Fever Dream - Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

I've been following the adventures of FBI Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast since Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's first collaboration. Fever Dream is the tenth book in the series.

Pendergast has just uncovered evidence that points to murder, not an accident as was accepted,  in the death of his wife Helen almost 12 years ago. Pendergast is a bit of an enigma - he plays his cards close to his chest, so learning more about his personal life is a revelation. He calls on his dependable sidekick  NYPD Detective Vinnie D'Agosta to help him. Vinnie agrees against the wishes of his girlfriend, Homicide Captain Laura Hayward.

Inexplicably, it seems that Helen engineered meeting Pendergast to use his connections to a folio of works by the famed artist John James Audubon. As the pair dig deeper, following a trail that leads to the bayous of Louisiana, Pendergast finds himself knowing less and less about the woman he married, but still determined to avenge her death.

There's a great subplot involving Pendergast's mysterious ward Constance Green as well.

I love this character, from his slow southern drawl to his mysterious powers of deduction and his seemingly inexhaustible store of knowledge. The cases usually involve interesting pieces of history as well. The books are definitely action and plot driven. They're great fun for escapist reading or listening.

I listened to Fever Dream. Réne Auberjonois has quite a few books in this series and his voice conjures up Pendergast perfectly.

The ending is happily set up for the next in the series!

Listen to an excerpt of Fever Dream. Or start reading an excerpt.

AND - you've got until Saturday July 17 at 6 pm EST to enter my giveaway for one of three audio book copies of Fever Dream!