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    City of Endless Night
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    City of Endless Night
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    City of Endless Night
    Ebook392 pages6 hours

    City of Endless Night

    By Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Grace Ozmian, missing daughter of a tech billionaire has been found.

    Most of her. Her head is still missing.

    Lieutenant CDS Vincent D'Agosta knows his investigation will attract fierce media scrutiny, so he's delighted when his old acquaintance FBI Special Agent A.X.L. Pendergast is assigned to the case.

    But neither man is prepared for what lies ahead. A diabolical presence is haunting New York City and Grace is only the first of many victims to be murdered... and decapitated.

    As the first snows of winter sweep across the city, it will take all of Pendergast's skill and strength to unmask this most dangerous foe – let alone survive to tell the tale.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHead of Zeus
    Release dateJan 16, 2018
    ISBN9781786697059
    Unavailable
    City of Endless Night
    Author

    Douglas Preston

    Douglas Preston writes about archaeology for the New Yorker and National Geographic magazines, as well as novels and nonfiction works (such as The Lost City of the Monkey God). With Lincoln Child, he writes international #1 bestselling thrillers, including the Agent Pendergast adventures.

    Read more from Douglas Preston

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    Reviews for City of Endless Night

    4/5

    211 ratings25 reviews

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    • 5/5
      This is a murder mystery thriller set in present day New York City. It's a clever whodunit and the identity of the killer came as a surprise to me! Once the killer is unmasked, the focus shifts to a suspenseful cat-and-mouse chase to capture him. The ultimate finale takes place off stage, which in my view deprives the story of a truly suspenseful ending. There's an edgy and bloody violence underlying the whole story that may put off the squeamish.The book is one of a long running series, but can be read as a standalone without difficulty.Good job!
    • 3/5
      Special Agent Pendergast had a bad time of it in the last book. His status with his FBI boss is at a low tide, certainly in the dog house. Even though he gets to work with a NYPD associate DiGusta at his new assignment, Pendergast certainly doesn't relish the case. And the case involves a body found in a warehouse. Sans head.When other decapitation murders start piling up, Pendergast suddenly becomes very interested. The pacing of the story, however, follows what DiGusta knows or thinks he knows. Playing coy as usual, Pendergast frustrates his fellow law officer and some of the book involves him tracking down dead ends.The UBG was not a surprise to me, I guessed it early on although the clues were scarce. I would have much preferred a book that provided all of the clues in the course of the story instead of a lengthy AAR following the climax. This was the second book in a row that ended this way...and it's a cheap ending IMO. Still, the story is notable for two things: (1) Pendergast very nearly meets his match in spite of knowing what he knows and (2) this book uncharacteristically avoids supernatural elements, and that is a plus.
    • 4/5
      In this fast-paced page-turner, FBI Agent Pendergast and NYPD detective D'Agosta are pitted against a brilliant strategist who happens to murder and decapitate his victims. The perpetrator is able to surmount any supposedly impregnable security systems that happens to be in his way, and also seems to target the extremely wealthy and amoral. A couple of subplots involve a newspaper reporter trying to make a name for himself, and also a former Jesuit who wants to spread an anti-wealth message. As each horrific crime unfolds, the pressure mounts for Pendergast and D'Agosta to find the killer; and as smart and savvy as they are, it becomes clear to the reader that they may have met their match. The climactic scene is rather overwrought, but heightens the tension to quite a fever pitch.
    • 4/5
