Pendergast was in top form. Loved it!
Some swearing but a very suspenseful, page-turning read. One of the better in the Pendergast series.
3.5 stars. The stoy was well written, verbose with some over discription, a good plot, and a nice ending. The characters were well drawn out and the plot/mystery details were great. Not my favorite but not the least. I do feel that this series has lost its magic.
I skipped the last book in this series as I disliked what the authors have done with the Constance character. This story was more of the “original” story line (similar to the first five books) and I loved having D’Agosta back as a main character. I am not happy with what they have done with Pendergast, however and as he is the drive of thus series…
I have been disappointed in the last five books or so. I have been reading these authors and this series from the very first book, but I am saddened to say I think this will be my last. I loved D’Agosta and Pendergast from the beginning and I want to continue to love them so I will end with this story in the series so I don’t end up thinking about them as any more tarnished then I all ready do. It was a wonderful ride.
City of Endless Night presents Lieutenant D’Agosta and Special Agent Pendergast with a gruesome murder of a young socialite who’s decapitated body is found in an abandoned garage. Before the pair can make sense of this first murder, a new one takes place when a man with the best security money can buy, supposedly impregnable, is mysteriously killed in his home. Again, the body is found without its head. Is this the work of a serial killer, or a copycat? As D’Agosta and Pendergast try to piece together the scant clues, newspaper report Bryce Harriman fans the flames between New York’s 1% ultra-rich and everybody else. As the murders begin to stack up, D’Agosta and Pendergast must face probably the most dangerous adversary they have ever come across.
I am a fan of the many Pendergast stories penned by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. And City of Endless Night is no exception. Preston and Child return to their roots with a story set entirely in New York City and presenting the reader with a classic locked-room mystery, with the unique Preston and Child twist. A departure from the family strife that has plagued Pendergast in the past few books, City of Endless Night is a refreshingly simple murder mystery that is a delight to read.
I got this Audio book from the library. Great book plenty of suspense and action.
Agent Pendergast is at it again in his most indomitable manner with an unexpected villain in the end
I am a huge fan of these authors and always pre-order their books. This one is part of a series and a much welcome return to the investigatory roots. This one made me remember why I love these books.
Once again the authors have delivered a story that twists and turns that kept me turning the pages. LOVE Pendergast. He is one of the most interesting characters I have ever read. I have read all the books in the series and loved every one.
Also love other books written by the authors separately and together. This is a must read series.
A Familiar Formula that Fails to Yield Drama this Time
City of Endless Night is the seventeenth installment in the Agent Pendergast series by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. It follows a formula found in several of their earlier works, as FBI Agent Pendergast faces a previously unknown type of foe, which has been shaped by forces in the gray area between science and the supernatural. But unlike the monsters he pursues in the museums and caves of earlier books, Pendergast’s adversary in the City of Endless Night seems little more than a man. An intelligent, cunning, and extremely disturbed one, but a man nonetheless. There is science run amok in the book and it was apparently intended to provide the ‘disfiguring’ stresses on this individual, but it never achieves Preston and Child’s trademark blend of the bizarre, the natural, and the paranormal that keeps the pages turning. Basically, the story ends up being a murder mystery.
As a murder mystery, City of Endless Night is OK, but not outstanding. Agent Pendergast held my interest as brilliant, inscrutable detectives are prone to do, even if the description is somewhat stereotypical. On the other hand, Lieutenant D’Agosta of the NYPD, a recurring figure in the series, is uncharacteristically inept, diluting the tension. The latitude NY Post reporter Bryce Harriman was given to make sweeping generalizations based on little to no evidence felt unrealistic. There is also a subplot about an ex-Jesuit, Marsden Swope, who is trying to lead people from their wicked, materialistic ways, but it fails to add to the story. Even the motivation for the murders, when it is finally revealed, turns out to be rather trite.
Overall, the authors could have developed the invisible deformities of Pendergast’s latest foe more fully, giving readers the adrenaline-fueled tension we have come to expect from the series. But without that monster misshapen by nature (or something otherworldly), the remaining story is solid but not exceptional.
Another great Agent Pendergast novel by Preston & Child. If you follow this fascinating character, and the characters that surround him you will not be disappointed by this mystery. Very entertaining, a page-turner, and continues to link characters of a darker past.
The last few in the Agent Pendergast series were misses for me. I’ve rarely had reason to skim most books in the series; the writing is superb and the storyline addictive. And with the City of Endless Night, I feel the authors are back on track. I always love a storyline that involves D’Agosta and the reappearance of characters from prior books in the series, such as Bryce Harriman in this one.
Great writing style – reminded me of John Stanford. And I was in the dark until the end.
Another good read in the A. Pendergast series.
Followers of Pendergast will consume this book with delight. Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child continue to fascinate us with this character. We get glimpses into his incredible mind.
It’s Pendergast and D’Agosta
Detective Pendergast never disappoints. Great read!
“Some things I wish I could unsee…to be a witness to evil is to be human.”
I’ve been putting off writing this review to give myself time to ponder if I actually liked the book or not. You see, I’ve been reading this series since day one when the Relic hit the shelves! I have been like a kid on Christmas Eve awaiting the next installment of my beloved Pendergast series. But alas, the last few stories have been kinda “meh”. Enjoyable, but nothing that made them stand-out from the thousands of other crime fiction thrillers. I always enjoyed the supernatural element and the heart racing chase to the big twist you didn’t see coming till the very end.
In City of Endless Night, Lt. Vincent D’Agosta is put on a case of a spoiled rich girl’s murder. But not just any murder, she is found beheaded. Now other cases of beheaded riches is taking over the city, and while usually D’Agosta is happy to have Pendergast helping with the case, it takes much prodding to get the special agent to even be bothered using his investigative powers, but once Pendergast sees a link between the murders others don’t, he becomes unstoppable in his quest to bring the killer (killers?) to justice.
Again, this was an enjoyable read, but for fans of the earlier works, you will understand that maybe our Pendergast is losing his shine. I would recommend this book to thriller/crime fiction fans that have not become devoted to Pendergast’s character.
Their characters are always complex and interesting. Several plot twists. A somewhat surprise ending.
This is a definite page turner from beginning to end. Another unsolvable mystery! Pendergast is back, but I rather miss “Super Pendy.” Great story!
Riveting, suspensful and somewhat gruesome. But definitely a book you don’t want to put down.