An Agent Pendergast Novel (Agent Pendergast Series Book 11)

I always enjoy these books written by Preston and Child. This book followed on the story from Fever Dream where Pendergast finds out more about his wife and the story about her 'death'. It was very interesting and kept your interest right to the end. I would recommend this book to any one who enjoys a good read.

This is the second in the trilogy & you really should read the first one,
Fever Dream, first or you'll be very confused. I happened upon the first one on sale in a retail store & then had to get the other two. You won't be disappointed.

I received this product in fine order and very fast. I give 5 stars to the vendor. With respect to the quality of the novel, I am a bit disappointed. I have been following the writings of both authors since 'Relic'. I am a big fan of the Aloysius Pendergast character, which is the reason I purchased this novel, as part 2 of a trilogy. I felt the first novel was in-line with the quality I expect from the authors, but found "Cold Vengeance" to be a bit erratic and incomplete in the plotflow. I anticipate that this will be resolved with the 3rd part, "Two Graves", but will reserve judgement until I can see that this has been done.

I find Agent Pendergast an appealing character. Sometimes features of the stories are a little annoying (basements in New Orleans?), but mostly the books are engaging reads. Are we limited by real science here, or is there occasionally something really supernatural going on? It is hard to tell. However, Pendergast does seem to be outwitted by the bad guys a little too often to be the kind of hero I prefer. One of them walled our Agent up in his cellar, and it required the deus ex machina of Pendergast's insane brother to get him out. A little too convenient, and the brother is no longer around (?) to rescue him in the future. And Constance Greene, who pursued the brother across Europe to his death (?), is naively taken in and manipulated by Pendergast's evil brother-in-law. Once fooled, shame on me; twice fooled, shame on Constance -- or on Preston & Child.

I also have read all the Agent Pendergast novels and felt that last year's "Fever Dream" was a rekindling of the true Pendergast character and spirit. Unfortunately, "Cold Vengeance", the sequel to "Fever Dream", regresses the series toward mediocrity once again. I am never happy after purchasing what I anticipate to be a great read and discovering it is the forerunner of a sequel or worse, a trilogy. Occasionally, a writer can pull off a trilogy but really, can't authors, for the most part, complete a story in two volumes, almost 800 pages? When does the story demand a second or third book and when does it cross over into the "let's-string-out-our-readers-with-another- cliffhanger-so-we-can-presell-our-next-book" arena? That is the question readers face after reading 764 pages in the first two novels only to find they must wade through another 350-400 pages to achieve resolution and closure.

"Cold Vengeance" IS entertaining despite its weaknesses. Even when frustrating their loyal readers, Preston and Child, often do keep them on the edge of their seats with tension and suspense (although a lot is also telegraphed in this effort). Pendergast is still on the trail of the killer(s) of his beloved wife, Helen, and "Cold Vengeance" picks up the thread of a deadly cat-and-mouse game between Pendergast and his brother-in-law, Judson Esterhazy. Although believing that vengeance is mine, Pendergast's best efforts at exacting revenge are foiled by hard-to-swallow coincidences and timing issues that thwart all his brilliant planning, analytical abilities and instinctive revelations. The inexplicable coincidences that continually save Esterhazy reek of author contrivance to move the story along, albeit, at Pendergast's expense. While some suspension of disbelief has always accompanied the Pendergast novels, Preston and Child really lean on that suspension to keep "Cold Vengeance" moving.

Pendergast is mainly alone as the protagonist in this effort with most of his supporting cast reduced to cameo roles, with the exception of Constance who gets more "screen time" than usual but for me, the jury is still out on her contributions to this series. As was the case with "Fever Dream", there is more violence in "Cold Vengeance" than many of the other Pendergast novels and while still demonstrating his brilliance and instinctive leaps of faith, Pendergast also makes an unusual number of mistakes and misjudgements that are quite out of character for him but does serve to increase his vulnerability as well as move the narrative along. If you are a Pendergast fan, this is a must read to continue the Pendergast narrative in many its layers and it is entertaining. However, it again shows cracks in the ability of Preston and Child to maintain the standards they have created with this great character and their ability to meet the high expectations their loyal readers have come to expect. Three and a half stars--entertaining but frustrating at the same time.

Note to Preston and Child:
1. Stop negating Pendergast's great skills by contriving accidental occurrences and inexplicable coincidences--it reeks of contrivance.
2. Respect your readers by not stretching a storyline into three books when it can clearly be done in two.
3. **SPOILER ALERT** Don't set up cat and mouse games that run for an entire book with coincidences "saving" someone from
Pendergast's vengeance only to have him passingly shot down and dismissed by unknown killers at the end of the book.

I also have read all the Agent Pendergast novels and felt that last year's "Fever Dream" was a rekindling of the true Pendergast character and spirit. Unfortunately, "Cold Vengeance", the sequel to "Fever Dream", regresses the series toward mediocrity once again. I am never happy after purchasing what I anticipate to be a great read and discovering it is the forerunner of a sequel or worse, a trilogy. Occasionally, a writer can pull off a trilogy but really, can't authors, for the most part, complete a story in two volumes, almost 800 pages? When does the story demand a second or third book and when does it cross over into the "let's-string-out-our-readers-with-another- cliffhanger-so-we-can-presell-our-next-book" arena? That is the question readers face after reading 764 pages in the first two novels only to find they must wade through another 350-400 pages to achieve resolution and closure.

