Fever Dream
By Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Grand Central Publishing
May 2010
405pp
The Short of It:
A solid addition to the Special Agent Pendergast series. It contains all of the witty anecdotes that I’ve come to expect from Pendergast, but it’s also a bit of a page-turner.
The Rest of It:
I have a long-standing love affair with Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Years ago…I picked-up Relic, which was book #1 in the series and since then, I’ve been enjoying the series every couple of years. There have been a few misses, so I consider these books guilty pleasures and nothing more. However, every once in a while I am reminded how good they are. This is one such case.
Fever Dream is about Special Agent Pendergast and his discovery that his wife’s death, years ago, may not have been the accident he imagined it to be. You see, he knew she was mauled by a lion while game hunting in Africa, but what he didn’t know is that his wife’s rifle, her only means of protection, was filled with blanks. With this new piece of information, he sets out to find the true killer.
What makes these books special are the characters. Pendergast is a rather refined individual. Not your typical FBI agent. There are lots of asides and witticisms that are quite enjoyable. On the other hand, D’Agosta, his liaison in the police department is not as refined and a bit more stereotypical so the contrast between the two is quite entertaining.
Overall, Fever Dream was a quick read and provided a much-needed distraction but wasn’t all “fluff” and pat endings. If you shy away from crime fiction because of the million little details or mystery because of the formulaic quality of it, then I think you will like this one.
It should be noted as well, that it really doesn’t matter which order you read these books in. They are all pretty much stand-alone pieces.
Source: Purchased for Duckie (My Kindle)
Book Chatter 
I’m listening to this one right when I’m in my car and I want to drive somewhere just to listen to more. Glad to see you liked it.
I’m not familiar with this series but I’m glad I caught your review because it sounds good.
Most of the books in the series were quite good actually. If you like the first one, Relic than you probably like most of them. I just love the one main character… Pendergast. He’s such a hoot.
I’ve never read anything by these guys … but you’re kind of making me want to. They sound like good “guilty pleasure” books!
Yes…a new series that I can dig into. I think I’ve given up on Kellerman and Sanford is starting to get old. This sounds excellent!
You’ll like these. As I said, there are a couple of zingers in the series but I didn’t mind them too much since I liked Pendergast so much.
I loved “Relic” so much years ago when I read it, but never read anything else – maybe will read that one again and pick this up when I need a good read!
I like that it wasn’t all “fluff” – that’s important to me!
Relic WAS good, wasn’t it? The movie wasn’t all that bad either. I like the mix of crime and adventure which is usually how their novels play out.
I haven’t read anything by this author, but i do like crime fiction
My first introduction to this series was, THE CABINET OF CURIOSITIES a few years ago. I loved it and I’ve been reading the series, off and on, since then. Glad to know there’s a new book out, thanks for the great review, Ti. Another title to be added to my ever growing and dangerously tottering TBR pile.
See? Now that is one I have not read but a friend of mine also read it (Cabinet of Curiosities) and said that he liked it as well. I will read it for sure…someday. You know how that goes. So many books…