The Book of the Dead

by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

$7.99, Warner Vision, 597pp

Nora Kelly is a curator at the New York Museum of Natural History. She’s really quite happy working on her potsherds project. She’s not exactly thrilled when she’s asked – no, required – to curate a 70-year-old forgotten Egyptian exhibit that has been bricked up in the subbasement of the museum. It seems that a generous donation has come at just the right time. The Museum is embarrassed by the theft of their diamond collection; and their subsequent return – but as a bag of diamond dust. They need a grand exhibit and a gala to distract the public and the press. But there was a good reason why the exhibit was abandoned – a lot of people died at its first opening.

The person responsible for the diamond theft – and its destruction – plus the attack on her coworker is in FBI custody. But he, Aloysius Pendergast, former FBI agent, and his supporters maintain it was his brother, Diogenes, who is responsible; and if they are right, the man is still loose with an unfulfilled agenda. It is clear to Agent Pendergast that the only person who could possibly find and stop his brother is himself – but he’ll have to get out of a maximum security Federal Prison which has a spotless record of no successful escapes.

The story has several threads that contribute to it. As we, the readers, and the characters discover more and more about Diogenes and his pathological hatred of his brother, the more intense the story becomes. I was fascinated by the idea the authors gave Diogenes to use for his ultimate revenge, it was really quite brilliant. I don’t think there were any points where the story slowed. The plot was intricate, the characterizations were good – not great – but very good, the pacing was fast. This was a I-wish-I-didn’t-have-to-put-it-down kind of book. My single complaint is that I wish someone had told me it was the third in a story arc of several books. I think I would have enjoyed the characters background even more if I knew them better. - Catherine Book