      There is a serial decapitator…yes you heard me correctly…decapitator terrorizing NYC. But don’t worry! Agent Pendergast is on the case.Grace Ozmian is the first one murdered. She is the daughter of an extremely wealthy businessman. Then slowly there are a few more murdered, all well to do. Then a reporter makes a HUGE assumption. This sets off a panic among the rich in NYC.These two authors have been together a long time and have this writing thing down to a fine art! The characters in this book are so real and you can feel their emotions radiating off to them through the words. Then…..there is the intensity of this story…who did it? Why? And I never guessed! I should have guessed. I am sure there were plenty of clues. I did love the surprise!I have said this before and I will say it again…I LOVE AGENT PENDERGAST! I love his intelligence, peculiarities and his audacity.If you need a fast paced, non stop thriller, this is it.I received this novel from Netgalley for a honest review.
    • 3/5
      Reasonably good Pendergast novel - not one of their best. Pretty easy to guess the culprit fairly early on.
    • 5/5
      City of Endless Night, an Agent Pendergast novel was an excellent story, as was expected. The authors may be expected to produce a captivating story but the story warns that you cannot assume anything when knowing people. The book title of the City of Endless Night does seem to fit New York and it fits the storyline. This book is highly recommended for Agent Pendergast fans and thereby worthy of its five star rating.
    • 3/5
      Very pedestrian. This is little more than a whodunit without much of the magic that made the Pendergast series so special early on.Here, we get several decapitations in New York City. Lt. D'Agosta is primary on the case of course but Preston/Child use the flimsy idea that the first victim might have crossed state lines as an excuse to get Pendergast involved. Unlike many stories in this series, there's not any real hints of the supernatural in the killings. Granted, most of the killings are of high profile people who have tight (or so they thought) security around them. So there is an element of how did the killer get in, kill, and escape. But again, that's virtually every story in this genre. There's also a completely pointless subplot of a nut who wants to take advantage of these 1%ers dying by encouraging others to destroy their material goods by having a bonfire in the middle of the city. And of course we get the annoying "journalist" Bryce Harriman who decides only he knows the true motive of the killer and writes sensationalist stories to "prove" it. (He may be the most realistic character in the book.)Pendergast suffers from the same fate as Jack Sparrow: they're such great, unique, quirky characters that you fall in love with them instantly. But, after a few servings, the schtick grows stale. And here, the character is on life support because Preston/Child don't know what to do with him or how to put him in unique situations anymore. After all, this is the 17th story starring the FBI agent.If you're a fan of the series read it. It's not like it sucks. It's just not special any longer.
    • 4/5
      This one had a bit of a different feel to it. Miss the supernatural elements that usually accompany Pendergast that we haven't seen for awhile. Maybe next time? Anyway, it was a wonderful day just reading in bed. I wish I had more weekends like this!!!
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      City of Endless Night, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child’s seventeenth novel featuring FBI Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast, begins with the discovery of the beheaded body of a wealthy heiress. Pendergast, initially disinterested in the case following personal struggles with Constance Greene, is drawn into the case at his FBI supervisor’s request. Working with Detective Vincent D’Agosta, Pendergast finds his interest piqued after two more people are murdered and beheaded in crimes that require expert knowledge of state-of-the-art security systems. Unable to find a link between the victims, the FBI and NYPD are caught off-guard when New York Post journalist Bryce Harriman postulates that the Decapitator is targeting the ultra-rich who have exploited the poor and give nothing back to society. Pendergast keeps his typical close council as he and D’Agosta look into New York’s high society for motive and a possible killer. Like the previous few novels, Preston and Child are back in high thriller form here as they move beyond some of the Pendergast mythos. As interesting as it is, sometimes the extensive backstory can bog down the original plot and here they have a cracker. The story captures not only the current political climate, but the role of technology and the media in shaping the narrative. That said, the subplot featuring the preacher railing against wealth was hastily-devised and added very little. Overall, the themes are strong and the interaction between Pendergast and D’Agosta makes this novel.
    • 4/5
