Review: City of Endless Night by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

In City of Endless Night by Preston and Child, we see another side of Pendergast. At the beginning of the tale, he comes across as apathetic to the case he has been assigned and we are left to deduce for ourselves the why behind this behavior. The case itself is different. There is a body of a woman sans head. And it would seem that there were perhaps two different people involved - one that did the actual killing and another that removed the head at a later date. Soon there are more headless bodies and the question is one killer or more? Vincent D'Agosta hopes that involvement in this case will put Pendergast back into his normal frame of mind.
It will, of course, take all of their wits to solve the case and stay alive.

This, the 17th entry in the Pendergast series, is not the strongest. It is slow in parts. And Pendergast's apathy is a little hard to take because it seems so out of character to me. The reason for it is eventually revealed. I will not reveal it here because spoilers.

The characters of D'Agosta and Pendergast are the most well developed. The reporter, Harriman, also is fairly well fleshed out. The killer we come to know through actions.

Some people have complained that they were able to deduce the killer(s) early on in the book as well as the motive. Not me. It kept my attention and kept me guessing until the reveal.

City of Endless Night was published January 16, 2018 from Grand Central Publishing.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. Even though it was problematic in parts, overall it kept my attention and made me want to know who was responsible for the crimes and what their motivation might be. While it can be read as a standalone, I think it's better digested if you've read at least the previous book.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions herein are my own and freely given.