‘Fever Dream’ by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
In their last novel “Cemetery Dance,” authors Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child explored a strange sect of people living in the middle of New York City. The spooky thriller had an “X-Files” feel to it and was both entertaining and disturbing.
In their latest adventure, things get personal … very personal. “Fever Dream” is more of a singular, character-driven story when compared with some of Preston and Child’s previous works. It’s still thrilling and has lots of twists and turns. It even has a satisfying, somewhat bizarre conclusion. But “Fever Dream” is really the story about one man and his pursuit of revenge.
Twelve years ago in Africa, during a safari expedition, the wife of FBI agent Aloysius Pendergast was mauled to death by a lion after she shot at it and missed. It was a terrible tragedy, but Pendergast was deeply disturbed by the circumstances surrounding her death. Helen was a crack shot and shouldn’t have missed.
Early in “Fever Dream,” Pendergast discovers that his wife’s gun had been deliberately loaded with blanks. This revelation shocks him, and instantly he begins his quest to uncover the mystery of his wife’s murder. He’s got other cases to solve, but this one consumes the brilliant, unorthodox FBI agent like no other.
Reluctantly, his friend, New York police Lt. Vincent D’Agosta, agrees to help him.
“Is this an official investigation?” D’Agosta asks Pendergast.
“No. It would be just you and me. The killer might be anywhere in the world,” Pendergast replies. “We will operate completely outside the system — any system.”
“And when we find the killer? What then?”
“We kill him,” says Pendergast.
However, the quest isn’t as simple as finding the killer(s). Pendergast finds out that his wife had kept a lot of things hidden from him. Even though they had only been married for a short time, he thought he knew her pretty well. He was wrong.
Helen was obsessed with famed naturalist-painter John James Audubon and his works, including a long-lost painting of his known as the "Black Frame." But there were others who were pursuing the frame, and apparently Helen had crossed paths with some sketchy characters.
After a visit to Africa with D’Agosta, Pendergast teams up with D’Agosta’s live-in girlfriend, New York police Capt. Laura Hayward, and they journey to the Deep South, where the mystery deepens in the Louisiana bayou. There’s mayhem, violence and some long-held
secrets exposed.
Preston and Child are prolific writers who never let the story overwhelm them. They’re always in control, even when Pendergast’s life isn’t. I haven’t read all of Preston and Child’s novels, but I would like to find out if they wrote anything better than “Fever Dream.”
