The Wheel of Darkness

By: Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child

Narrated by: Rene Auberjonois

Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

FBI Agent Pendergast has taken Constance on a whirlwind Grand Tour, hoping to give her closure and a sense of the world that she's missed. They head to Tibet, where Pendergast intensively trained in martial arts and spiritual studies. At a remote monastery, they learn that a rare and dangerous artifact the monks have been guarding for generations has been mysteriously stolen. Pendergast agrees to take up the search.

The trail leads him and Constance to the maiden voyage of the Queen Victoria, the world's largest and most luxurious passenger liner - and to an Atlantic crossing fraught with terror.

Investigate more of Agent Pendergast's cases.

©2007 Splendide Mendax, Inc. and Lincoln Child (P)2007 Hachette Audio

Fabulous

Another wonderfully crafted story. Will certainly listen to this story again. The narrator does a masterful job. Love these works of art.

My least favorite so far…

I have become a serious Pendergast fan. But this one was a bit disappointing for a couple of reasons:

1- the audio book started off in a sour note when I realized that there was a new reader- one that sounds far too British for the characters at hand. My favorite narrator so far is Scott Brick, whose language skills and ability to convincingly portray appropriate accents is amazing.
Rene Auberjonois is a fine reader, but he completely flops, especially as the protagonist Pendergast. This Narrator read this character with varying voices- at one point sounding like a Britt trying to imitate Brock’s Louisiana inflection. At other times, Pendergast was voiced with a flat, character-less drudgery. Just didn’t work (and to think- it’s the same reader for the next installments…)

2- the storyline. It was more contrived than the previous books. Further, while the primary “bad guy” was somewhat believable, the case was actually mind-numbing boring.

3- This was a strange foray into Eastern mysticism and a bizarre attempt at portraying an odd, almost cheesy demon. Pretty “meh”.

I’m hoping Cemetery Dance doesn’t turn me away from these audiobooks. I’ll hold my nose and tolerate Auberjonois. Maybe he will catch on?

Agent Pendergast Friend For Life

Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child are the writing team of the century. If you have yet to read any of their collaborative works, your in for a real treat. They take the reader to the ends of the earth in vivid Technicolor style writing.

If your new to the Agent Pendergast series start with “The Dance Of Death” then “The Book of The Dead” and finish with“ “The Wheel of Darkness” to complete this unbelievable 35 hours of bone chilling, edges of your seat entertainment that you will not soon forget. Pendergast along with other colorful characters will become your friends for life and even if you take a break between novels each book picks up where the other leaves off.

Thank you Douglas and Lincoln for helping me get thru the day, and allowing me to lose myself and travel with you, wherever you decide to go.

Not my favorite Pendergast story

Pendergast meets Poseidon Adventure !!! ..... I'm a big Pendergast fan but this one ranks down the list IMO. I just could not get into this one. Maybe I miss D'gosta and Nora and the rest of TeamPendegast ??

I was glad when it was over and I can move on to the next one.

A little too religious.

Though I enjoyed most of this very much, I rated it Narration 4.5 + plot 3.5, total 4.0. I've seen reviews of other books that down graded if the story was considered "lacking credibility." For those who have read the other Penderghast novels, you know there's a degree of mysticism in all of them, but I found it intrusive in this one because it was used to resolve the major conflict in a way that involved the mystical changing of the nature of a major element. That just went too far into the religious for my taste. I was looking forward to this one very much, but if further episodes continue in the same vein, it may be more accurate to put them in the "fantasy" or "science fiction" categories, rather than "mystery."

Fun Read

What is wrong with you people!!! THIS IS FICTION. If you want real life read the newspaper or Nietzsche. Pendergast is a kick. I for one cannot wait for his next book. The narrator is fine. I am use to Scott Brick but you get use to this narrator and his voice of Pendergas and Constance is very similar.

Always a listening treat!

Each episode in this series is entertaining and creative. Preston & Child continue to produce new scenarios that are just at the edge of believable. I wait for each new release.

The change of narrator here is a stroke of genius. Not to say that the others aren't good, but Rene Auberjonois really fits my perception of Pendergast. He has the slow paced French/ Creole accent that just seems right.

Pender-Who?

Not your average Pendargast novel as the focus of the novel is not on Special Agent Pendergast but on all of the other characters in the story. At one point I was asking myself if agent P was even needed anymore. But alas the writers found a way to bring him back into the story again weakened and almost at his end to save the day! I liked it and found myself looking forward to driving so that I could hear more.

Should have kept previous reader.

I don't care for series that change narrators. And this one was bad try again

Great thriller!

I enjoyed this book tremendously- and just couldn't stop listening. I especially enjoyed "reading" about the Tibetan monks, their way of live and belief systems. Superimposed on this fascinating backdrop was the mystery and suspense of uncovering the guilty person/s on board an ocean liner en route to NY from the UK.