      City of Endless Night by Douglas Preston is a thriller that kept me guessing most of the book. Trying to find a link between the murders, the great clues, creepy characters, and behind the scenes info is very interesting. Great action ending!
    • 2/5
      Well, this book was disappointing. It was downright boring, with a few moments of excitement scattered here and there. For being part of the Pendergast series, there was precious little of Pendergast in the book, and that was part of the problem. Eccentric Pendergast is what keeps this series interesting -- his unusual thought process, his strange personality and behavior. Without him, it's just a police procedural -- and not a very good one, at that -- despite how much I like Vincent d'Agosta.Although I appreciated that d'Agosta got more "screen time," shall we say, Pendergast didn't get enough. Things were interesting only when Pendergast showed up, and even then, Pendergast wasn't really himself, so he wasn't as interesting as he has traditionally been in this series. Constance was completely absent from this book, and that was another disappointment.The murders in this book were somewhat interesting, but the reveal of the villain at the end elicited a groan from me because it was so uninteresting. A side bit allowing us more insight into Bryce Harriman, the New York Post reporter who is d'Agosta's nemesis, could have been interesting but instead dragged on. Another side plot about anti-1 percenters was completely superfluous and unnecessary.Overall, the book was disjointed, with too many side plots thrown in (which weren't even interesting). After reading #16 and being cautiously optimistic that the Pendergast series was starting to get better again, this one was a letdown. Let's get book #18 back on track with a focus on Pendergast and Constance, please.
    • 4/5
      So great to read another story featuring Pendergast and D’Agosta tracking a serial killer! The last few books in this series were not so great. I’m glad the Preston-Child duo have got their magic back.
    • 3/5
      Wow, I'm only giving 3 stars to a Pendergast novel. Why? It did not strike me as the best work of my favorite authors. There was a little preaching by Pendergast at the conclusion and did we really need that Epilogue regarding Constance? It started off with a bang with all the beheadings, but the ending and the 'killer' were unsatisfying. I've been reading these guys since Relic, and that's when it was released, not afterward. While Relic was made into a movie, changing the museum from New York to Chicago ruined having any of the other books made into movies. It became a good stand alone movie (that I watch every now and then) but there was no continuation. As I'm not a Gideon fan, I hope Douglas & Lincoln go back to Pendergast fresh next time. Maybe tell us about how he got into the FBI. However -PLEASE! No political stories. I'd stay far away from any such novels mixing politics and the FBI.
    • 4/5
      I must first disclose that I am an unabashed fan of Preston & Child, and especially their Pendergast series. I've been with them from Book 1 (Relic) of the series and have read all 17 books, Therefore, it is with some trepidation that I write this review because I know it won't be popular with some fans.This is a solid book, but it's a lot like some of the more recent Pendergast novels in that wordiness is slowly taking over for action and plot twists. The interplay between Pendergast and D'Agosta was welcome to read and experience again. It's just that I thought a lot of the dialogue and many of the scenes were too familiar between the duo. Unlike many of the books in the series, this one seemed underdone. New characters were not drawn as completely as many have been in earlier novels. Some of the scenes, especially the finale was too long and became almost took away from the story. In addition, there was the inclusion of a totally unnecessary (and somewhat uneven) addition of a subplot in the middle of the book. I don't want to give anything away, but I'm afraid that other P & C fans, like myself, might be a little disappointed with the path the series is taking. Like Pendergast, the series seems tired. 3.5 stars - primarily because it's still has enough merit to have kept me reading.
    • 4/5
      Well I enjoyed it but not as much as some of the earlier stories. Some parts of the book just couldn't quite hold my attention and I found myself doing other things. The last quarter of the book, the hunter vs the hunted, had the most action and was my favorite part of the book.
      I was really looking forward to seeing Constance and Aloysius's relationship play out but alas that storyline was only alotted about one page so that was kind of a let down. Now I have to "patiently" wait for the next book....

