It only takes a few pages of reading this book before you realize that this is not a stand-alone book. In fact, it is the seventh book of a series that recounts the heroics of Aloysius Pendergast and even more disturbingly, it is the culminating volume in a trilogy that recounts the battle between him and his brother Diogenes. I wish there was any kind of indication on the book's cover of this fact as that alone would have deterred me from picking it up and reading it. Unfortunately, though, that was not something the editors did. Maybe sales are so bad that they decided to not even offer a hint about it to catch a few hundred unweary souls? If so, this definitely backfired in my case!

The book falls in to the thriller genre. It takes place in modern day New York City with the Museum of Natural History as its focus and background. In the first chapter we learn the conclusion of what took place in the last book (huh? Oh, something to do with a collection of diamonds that was stolen). Then, in rapid fire, we meet one of the curators who just got married to a reporter (apparently they were involved in the previous books), a woman who is convalescing from an attack, another woman who lives in an old house, and an FBI special Agent (that being the first Pendergast) who is now a resident of the biggest, baddest, maximum security prison in existence - this as a result of some murder he did NOT commit in a previous book.

This technique of presenting material in rapid fire mode, in very short chapters, was popularized by Tom Clancy and carried through by Dan Brown in their thrillers and they make it work. In this book it does not work as the transitions are way too jerky. Of course, the fact that they rely on the reader having knowledge of all the plot lines that were developed in two to six previous books does not help matters. It is only by the time that I reached the middle of the book, that some of the threads started making sense and got connected to each other.

The plot line is just as convoluted and non-sensical. Since the museum is in trouble, it decides to pull off a publicity stunt and reopen an exhibit that's been walled off for 70 years. This being the Tomb of Senef - an Egyptian tomb that is rumored to be cursed. Coincidentally, all the main characters manage to get involved as do some characters that we meet in the middle of the book that happen to be the love interests of the FBI dude. How convenient. Of course, the tomb still appears to be cursed and there are several scenes of people dying in really horrible ways as the storyline progresses.

As it turns out, the whole story is of the battle of the Pendergast brothers. As we read the book, it is clear that one is evil and is attempting some sort of massive morbid crime. However, the other is in jail. So, how to solve the dilemma? Why, let's get him to break out of the jail that has never had an escape. That's it! Now, how do we arrange this? Well, we first bring back some super-secret outfit that has all kinds of fancy methods of doing things that are not always legal. Then, we make agent Pendergast into some kind of genius who understands things at a glance - even when never experiencing them before - let's see, we also make agent Pendergast into some sort of martial arts expert in an art that allows him to remotely kill people when he is being pounded by six others, and then, let's also make him a complete renaissance man by having him pick up drum rhythms and play them back and CONTROL them with no practice needed.

Do you find it interesting that every female protagonist in this book is beautiful, young, and completely accomplished? There is a mysterious woman who lives her life cloistered and shut off from the world. Towards the end of the book, she needs to leave the house that she's lived in for decades and is immediately able to assume all kinds of disguises that fool everyone, travel in the modern world of trains and airplanes with no negative effects except for spending too much money (how did she get a passport?) and manages to elude the villain who has been planning on his campaign of terror for 15 years or more and is intimately familiar with many locations - yet she manages to ambush him in several of them; knows more than he does about others; and she manages to win the final battle between them. Totally unrealistic!

There is a police captain - of course, a beautiful young woman; a museum curator - a beautiful young woman; etc. One of the things that really bugged me is that each of these characters was a shallow cliché. There is no development of personalities or of character here. These are line-drawn cartoons and nothing more.

Another departure from reality is that neither of the brothers ever have a problem with money or the government agents that are all around them. The bad brother has unlimited funds, houses all over Europe and the United States and a horde of passports, papers, and disguises that allow him to appear as someone else while having completely different thoughts inside. He is also a genius who can accomplish all kinds of feats better than the world renowned experts that are all around him - but then he slips and is destroyed by quoting a line from an Italian poem.

The good brother also has no money worries; is also a genius that knows everything; and is also unbothered by such things as breaking out of jail, killing people, and jetting around the world at whim. How can it be that all the bureaucracies that we all have to deal with daily, do not impact of affect these folks?

In summary, this book is only of interest to those who want to find out how the story continues from the previous books. I will not go back and read any of the others in the series as the whole premise of these books and the plotlines are so unreal and improbable as to be off-putting. Stay away.

This is not a badly written book, but I'm not sure I've read anything that was more unfriendly to new readers. There's nothing to indicate to a new reader that it's the seventh book of a series, nor (more importantly) the third book of a trilogy within the series, so an unwary reader quickly find him- or herself confronted with characters making reference to past events that are never explained or expanded upon. As a thriller, it seems competent enough, but I found myself too mired in continuity to ever really get into it.

Pendergast is in jail, framed by his brother. His friends, led by Vincent D'Agosta, plot to help him escape. The New York Museum of Natural History receives a mysterious package - that turns out to be diamond dust - their rare diamonds, stolen by Pendergasts brother Diogenes in Dance of Death, have been reduced to nothing but powder by a vengeful Diogenes. An ancient tomb, bricked up in the catacombs of the museum, is re-opened, but strange occurrences are once again haunting the museum. And we finally learn about what caused the terrible rift between the brothers when they were young - why Diogenes is so angry. And finally the brothers have a showdown, after Diogenes seduces Constance - Pendergast's ward - and leaves her emotionally unstable.

There is so much going on in this book that I don't even know where to start. So, rather than spoil it, I'll just tell you that I liked this book a great deal - I liked the fact that we're finally getting some perspective on what happened between Pendergast and Diogenes, and I enjoyed the clever device Diogenes created to cause mass hysteria/insanity in the museum. Those who are a fan of Preston and Child and/or of the Pendergast tales will not want to miss this.

This was the second book I'd read by Preston & Child, but the first with the character of Agent Pendergast. It wasn't until I finished the book that I even knew there was a trilogy and that this was the last book in it. If I'd known that, I probably would have preferred to start with at least one of the other two books in the series.

I would most definitely classify this novel a page turner. It kept the action going and kept me me anxiously anticipating what was coming next. However, the authors moved various plotlines and characters ahead at the same time by skipping from one to the other. While I understand this tactic, it can be tremendously frustrating, when you're at a tense point in one storyline, to come to a screeching halt in that storyline and move to another one which may be at a very different point.

Most novels of this ilk require a healthy dose of suspension of disbelief, and this one is no exception. If anything, it requires a much larger dose than the average thriller. There were portions of the story that would have been laughable had they not been in such capable hands as these authors. The story was good enough and the characters strong enough that I was able to move past the fact that there was a lot of unbelievably wacky stuff going on.

While I enjoy suspense, I am not a person who enjoys reading horror, ghost stories, etc. As a result, I probably would have never bought this book had I picked it up in a bookstore because it sounded like it was going in that direction. Instead, I saw it on a "loaner shelf" at the place where I volunteer and, after reading a few pages, was relatively convinced that it wasn't going to be that kind of book, so I took it home. It is certainly suspenseful and there are elements of ghost story/horror writing in it, but it was not overdone. In fact, I will happily be returning the book to the loaner shelf next week with my recommendation to coworkers to pick it up and go for a ride! :)

The book in no way let the reader know that it was the third book in a trilogy. Even though it seemed it was written for people to just pick up and get into, it was difficult to find any relatable qualities to the characters. I was very upset with this book.