Crimson Shore - A Review

CRIMSON SHORE by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.

* I received this ebook at no charge from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review *

Once again we join A.X.L. Pendergast and his ward Constance Greene as they are enjoying a quite evening at 891 Riverside Drive.  Once again the doorbell rings, “the rarest of occurrences at the Pendergast mansion”.  As faithful readers of the series recall – last time this happened it was certainly a harbinger of bad things to come.  As Proctor answers the door Agent Pendergast gives the strict order NOT to let the person in.  He has a change of heart when he hears it is the reknown sculptor, Percival Lake.  Mr. Lake has come to make a rather strange request; to hire Agent Pendergast to act as a private investigator for a recent theft of an entire wine collection from his home in Exmouth, Mass.  Pendergast refuses at first until he hears that Mr. Lake is still in possession of an entire case of “Haut-Braquilanges ‘04”.  In exchange for a bottle of this rare vintage Pendergast agrees to look into the crime.

Seems simple enough at first – but is anything ever as simple as it seems when Aloysius Pendergast is involved in the case?  Throw in a secret chamber behind the wine cellar, shackles, an overlooked finger bone, drizzly and foggy salt marshes, a mysterious 17^th century shipwreck, proximity to Salem and its witch stories, a couple of murders plus a swamp-monster legend and a simple wine theft becomes so much more.

This is the 15^th book in the Pendergast series and “Crimson Shore” is a little different from the previous entries.  The usual cast of characters is not present – it’s Aloysius and Constance working the case on their own.  The last few books had Constance Greene taking on a slightly different role from the meek and reserved young woman readers have come to know.  This takes that transformation one step further and (is it possible) she may even be able to “out investigate” Agent Pendergast?  Time will tell!  Personally I like Constance Greene and am very happy to see even more of her in this book.

As fans of the series know these books have to be read with one foot firmly planted in the murky waters of the extraordinary.  Again, “Crimson Shore” is no exception.  I have to say it was certainly a page-turner.  Since this book does not release until November 2015 I do not want to spoil anything, so I’ll just say that the ending raises as many questions as it answers and I definitely see another Pendergast book to enjoy in the future.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S) (from their Facebook page)

Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child are coauthors of the bestselling novels "Relic," "Mount Dragon," "Reliquary," Riptide," "Thunderhead," "The Ice Limit," "The Cabinet of Curiosities," "Still Life with Crows," "Brimstone," "Dance of Death," "The Book of the Dead," "The Wheel of Darkness," "Cemetery Dance, "Fever Dream," "Gideon's Sword," Cold Vengeance, and the latest (out 1/10/12) "Gideon's Corpse."

Preston’s bestselling nonfiction book, "The Monster of Florence," is being made into a major motion picture. His interests include horses, scuba diving, skiing, and exploring the Maine coast in an old lobster boat.

Lincoln Child is a former book editor who has published four bestselling novels of his own. He is passionate about motorcycles, exotic parrots, and nineteenth-century English literature.