Angel of Vengeance by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Better late than never, right? Because, somehow, I also missed Angel of Vengeance, the latest in the iconic Agent Pendergast series from Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. What better time to read a summer book than in the dead of winter, though?
Actually, there’s never a bad time to jump back into another series that, like fine wine, keeps getting better with age. Complex mechanizations aside, this is a deeply personal tale that pits Pendergast and company against serial killer Enoch Leng who’s terrorizing New York City. I say “and company” because a lot of the action is driven by the iconic FBI agent’s protégé, Constance Greene, whose emotions are trumping her judgment thanks to her sister falling prey to Leng, the most cerebral of his kind since Hannibal Lecter.
Twenty-two books in, this series shows no signs of fatigue or repetition. Angel of Vengeance continues that trend by adding layers of emotional tumult and angst to the well-established formula. With each successive title, Preston and Child offer a master class in establishing the perfect mix between plot and characters, and their latest is an exercise in nail-biting tension and pitch-perfect pacing.