Promotional Information

Combining crime, thriller and heart-stopping drama, DANCE OF DEATH is the ultimate good versus evil read From the authors of THE WHEEL OF DARKNESS A huge New York Times bestseller Preston & Child are fast becoming one of the most successful writer pairings in the USA They receive great reviews: 'A highly compelling thriller... Preston and Child prove that the devil is indeed in the details' Entertainment Weekly 'The story soars; the cast of familiar characters...is given a chance to stretch, and the authors deliver an exhilarating finale' Booklist 'Dynamic duo Preston and Child once again demonstrate their mastery of the genre... The thrillfest runs full force to the very last page' Kirkus Reviews. 'Bestsellers Preston and Child have come up with another gripping, action-packed page-turner' Publishers Weekly. 'Exciting, well-conceived, and well-oiled... a rip-snorter for lovers of adventure stories with more than a touch of evil' Toronto Star 'A blockbuster...a lot of fun' Washington Post

About the Author

Douglas Preston is a regular contributor to the New Yorker. Lincoln Child is a former book editor at St. Martin's Press and has published numerous short-story anthologies. Together they are the co-authors of a series of bestselling novels, including the Agent Pendergast adventures. After a childhood that is of interest only to himself, Lincoln Child majored in English. Discovering a fascination for words, and their habit of turning up in so many books, he made his way to New York intent on finding a job in publishing. Over the next several years, he clawed his way up the publishing hierarchy, becoming an editor at St. Martin's - with titles as diverse as The Notation of Western Music and Hitler's Rocket Sites - but focused primarily on popular fiction. Lincoln's own nascent interests in writing only came to fruition after he left publishing. He now lives in New Jersey with his wife and daughter. A dilettante by natural inclination, Lincoln's interests include: pre-1950s literature and poetry; post-1950s popular fiction; playing the piano, various MIDI instruments, and the 5-string banjo; English and American history; motorcycles; architecture; classical music, early jazz, blues, and R&B; exotic parrots; esoteric programming languages; mountain hiking; bow ties; Italian suits; fedoras; archaeology; and multiplayer deathmatching.

Reviews

The always reliable team of Preston and Child revisit Special FBI Agent Aloysius Pendergast, last seen in 2004's Brimstone, and others from past bestsellers (Relic; The Cabinet of Curiosities) in this intriguing thriller set in and around New York City and the halls of the Museum of Natural History. Born a misanthropic loner but driven insane by seeing his parents burned alive when he was a teen, Aloysius's madman brother, Diogenes, has begun murdering Aloysius's friends. Aloysius begs old friend Lt. Vincent D'Agosta to help him defeat his brother, and Vincent does his best while the brothers spar and others die. There are a number of subplots, one involving an ATM robber and flasher known as the Dangler and another focusing on the museum's exhibition of sacred masks, but these fade away as the deadly duel between the brothers takes center stage. Think Sherlock Holmes locked in a death struggle with his smarter brother, Mycroft. Like Brimstone, this novel doesn't end so much as simply pause while the authors work on the next installment. While it's not as good as some of their earlier efforts, it's still pretty darn good. Agents, Eric Simonoff at Janklow & Nesbit and Matthew Snyder at CAA. Major ad/promo, 10-city author tour. (June 7) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.