Slappy the Ventriloquist Dummy vs. Aloysius Pendergast

Not at all worthy of being part of the Pendergast series. So short that no thrill or expectation was even remotely possible. I kept trying to figure out where the rest of the book was. Did I miss the everything except the first chapter?

Too little involvement of Slappy the Ventriloquist Dummy. I am first an foremost, a Preston & Child fan. That said, I was afraid I wouldn't get the ventriloquist dummy involvement since I've never read any of R.L. Stine's work. Wow! There was no involvement of the dummy!!! I felt like a dummy for reading this. The writing was excellent, the plot was too, but the overall story and conclusion left me befuddled. The only thing I can feel good about, is I bought the whole anthology and not just this story. For $2 more, I got a lot more to read and hopefully there are some more 'complete' stories. I feel bad for the people who bought this 'single,' as it in no way compares to Preston & Child's previous single "Extraction." Waiting patiently for next month's Blue Labyrinth novel to come out.

I give this story one star and five stars. Therefore it is in the middle. One because it will give me nightmares...and five because it is by my favorite writer. If this doesn't make sense to you it's because I am still thinking about the ending.

So happy that short stories featuring my favorite FBI agent, Pendergast, are available on my Kindle. I have to wait FAR TOO LONG between books so I hope they keep these coming. It's nice that the short stories are separate from the books so you don't mess up the continuity ( I am a stickler about reading things in order ). Please keep these coming!!!

I'm completely addicted to the Agent Pendergast series and appreciated finding this quick fix while waiting for the next full-length novel to come out. It's only a few dozen pages, but lots of classic Pendergast action packed into this short read. In fact, I was pleased and suprised to see that a couple of favorite characters from the past joined the story. Really well written and plotted. And the ending is really fun -- you won't be expecting what happens and it will leave smiling. Highly recommended.