    • 5/5
      A young socislite is killed, then 24 hours later she is beheaded. As the killings continue, FBI Agent Aloysius Pendergast tried to figure out what links the victims and, above all, why the delayed beheading of victim number one. Prendergast is a great hero, Holmesian without being Holmes, believable finding the clues and the answers even trained cops miss. Great standalone plot which put Pendergast against a psychopath is serial killer. Great.
    • 5/5
      A wealthy young woman's body is found with her head missing thus beginning the search for her killer. At first glance it appears there are two killers on the loose--one who killed the girl and another who took her head. Shortly after her body is found several other wealthy people are murdered and their heads severed. Lt. D'Agosta is assigned the case and hopes that FBI Agent Pendergast will be true to form and help hunt down the killer or killers. However, it will take all of their wits and intelligence to just to stay alive.I enjoy reading this Preston and Child series and found this particular outing to be one of their best. A thoroughly enjoyable read. In this novel Pendergast has more depth and is more human. There is more depth to him than in previous novels.
    • 4/5
      The hunt for missing Grace Osmian, the daughter of a wealthy tech billionaire, comes to a gruesome end when her body turns up in an abandoned warehouse . . . minus the head.Lieutenant Vincent D’Agosta and Special Agent Pendergast investigate, hampered by the machinations of reporter Bryce Harriman, and soon discover that nothing is quite as it seems. Are there two killers . . . one who murdered the young woman and another who mutilated her body?But Grace is not the only one to be murdered and decapitated; soon the city is in a panic as Pendergast and D’Agosta track the evil killer threatening the city. Pendergast, missing Constance, shows some vulnerability in this, the seventeenth outing for the venerable agent, providing readers with a deeper understanding of the character. The twisting, suspenseful plot offers readers plenty of action, drawing them into the story while unexpected reveals keep them guessing. With all the expected characters in place and a compelling cat-and-mouse plot, readers will find it difficult to set this one aside before turning the final page. Recommended.
    • 5/5
      The title is an allusion to a classic poem by William Blake, which states, “Some are born to sweet delight, some are born to endless night.” The evil in this book is seeking to bring "endless night" to the citizens of New York City. The book is one year out from the last book but the story takes up beautifully from the last event in Pendergast life and the reader feels right at home. Agent Pendergast gets himself involved in a cat and mouse game that nearly gets our hero killed. The entire story is filled with one adventure after another. The only thing that I could find off with the book was the epilogue that seemed more like an afterthought but may be setting the stage for the next installment, so I won't be too critical of that.
    • 5/5
      Bazinga! Heeeee's back, and with D'Agosta. I wish I could make these last longer, but once you start, you can't stop!! I need to read early installments again.
    • 4/5
      When the daughter of a tech billionaire goes missing, the NYPD assumes she has sped off on another wild adventure. Until the young woman's body is discovered in an abandoned warehouse in Queens, the head nowhere to be found.
    • 4/5
      The headless daughter of a millionaire is found, Pendergast who is in disgrace with the FBI after his last outing is assigned the case. Although working again with his friend, Detective D'Agosta, Pendergast shows little interest, taking it for the punishment it is meant to be. But then, more headless corpses, beheaded of wealthy New Yorkers, men who have the best security money can buy. Yet, someone is managing to penetrate these systems. Pendergast for much of the book is working in the background, his ghostly presence shadowing D'Agosta, at odds with the city's theory of why these killings are taking place.It is with welcome relief I welcome back a Pendergast story that doesn't include any of his nefarious and very strange family. Not that I do not find them interesting but though with the previous books this subject had been overdone. This is back to form, Pendergast doing what he does best. Seeing things others do not see,putting things together in a way other cannot. Though in this one there s the very real possibility that Pendergast has met his match. Someone he cannot out think, anticipate. The scene in the old asylum, the cat and mouse game that ensues was suspenseful and harrowing. I won't say this is the best in series, but I do think it is the best in the last several years. ARC from Netgalley.
    • 5/5
      I received a free advance e-copy of this book and have chosen to write an honest and unbiased review. I have no personal affiliation with the authors. Wow! An exciting read. I couldn’t put it down. The action never quits, full of unique twists and turns. The ‘perp’ is a cold-blooded, sadistic, psychopathic killer who decapitates his victims and keeps the heads as trophies. He seems to be able to penetrate any security system no matter how secure. Who is he? He appears to be preying on the wealthy. Why? Is this a serial killer? This is a well-written crime thriller with an amazing plot and as always with excellent character development. I do enjoy Agent Pendergast’s eccentricities. It really adds to the story. This book is well worth the read and I look forward to reading more from Preston and Child in the future.
    • 4/5
      City of Endless Night sees the return of Special Agent Pendergast to New York City and pairs him once again with Lieutenant Vincent D’Agosta. When a young socialite is found in an abandoned warehouse missing her head, it seems like a very personal crime. Soon, however, more victims appear, also missing their heads. This time murdered in seemingly highly secure if not impregnable locations. NYC loves nothing so much as a juicy story. Once word leaks out that there is a serial killer stalking the seemingly despicable yet untouchable elite, the Decapitator captures their imagination. Pendergast and D’Agosta search for connections among the victims as well as a more earthly motive than “divine wrath”. D’Agosta’s dogged detective work and Pendergast’s brilliant and eccentric mind both work on the problem. The investigation finally takes them to an abandoned Long Island psychiatric hospital for a thrilling conclusion.Preston and Child excel at creating atmosphere. The blustery New York City set the mood for another creepy killer. City of Endless Night strips the story back down to its essentials and focuses on the pairing of D’Agosta and Pendergast. While Pendergast’s ward, Constance, is a great literary creation in her own right, allowing this story to focus solely around D’Agosta and Pendergast makes for a more tightly plotted adventure reminiscent of their first encounter long ago in Relic. The crime scenes are fascinating and solving them is particularly satisfying. As brilliant as Pendergast is, he feels as if he is in real jeopardy here. One of the best Pendergast stories in years. Highly recommended.I was fortunate to receive an advance copy of this book from the publisher.