"Cold Vengeance" IS entertaining despite its weaknesses. Even when frustrating their loyal readers, Preston and Child, often do keep them on the edge of their seats with tension and suspense (although a lot is also telegraphed in this effort). Pendergast is still on the trail of the killer(s) of his beloved wife, Helen, and "Cold Vengeance" picks up the thread of a deadly cat-and-mouse game between Pendergast and his brother-in-law, Judson Esterhazy. Although believing that vengeance is mine, Pendergast's best efforts at exacting revenge are foiled by hard-to-swallow coincidences and timing issues that thwart all his brilliant planning, analytical abilities and instinctive revelations. The inexplicable coincidences that continually save Esterhazy reek of author contrivance to move the story along, albeit, at Pendergast's expense. While some suspension of disbelief has always accompanied the Pendergast novels, Preston and Child really lean on that suspension to keep "Cold Vengeance" moving.

Pendergast is mainly alone as the protagonist in this effort with most of his supporting cast reduced to cameo roles, with the exception of Constance who gets more "screen time" than usual but for me, the jury is still out on her contributions to this series. As was the case with "Fever Dream", there is more violence in "Cold Vengeance" than many of the other Pendergast novels and while still demonstrating his brilliance and instinctive leaps of faith, Pendergast also makes an unusual number of mistakes and misjudgements that are quite out of character for him but does serve to increase his vulnerability as well as move the narrative along. If you are a Pendergast fan, this is a must read to continue the Pendergast narrative in many its layers and it is entertaining. However, it again shows cracks in the ability of Preston and Child to maintain the standards they have created with this great character and their ability to meet the high expectations their loyal readers have come to expect. Three and a half stars--entertaining but frustrating at the same time.

Note to Preston and Child:
1. Stop negating Pendergast's great skills by contriving accidental occurrences and inexplicable coincidences--it reeks of contrivance.
2. Respect your readers by not stretching a storyline into three books when it can clearly be done in two.
3. **SPOILER ALERT** Don't set up cat and mouse games that run for an entire book with coincidences "saving" someone from
Pendergast's vengeance only to have him passingly shot down and dismissed by unknown killers at the end of the book.

I really like all the Pendergast books. They are interesting and hold your interest till the end. I really like Pendergast's ability to get in and out of trouble. He is superhuman but human. Can't get enough,

I keep reading this Pendergast series! I'm totally addicted to the characters and can't move on to another book until I finish this series!
I highly recommend if you love a good mystery, page turner! ENJOY!!!

really enjoyed this sequel. it had good character emphasis on Constance and Corie. while i didnt find it quite as good as Fever Dream it was very good. it sets up nicely for the next book in the series. if you enjoy the pendergast series you will like this book.

I loved Cold Vengeance - the 2nd book in the Helen Trilogy! Preston and Child once again brings Agent Pendergast and all the other characters to life within the pages! Not only are my husband and I hooked - my sister is the one who got us started on these incredible writers! She and my brother-in-law, who never used to do much reading, and a good friend of ours are all Preston and Child fans! We can't wait to read Two Graves to get to the bottom of Helen's "murder"!!! Thanks for another great book!

This book was such a disappointment. I have been a fan of Preston & Childs, Agent Pendergast from the beginning. So I was waiting patiently for the continuing saga. The story jumped around, left characters hanging and generally was not entertaining. I got the feeling that the two authors are
now, just pumping the books out. I may have to leave Agent Pendergast, wish him the best and move on.

I love Preston and Child for continuing to write more and more intriguing stories about Pendergast and can't wait for more!
Highly recommend this entire series to my friends and followers with the same taste for interesting characters and continuing revelations about the family history of Agent Pendergast!

After the godawful creation of GIDEON'S SWORD and my pre-buying thereof, I was hesitant about pre-ordering COLD VENGEANCE. What if GS was just a foretelling? Well, thankfully Pendergast's lastest book was much better than GS but once again, a cliff hanger. I hate cliff hangers. You know, if this is the only way you can get ALL the story, then write a bigger freakin' book. Seriously. I look at them as a kind of blackmail. If you wanna know the ending then keep buying the books. And I probably will.

We found out in FEVER DREAM that Special Agent Pendergast had once been married and that she had been killed by a lion. Then he finds out the gun she used was loaded with blanks which meant she was murdered. We spend the entire book discovering her brother was behind it all and then they're going to trapse off to Scotland together...the end. Ok, now we're in Scotland. Other reviewers have mentioned this is a three book story (this is the first I'd heard about it but it still ticks me off) so I guess it won't be a big surprise to know, yes indeedie, another cliff hanger. SPOILER ALERT - STOP NOW: We're left with knowing a) Helen is alive, b) but gone, c) Corrie is in trouble, and d) the baby is apparently not dead. Other than my constant griping about the ending, the story really wasn't all that good as we watched a very morale man blackmail, harrass, stonewall, and generally act like a bad guy. I understand his motivation but it was still a shock.

STILL LIFE WITH CROWS remains my favorite of the series. A stand-alone you'll notice. I think they could have done the three books within one and kept it very entertaining instead of just dragging the Helen saga along. Truly, I'm starting to worry about the Preston/Child writing team.

I wish I had read this immediately after finishing the prior book since it was acontinuation of the story. It was a thriller as I have come to expect from this duo. There are also some suprises as to liasons formed.

I have read all 14 books with the major character, FBI Agent Pendergast. I have yet to be disappointed. In my opinion, anything authors Preston & Child write is worth reading, that is if you like mysteries.

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!! I'm a huge fan of this series, but this book was very, very disappointing. It's obvious this entire book was only a cheap filler between Fever Dream and Two Graves. The story was boring and nothing gets resolved at the end. The entire story line that takes place in the UK was pointless and unnecessary. There were a few good bits of information that were needed to move the story line along, but those were few and far between. And the "not so" ending that doesn't resolve anything is just an insult to everyone who suffered through the entire book. I'm not even sure I want to read Two Graves after this.

PS - Nazis? Come on...